Did anyone else see this lady outside ORD AC?
Dec 24, 2001, 3:28 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 740
Did anyone else see this lady outside ORD AC?
Last Thursday, I was entering the AC at ORD (H Concourse) at around 2:00PM. An elegently dressed woman (30ish) was waiting outside the AC and asked me whether I could take her in with me as a guest. She said that she normally travels on business and can enter the club (I wondered how). She did not have her card with her today since this was a personal trip.
I did not know how to respond, and just nodded. Then I told her that her boarding pass should have an AAdvantage number and the AC could confirm her membership based on that. However her boarding pass did not have the AAdvantage number! At that point she asked me whether I was uncomfortable and I answered in the affirmative; she then left, leaving me breathing easier.
Did anyone else see this woman? I was surprised that a person who knew that members can take a guest inside the club did not know her AAdvantage number. Then perhaps she travels on AirPass (does that include complimentary access to the AC)?
What would others have done? I want AA to get all the revenue they deserve. I also felt uncomfortable taking a totally unknown person as a guest.
[This message has been edited by SJC2ISP (edited 12-24-2001).]
I did not know how to respond, and just nodded. Then I told her that her boarding pass should have an AAdvantage number and the AC could confirm her membership based on that. However her boarding pass did not have the AAdvantage number! At that point she asked me whether I was uncomfortable and I answered in the affirmative; she then left, leaving me breathing easier.
Did anyone else see this woman? I was surprised that a person who knew that members can take a guest inside the club did not know her AAdvantage number. Then perhaps she travels on AirPass (does that include complimentary access to the AC)?
What would others have done? I want AA to get all the revenue they deserve. I also felt uncomfortable taking a totally unknown person as a guest.
[This message has been edited by SJC2ISP (edited 12-24-2001).]
Dec 24, 2001, 4:37 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: OKC
Posts: 357
Sounds fishy to me. Anyone who is a member of the AC and can't get in because they are on personal travel isn't telling all.
Dec 24, 2001, 4:48 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: San Jose, CA USA
Posts: 1,791
The woman is a con-artist, board certified. I would never take her in, for the same reason I don't pick up hitch-hikers. Most AAirpass plans include the AC, except for some stingy plans (like my daughter's for Goldman Sachs) which don't.
You did the right thing.
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
You did the right thing.
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
Dec 24, 2001, 7:17 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Dallas, TX, USA AA Plat
Posts: 1,342
A con artist? What was she going to con? A free soda? Some chips?
It does seem a little odd, but I doubt nefarious.
BE interesting to see if something does happen. A ring of crooks sneaking into the AC> hmmmmm.
It does seem a little odd, but I doubt nefarious.
BE interesting to see if something does happen. A ring of crooks sneaking into the AC> hmmmmm.
Dec 24, 2001, 7:24 pm
#5
In Memoriam
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: dallas texas usa
Programs: aa plt 4.9MM LTAC
Posts: 14,828
the ghost of christmas past!
Dec 24, 2001, 7:26 pm
#6
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 63,608
Luggage theft, maybe? It's a big crime in airports, especially during holiday time.
Logically, the pickings in a lounge like the Admiral's Club would be good.
Logically, the pickings in a lounge like the Admiral's Club would be good.
Dec 24, 2001, 8:23 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: STL, MO, USA;BCN, Spain;LGW, UK
Posts: 840
Sucker that I am I would have probably taken her in. Not everyone knows their AA number by heart (strange as it may seem to most of us here on FT 
). My father, for example, doesn't book any of his own tickets and has no clue as to the balance of his FF accounts even though he flies enough in FC to be top tier in at least 2 FF programs. He does dress elegantly though, in case any ladies get approached by a 60ish gentleman outside a club asking to get in as their guest 
). My father, for example, doesn't book any of his own tickets and has no clue as to the balance of his FF accounts even though he flies enough in FC to be top tier in at least 2 FF programs. He does dress elegantly though, in case any ladies get approached by a 60ish gentleman outside a club asking to get in as their guest
Dec 24, 2001, 9:29 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 352
very fishy; if she was an AC member, the front desk people could probably have found her listing just from her name.
In the current climate, I probably would have informed the front desk people, and suggest they contact the airport police. This definitely qualifies as "suspicious behavior".
In the current climate, I probably would have informed the front desk people, and suggest they contact the airport police. This definitely qualifies as "suspicious behavior".
Dec 24, 2001, 10:59 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: San Jose, CA USA
Posts: 1,791
CFM3rd: Let me ask you, would you have taken someone, as described, in as your guest? Forget all the posting theatrics. Just need to know.
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
Dec 24, 2001, 11:07 pm
#10
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: San Jose, CA USA
Posts: 1,791
Mvic: Sorry, forgot to post you with my last post. I truly believe that if one has paid for the AC, one will remember his/her AAdvantage number. If not, he/she should find better mechanisms than soliciting strangers to enter the AC. There are other things to consider: Showing driver's license/passport; offering social security number; Photo-ID--you name it. Forgetting your number and asking a freebie from strangers is bogus--more likely a glorified form of pandhandling--or simply grifting in its purest form. If so, what it lacks in class, it makes up for in bad taste.
Sorry, strongly disagree.
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
Sorry, strongly disagree.
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AAExecPlat; Lifetime AAirpass; 3MillMiles; UApremier-PassPlus
Dec 25, 2001, 6:41 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 648
This lady was definitely illegit.
What would you do if you "forgot" your pass/card? You'd probably - almost definitely - go right in yourself, sidle up to a desk agent, and ask them to look you up.
So what kept this lady from doing this? She *didn't* have it at all.
This lady might even be a lurker/poster at FT, or a reader of one of those "travel tips" columns. You know, dress/look the part, stand outside the clubs with puppy eyes to have someone comp you in.
Now, if someone simply asked me for a comp guest entry, I'd consider letting them. But to be insulted by having that someone so obviously lie like that...
What would you do if you "forgot" your pass/card? You'd probably - almost definitely - go right in yourself, sidle up to a desk agent, and ask them to look you up.
So what kept this lady from doing this? She *didn't* have it at all.
This lady might even be a lurker/poster at FT, or a reader of one of those "travel tips" columns. You know, dress/look the part, stand outside the clubs with puppy eyes to have someone comp you in.
Now, if someone simply asked me for a comp guest entry, I'd consider letting them. But to be insulted by having that someone so obviously lie like that...
Dec 25, 2001, 8:18 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: fort worth, texas
Posts: 247
This is an old con for pickpockets! Once inside the club where people are generally more relaxed, she would have easy pickings.
Dec 25, 2001, 8:41 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Santa Cruz, CA USA
Programs: AA, UA, WN, HH, Marriott
Posts: 7,290
My guess is that there are other financially lucrative activities she would engage in once inside the club.
Dec 25, 2001, 8:49 am
#14
In memoriam
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: TUS
Programs: AA 1.8 MM, DL, Hilton Gold, SPG Gold,
Posts: 3,430
Yep..my thoughts exactly..
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MRKEY
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MRKEY
Dec 25, 2001, 9:31 am
#15
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Lima, Peru
Posts: 257
Maybe she was a real rich lady, where able to go by the security and was waiting for an arriving pax and she did not feel comfortable to wait in the regular lounge....
Anyway, IT WAS A GOOD DECISION NO TO TAKE HER IN.
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1/2 Million Plus Miles, AAdvantage Platinum - Priority Club. Free Flyer for 8 Straight years.
Anyway, IT WAS A GOOD DECISION NO TO TAKE HER IN.
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1/2 Million Plus Miles, AAdvantage Platinum - Priority Club. Free Flyer for 8 Straight years.