ijgordon

One, how is an "instant upgrade" relevant? Per the booking process and eticket receipt, OP purchased a first class fare.

Two, what their policy says is more or less irrelevant.

Mark_T

What you deserve is a lot less useful as a negotiating point than what you are entitled to, which in this case isn't very much as specific seats are never guaranteed.

A lot less drama would ensue by simply explaining to the FA why you need the seat you were booked into or an equivalent seat. I've yet to see a FA that didn't at least try to help when there is a medical basis for seat selection when it was brought to their attention, but do at least take the time to note that sort of thing in your record as if it is important enough to cause real pain or problems for you then it is important enough to have recorded in advance.

Herb687

As John McLaughlin would say: WRONG ANSWER!

P is no less a guaranteed FC seat than an F26 fare. AA does not increase FC AU by 1 for every P class booking taken (your flawed assertion that "Had AA been able to sell the seat prior to the flight, it could have ended up the same.") Calling AA's discounted first/instant upgrade fares "space-available upgrades" is incorrect as these fares are confirmed upgrades - if the space is not available, the P booking is not sold.

The only instance in which a P ticket will not be seated in first is if there are irregular operations (flight cancellation, equipment sub, etc.). The important thing to note is that even in the case of IRROPS, a P class passenger may elect to wait for a flight with space available in FC. You do not have to accept reaccom in Y on the first available flight.

And if you actually took some time to think about this, the exact same is true with F26 fares. If you are holding a full-fare F26 ticket, your flight cancels, and the next flight to your destination is sold out in FC, AA is NOT going to overbook F on that flight for you. You will either fly in Y or wait for the first flight that has F available. The only practical difference is in how the refund will be calculated on the involuntary downgrade.

As to OP's situation, the agent should have done the right thing and un-upgraded the last-minute upgrader and put OP back in his rightful FC seat. I have little sympathy for AA sticking to its 15-minute rule hard and fast when AA itself is the reason OP was not at the gate at D-15.

Misconnects/potential misconnects are AA's fault, not passengers' faults. AA should not make its problem a passenger's problem.

Of course, as imapilotaz astutely points out......you can rest assured that I will not meekly take my 31B boarding pass and sulk off down the jetway if I am holding a confirmed first class ticket for a flight. Nor would I let an F/A tell me I may not sit in the seat printed on my boarding pass.

People need to fight back against the piss-poor customer service thrown their way by surly/lazy employees.

imapilotaz

I celebrate my 28th anniversary for my AAdvantage account next month (woohoo). Mine does, however, have Alpha and Numeric characters... but I have been told multiple times by AAgents "wow you must have an old account".

swajames

agree with herb687

In this specific case the GA ought to been able to see that the OP was likely going to make it and ought not given away the seat. It wasn't a misconnect, the OP made it to the plane. This issue really isn't about the type of fare the OP bought, this is simply an issue about poor service and poor judgment as herb correctly points out.

pssteve

I don't think this has been addressed. How did the OP end up with 31B seat assigned? The last minute upgrade (if legitiment)should most likely have gone to someone from an exit row (PLt or Gold or EXP)which should have still been available to the OP when he arrived a few minutes later. Would be interesting to know if OP's F seat went to a non-rev or friend of GA or other AA associated person or just some EXP who booked a last minute ticket and got extremely lucky.

davesam12

^ As I'm sure others have experienced. I have had late and very close connections in the past and never had my seat/cabin changed if I made it before push back. Perhaps just luck? And just recently I witnessed a GA, after boarding was complete and door ready to close -- she walked a very late FC passenger on board, removed the passenger she had assigned to his F seat, moved that passenger back to an economy seat that required her remove the stand by passenger she had cleared and escorted him off the plane.

MSPeconomist

OP said the the GA sold the FC seat, presumably for money and to a kettle. Since the GA specifically used the word "sold", I would assume that the seat was not given as an elite or sticker upgrade. However, with the GA being so eager and willing to give away the OP's FC seat early, this does raise questions about whether in fact the upgrade was sold to friends and family.

C17PSGR

It seems to me it is unlikely the GA "sold" the upgrade. On ORD-PSP, I can't imagine there wasn't a long list of people on the upgrade list. Plus, LBFU are sold at check-in, not at the gate.

I strongly suspect the GA saw this was going to be a misconnect, then pulled from the upgrade list. When the OP showed up unexpectedly, she had to look for a seat which was 31B.

MSPeconomist

When the GA tells the OP that she "sold" the upgrade, which is apparently what was said according to the OP, why shouldn't we believe that the GA did exactly what was claimed, namely that she sold the upgrade? If the GA simply processed an upgrade for another (elite) passenger, it would be odd to explain to the OP that the upgrade had been "sold" when if fact it wasn't sold, a word that specifically means that there was a transaction involving money. Perhaps further shenanigans occurred if elites on the upgrade list were passed over in favor of this sale of an upgrade.

I hope the OP can convince AA to investigate because the selling of the upgrade clearly before the OP's deadline to board is starting to look like a possible case of shenanigans.

26point2orbust

The OP also wrote that he showed up at the gate at T-15, which according to Flightaware simply cannot be true.
We have yet to hear from the OP exactly when he arrived at the gate. If it was at, say, T-10, he has no case against AA. He would've lost his seat at T-15.
It seems like after the Flightaware data was posted to contradict his claim that he was at the gate at T-15, he disappeared from this thread. You can draw your own conclusions from that...

sbrower

For the same reason we don't believe other statements which we have serious reason to know are almost certainly not true.

Consultette

Isn't it possible she "sold" the upgrade as a miles+copay? We've heard stories of GAs selling miles+copay upgrades before processing SWUs.

Pure speculation.

Plus, plenty of EXPs book last minute and end up in crappy seats. I booked a flight yesterday where I am sitting middle seat, back of the plane since that was all that was available on the flight I needed. I wish I could get a back-of-the-plane aisle seat! Obviously, I am crossing my fingers that an upgrade goes through.

I think OP's best bet is to continue to emphasize the medical issue and wait for risk management to issue to "goodwill" voucher. I'd be very upset if I booked a first class ticket expecting leg room for a medical condition, then was told I had at least gotten an aisle, and then was told I was SOL on that. I suspect it would be more than the fare difference OP MAY be entitled to based upon whomever he talks to. I would not expect both. I've never had luck getting something I am entitled to PLUS a goodwill gesture - I have always gotten one or the other and this will guide how far I push things if I truly believe I am entitled to compensation.

JonNYC

Well put!

ijgordon

I think you'd be surprised at how often someone approaches the gate agent and asks how much it would cost to upgrade to F. This of course can be done regardless of any elite upgrade waitlist, if the person is willing to pay the fare difference. Not saying it happens 100 times a day (that the upgrade is actually purchased), but it is certainly in the realm of possibility, and I've seen open F seats disappear just prior to boarding for this very reason (as verified by the GA).

Also, the GA could have made the decision to un-seat the OP at T-20 or earlier based on the assumption that he wouldn't make T-15 due to late arrival of the IND flight. It's quite possible even if that upgrade (purchased or elite or whatever) came from a prime/exit row seat, it was subsequently reassigned before OP showed up at the gate.

One thing that's also not clear to me (not that it really matters in the scheme of things) -- what did the GA do to the OP's reservation when she unseated him? (sorry, making gender assumptions, it's just easier). Offload him from the flight altogether? Protect him on another itinerary? OP wasn't clear exactly how he approached the GA when he got to the gate. Went to the counter? I have to assume he just tried to board with his original boarding pass. As it would have been rendered invalid, it should have beeped red, at which point he probably would have had to have a discussion at the counter about next options (e.g., we thought you'd miss the flight and we rebooked you on XYZ but I can still get you on this flight if you prefer, but you'll have to take a coach seat). His post suggests he immediately got a "here's your new BP for row 31."

This almost suggests that the GA may very well have hid behind the 15-minute rule to involuntarily downgrade a passenger for the sole purpose of generating the revenue from an upsale. She saw the opportunity to downgrade someone in an "economy seat with instant upgrade" and took it. She probably knew full well that the pax would arrive at the gate next door with 5-10 minutes to spare, but downgraded him anyway. Really poor customer service, IMO.