RayinMaui

Member Since: Tuesday, May 19, 1981

From my aa.com page. All numbers. My wife is all numbers and my four boys are all numbers.

crazyarmadillo

I just had a similar experience as OP.

Was travelling multicity itinery including an international leg on BA. Route was LAS-LAX-JFK-LHR. No status as such with AA, but am oneworld emerald. Travelling with a companion in F on the domestics. The LAX-JFK leg was in F - 3class on the new A321 (fantastic experience by the way).

Was in flagship lounge and already checked in at LAS (with checked baggage) so AA gate staff all knew we were there.

Got an announcement at 25 mins before flight scheduled departure saying passenger Mr ..... to board IMMEDIATELY (emphasis on the immedditely) as flight was closing.

Ran like hell to gate and people were still hanging around (heard the word upgrade from an agent talking to another passenger), went to board , gate agent said nothing and boarded like normal.

Then other passengers still coming on plane for at least another 15 mins after we had sat down. It slightly ruined what was overall a great trip with AA.

So do you guys think that they were actually helping me to give me time to get there by saying immediately or that they were desperate to give away my seat prior to 15 mins ?

And why didn't they also page my companion who was on the same ticket and OWE.?

Mark_T

They probably only booked you into the lounge and treated your companion as your guest.

Had this happen only last week.

Two of us, both EXP as it happens, traveling on international itinerary.

Handed over my boarding card then the AAngel declined to even look at my companions boarding card, just said we were set.

If there had been a need to page us they would only have known I was there, not my companion.

If they wanted to give your seat away they would hardly have paged you, would they?

As for slightly ruining your trip, I'd guess you'd feel it was rather more than slightly ruined if they had not paged you and let you continue to sit in the lounge oblivious to the fact that the 15 min cut-off was rapidly approaching ...

crazyarmadillo

yes, now having had time to consider this, that's what I am thinking too. I didn't know about the 15 min rule (I quite new to AA), so knowing what I'm like, yes you are right, I would have sat in the lounge to possibly under 15 mins.

So with hindsight maybe as you say I should actually feel lucky.

Thanks for info - now I know for future flights - I have more of these coming up this year - the new a321 transcon is making me feel to swop allegiances to AA.

toomanybooks

Are data from Flightaware 100% accurate?

Often1

The fact that AA "knew" that you had checked in, had scanned into the lounge and so on, is only true in that the agent assigned to the flight could have done the research to find all of this. But, they are not expected to and are not even likely trained to do this level of detailed research. That is why AA publishes a hard stop of T-15 for domestic flights and a notional T-30 boarding time is printed on the BP.

I would thank AA for having gone the extra mile for you. Likely due to your onward international connections. Had you lingered a few extra minutes at the lounge and failed to make the T-15 deadline, you would have been seated other than in F and, depending on the load, might have been off-loaded entirely.

crazyarmadillo

That would have been a disaster, so now I know! Lesson learnt - tho after the first contact with AA cabin crew - a friendly smile and top-ups of the sparkling wine, all that was put to one side, as they were superb for the whole flight! I would thoroughly recommend this service - sorry for a bit OT there....

cmn.jcs

AFAIK, the 15 minute rule is common among US carriers--does BA have a different policy?

ellinj

Especially because unless you read the fine print you have no idea what you are buying. The website makes it seem like its a F ticket.

crazyarmadillo

Not too sure on exact policy as I have never needed to know.

I often turn up at the gate 10 mins, even 5 mins at times, before the gate closes, without ever having been paged at all - normally being one of the final passengers. I normally fly international Business so that could be a factor.

I think there could be more leeway with BA, maybe because most people on the routes I take, have checked baggage and BA would have to take the bags off, if the passenger does not turn up.

Also I believe the upgrade process works differently - well according to the folks on the BA board !

MADPhil

The published policy is:

"Ensure you know when your boarding gate closes and arrive on time as you will not be able to board your flight once the gate has closed."

At Heathrow you also have to pass "conformance" before security which is supposed to ensure that you have enough time to get to the gate, otherwise you are bumped to rebooking.

nrr

I've flown on the first flight of the day from jfk-lax many times. I usually leave the Admirals Club at T-35; on a few of these flts. at T-30 (on my way to the gate) I heard my name being paged on the airport PA system...when I arrived at the gate the plane was fully boarded, I was one of the last to board. If someone arrived at the gate at T-15, the plane may have departed.

fastflyer

Similar incident happened at ORD on Friday 3/28. I was relaxing in the G lounge (where I can keep an eye on the H gates), and I noted the inbound aircraft arrive at H-4 where I was scheduled to depart in about 30 minutes. Just as it parked, I gathered my things and started walking slowly toward the H/K terminal (normally a 10-minute stroll). As I was passing through the G terminal rotunda, I glanced at the departures board, and I was surprised to see my flight status listed as "Final Boarding."

I did quicken my step, and arriving at H-4 noted that my flight had not yet begun to board. I asked the gate agent, and she said that, yes, she had put the outbound flight in final boarding as soon as the inbound plane was at the gate, so that she could get everyone on board at once and not have to wait to close it.

ijgordon

I'm not new to AA but I think at some point in the not too distant past the 15 minute rule had been changed from a 10 minute rule and I wasn't aware. Myself and several others (unrelated) arrived at the gate from the AC at about T-13 and the door was shut. We collectively put up enough of a fuss and I guess the pilot wasn't ready to go anyway so he agreed to have them open the door again and let us board. I'm sure this was less hassle than re-accommodating us and dealing with complaints.

Often1

The published policy for AA for domestic flights is very simple and clear:

Arrive at the gate and be ready to board at least 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure

There is no conformance at any US airport and given that most pax use OLCI and most pax do not check luggage anymore, the sole indicator that a given pax is actually flying may well be that he shows up at the gate by T-15. It is entirely likely that the average AA domestic pax interfaces with one AA employee, namely the GA at the time the BP is scanned.