Int'l Downgrade at Gate

 
Old Jan 19, 2015, 7:16 am
  #16  
 
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Sad, yes. Shattering, no.

AA ticketing snafus have left me with no seat at all in Calcutta and Bombay, and travelling companion in Kuala Lumpur over the last three years. It was only when they actually refused to help in the final case, even after admitting it was their fault, that I finally stopped flying them.

If it really was shattering, one should vote with one's feet and dollars. Just stop flying them.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 8:26 am
  #17  
 
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There's always the chance that someone showed up at the airport with cash (well, credit card) in hand and was willing to buy an F seat, and if J inventory was gone, your friend was bumped all the way back into the class originally paid for.* I've been responsible for a similar situation a few times in 2014 - the agent at the desk even told me that I was going to make someone very unhappy as she issued my ticket and BP. As someone who upgrades a fair amount of time, I felt bad for the people who lost their upgrades, but at the same time I really needed to get to where I was going, the only inventory available at +2 for sale was F, so I did what I had to do.

*I have NO idea what the mechanics are to issue a BP in F when the original fare is Y and the upgrade is to J...would the inventory available for sale in F not have been reduced in this situation, allowing for someone to buy the seat even though it had been assigned?
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 9:31 am
  #18  
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I also wonder whether the original GA properly documented the 2-class freebie UG. Unfortunately, when you are handed a gift, you can hardly say, "by the way, did you do this right", but it is entirely possible that this looked like an unsupported UG and thus shennanigans by the original GA.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 9:33 am
  #19  
 
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Angry Notice no one getting upgraded on some flights - Top Tier Flyers Need to Unite

So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 10:01 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
So, you want AA to give away seats that they can sell for $$'s?

I love my upgrades when I can get them but if I really want to fly in F I will buy the ticket. I will take my chances with the upgrade lottery when I do not buy the F ticket.
I am EXP and I buy many last min tickets with no chance of an upgrade, I can live with that because I do not pay for F so I don't get F.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 10:23 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
You are, I take it, talking about domestic freebies, not international UG's which are almost always supported by cash or some instrument (but not in this limited circumstance).

This is the world of three legacy carriers with reduced competition, capacity cut and a much improved economy with more paid F.

It also makes economic sense. AA is a for-profit carrier with a duty to return shareholder value. You may or may not be able to jump ship to UA or DL, but even if you are, you will not find things substantially different there.

WFBF.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 11:26 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
I'm with Often1... if you think things are any different at DL or UA you will be extremely disappointed. I switched from DL (legacy NW) and have been thrilled my UG % at AA. I buy discount first all the time (lots of terrific fares out there if you look!) but have absolutely zero problem with sitting in the Y seat I purchased if that is where I ultimately end up. AA gives me access to MCE and exit row seats at NC, which is a pretty good deal IMO (in addition to a high % of comp UGs).
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 1:42 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
Actually, this started a couple of years ago, while AA was in bankruptcy.

Revenue Management currently apparently holds EVERY J and F seat until boarding, in the hope that someone would walk up to the gate at the very last minute and pay full fare.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 1:56 pm
  #24  
 
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Worst "at-gate" downgrade story I ever had, I was flying JFK-LAX. Had been upgraded to J in the Admirals Club on a late-morning flight after being cleared off the standby list. BP in hand, I made my way to the gate. GA took my BP, apologized and told me "another passenger with higher status checked in," and gave me another BP for the first row of MCE in Y. Flight was fine, I enjoyed my free BOB food and drink and stretched out my legs. No big deal, I never asked for compensation or wrote in because I felt like I wasn't due any or didn't need to say anything, but I've always been curious as to why I got booted from J. I guess I lost my seat because I was standing by for an earlier flight, but I've always wondered.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 1:59 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
So as a US Chairman, soon to become Executive Platinum I am noticing a disturbing trend. Some flights I have been on upgrade no one and keep selling the seats right up to day of departure - come on - why should we be loyal?
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines. We should know how many upgrade seats are available at time of booking - who wants to watch day after day while no one gets upgraded and seats are just available for sale. Because once all the flights are booked business people will have to book first so you lose.

What is with this new trend?
If you are talking about AA sticker upgrades for elites, the answer is that no upgrade seats are available at time of booking. That's not the model AA (or USdbaAA or any other airline) uses now.

Those upgrades are purely leftovers - that is inventory that would go unsold so it is then given away (for EXP/CP) or sold to other elites. Now they don't entirely wait to see what is not sold as RM has models that generate expected value of sold seats so as they get closer to departure, there is a significant probability that a number of seats will not be sold. If a flight has 16 F seats and only 2 are sold 48 hours before the flight, there is a pretty high probability there is 1 empty seat, a slightly lower probability 2... So, they start issuing upgrades then.

Why should we be loyal? In the last year, I have been upgraded on 90+% of my domestic segments. That, plus 8 SWU's (actually 9 last year - I used them all) is reason enough for me.

Last edited by JMN57; Jan 19, 2015 at 2:44 pm
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 2:50 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by brewdog11
Worst "at-gate" downgrade story I ever had, I was flying JFK-LAX. Had been upgraded to J in the Admirals Club on a late-morning flight after being cleared off the standby list. BP in hand, I made my way to the gate. GA took my BP, apologized and told me "another passenger with higher status checked in," and gave me another BP for the first row of MCE in Y. Flight was fine, I enjoyed my free BOB food and drink and stretched out my legs. No big deal, I never asked for compensation or wrote in because I felt like I wasn't due any or didn't need to say anything, but I've always been curious as to why I got booted from J. I guess I lost my seat because I was standing by for an earlier flight, but I've always wondered.
And as good a reason as any to hold UG's to the gate. If there are 3 seats available, the GA can always ask the top 3 on the list to wait at the gate until T-15. At that time, the UG's are processed and it's done with.
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Old Jan 19, 2015, 6:29 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by nrr
It's nice to know people in "high places".
Even if one has NO status, AA employees (GA's in particular) should not treat pax badly.
The only way AA could know that a pax has been slighted is when he complains.
Even if I weren't CK, I would have called AA's Customer Service until someone answered and pulled up the flight so that they could see what was happening since it was a day flight and still during standard business hours.
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Old Jan 20, 2015, 9:25 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by fly747first
Even if I weren't CK, I would have called AA's Customer Service until someone answered and pulled up the flight so that they could see what was happening since it was a day flight and still during standard business hours.
Doubt a rank-and-file phone CS agent would rat out a GA to a pax over the phone, even if they could clearly see that funny business was going on. They'd either have deferred to the GA, or you'd have still been on hold, watching the aircraft push back.
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Old Jan 20, 2015, 10:28 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by talkingtalent
Top tier flyers need to unite and demand more transparency from Airlines.
We should go form our own airline. With hookers and blackjack!

Thank you for flying FTAir
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Old Jan 20, 2015, 1:58 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by flyingmusicianlax
Wow, that's awful. I suspect it may have had something to do with the upgrade in class without the appropriate mileage deducted? I'm not sure how IRROPS with mileage tickets compare to revenue tickets on AA.

That said, I'm not sure your friend will get more compensation beyond what he's been offered. They probably paid him the standard amount for a downgrade from J to Y on an award... he might be able to fight for the removal of F and the (very) poor service given by the G/A, but not guarantees that will result in any goodwill.
$300 for a J to Y downgrade ORD-LHR? That sounds really, really low.
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