Pickles

Yea, it seems there's something up in the air these days. My data point: Mrs. Pickles and I flew DFW-BOS yesterday. We both had paid A-fare tickets, mine (EXP) confirmed at booking, hers (PLT) got waitlisted. Came in from our connecting flight, with a 3 hour layover in DFW. Went to the AC to kill time, where her position on the waitlist was re-confirmed as #1.

Head to the gate, arrive at T-30, and pretty much the whole plane had boarded already, and as we were arriving Mrs. Pickles was paged, and it was clear that from the page that this was a second (or maybe third) page. Picked up her upgrade, and you should have seen the faces of other people hanging around the GA area, as it was clear everybody was waiting for her to be a no-show so she'd be skipped...

Once on board, somebody was brought up from the back to an empty seat in F, so in the end it seems there was yet another empty seat in F for a lucky winner.

The point is, of course, if boarding is at T-30, shouldn't AA at least wait for T-30 before giving stuff away from people who are not doing anything "wrong", like show up at the gate 10 minutes before departure, or something of the sort?

abk

Last week on Dfw-Mia we walked up to the gate at T35 to here last call for the flight. I was kind of shocked as the boarding pass said boarding at T30

fastflyer

During a delay or IRROPS, I try to ascertain the status for my flight. If it is inbound equipment, I tend to check in with the gate when the inbound aircraft arrives. That way, if I need to stick around I do, and if I may return to the club, I do.

The GAs are harried and their primary objective is to dispatch flights as quickly as possible when all the pieces are in place. As someone upthread noted, this situation was not just about an upgrade; the OP was completely offloaded. Technically, this was not contrary to policy, as on delayed flights all passengers must be at gate from T-15 _of the original flight time_

I like to spend time in the AC, but on a domestic delay, I keep within earshot of the gate once the plane is there. On international delayed flights, the AC staff will usually alert the club when boarding begins. It's also always a good idea to let the club desk know when you are on a delayed flight. For these JFK-LAX transcons, the club will also sometimes make announcements. They certainly will call the gate to announce a passenger en route close to boarding time.

This is a separate problem, mentioned in several posts upthread. Probably deserves its own thread.

I've experienced this lately also: DFW-PBI and ORD-BOS both in 2015. On a non-delayed flight where I have a longtime confirmed seat in First, I usually pull up to the gate at T-32 or T-33 (departing the club at T-35). In both of these cases, the flight was nearly fully boarded -- really just sending pax down the jetway, and the GA was beginning closing announcements.

I can live with early (T-45 or T-40) boarding, as long as AA implements it _consistently_ and _publicly_

If GAs start making up their own rules, especially if they offload pax before T-15, then we have a problem.

tylerdurden4543

You can't be serious? If your flight is delayed 4 hours you would just sit there at the gate rather than the AC because you believe AA can give away your seat at any point once T-15 the original departure time has passed?

I had this too a few weeks ago MIA-ORD. Final call for all passengers at T-45. We were shocked as were many other passengers.

The kicker - after the scramble, the flight pushed back an hour late due to a broken seat in Y (don't get me started on the fact that the aircraft arrived at MIA 12 hours prior to our flight so would have had plenty of time to fix it).

beerup

It depends on the type of delay. Some delays (e.g., late incoming flight) can cause the flight to be rescheduled. In those cases jordyn would be correct, because the GA would show up at T-60 from the new scheduled time and the passenger needs to be at the gate at T-15 from the new scheduled time. However, for some delays (in particular circumstances that lead to rolling delays) the flight is not rescheduled and so a GA will be there T-60 from the original scheduled time and remain there until the flight departs, is rescheduled, or is cancelled. For those types of delays, Often1 is correct because the passenger should technically be at the gate at T-15 from the original scheduled time, because there is not a rescheduled time, but a delayed time.

...and just to add, it's not always transparent whether a flight is rescheduled or delayed from the original scheduled time. Therefore, the PAX may not know which of the scenarios apply. Often1's suggestion of going to the gate and asking the GA, if present, whether you can leave or not is sound advice.

MSPeconomist

IME asking the GA whether you can go to the lounge to wait always results in a NO answer, even when there is absolutely no way that the flight can leave in the next hour.

beerup

Not "always" in my experience, but point taken!

VickiSoCal

Once you download the BP you don't need to use the app, you can turn off data and wifi and it will still be there. Once you've done that, it should be the same as having a paper one, not something that can be reclaimed.

Exec_Plat

And if you are really paranoid, take a screen capture of the boarding pass so they cannot change it...ive had BPs change in the app.

I love that term here...gives me a chuckle

Gate agents seem to despise passengers hanging around the gate, repeatedly asking about status, position, clearing, etc.

AA should recognize that scrupulously following rules, including upgrade processing and time cut offs will allow the public to rely on them and not feel compelled to ask every 10 minutes.

Viajero Millero

I went through my phone and I actually do have a screenshot of the BP.

Confirmed in F, seat 6F. With the time on my phone showing 9:45am. Boarding scheduled for 10:00am and departure at 10:30am.

Disarray

"I had a flight from JFK to LAX today. I arrived at AC around T-45 and found out that my upgrade has been cleared. The agent printed me the new boarding pass showing Business class cabin – everything seemed to be good so far. I then went to the restroom and changed for more comfortable clothes for the 6-hour flight. When I arrived at the departure gate at T-25, the GA told me that I lost my upgrade and confirmed seat"

Had the same thing happen JFK/LAX in January. Only difference was it cost me a SWU.

American is trying its best to push me to Delta and it is about to work.

Mark_T

People do need to complain about loss of upgrades that have previously been confirmed.

There is no point in AA implementing all the features in the App like the upgrade list and the mobile boarding pass if the GA just decides to revoke them based on undocumented, arbitrary and unnecessary time limits of their own invention ...

Plato1

And a bit off but.....

I'll ask the GA if Biz or First has boarded full (if I'm first on the UG list so I know if I should board )

And the response has been a few times "biz/ first has boarded full " and then I get on and half the seats are empty???

Boarded and checked in are two very different things

This is their job- finish the task
If you went to work and only did part of what was expected of you how long would you continue to have a job?
But I have encountered many more fantastic AA employees than the ones not following thru.

Lucky for me many of my UG have cleared ahead of time.

Andaz5

Well word to the wise.... it seems they are boarding these flights earlier these days. I know I had seen a message a week or two ago.... the door may close 10 minutes before departure and to be sure to be at the gate no later than 20 minutes before departure or you may loose your seat. This was at LAX.... LAX - JFK.

Welcome to the new USAir... I mean American.

VickiSoCal

Send it to aa customer service. There is no point in having the app if it is not a valid method of retrieving a new boarding pass.