FlyMeHomeAA

I am exec plat and was flying from DFW-MIA today on flight 905, a 777 sold as a two class flight. I was booked in 10J as a coach seat.

As of this morning, my upgrade did not clear to F so I requested to be put on the wait list at the airport upon check-in. The agent said I was #2 but it did not look good so I should board with the rest of coach.

Just prior to boarding, I was called back to the desk and was asked to sit tight for a few. A few moments later, I was given seat 3D, a 777 Suite. This was my first time in the suite so you can imagine how excited I was.

I boarded, put my carryon away and got comfy. About 20 minutes later, the captain came on the loud speaker and said we were going to delay leaving because we were waiting for 17 connecting folks who were running late. About a minute or two later, the gate supervisor came on board and asked me to vacate my seat because one of the 17 connecting passengers paid full fare for his first ticket and was to take my seat. The supervisor said he was putting me in 13E, a middle seat.

I was disappointed but what was I to do? I did insist to the purser that I really wanted my original seat back, 10J if I was not going to be able to sit in F. She pulled some strings and did so. The rest of the flight attendants were stunned by what happened with the gate supervisor, including the purser. They offered me a free $3/box of goodies but I declined with a thank you. They were so nice.

So my question is, had this ever happened to anybody before? I actually felt quite embarrassed as the people around me in F looked as if I did something wrong. Is it worth contacting Customer Service given that I really was back where I started in 30 minutes worth of time? I have the name of the supervisor on hand if that helps.

Thanks,

Mike

zman

Looks like gate attendant closed the flight as she should 10 minutes before. That is how you got your upgrade. BUT someone in management decided to hold the flight due to a late inbound and a large number of people. Things happen. Yes it happens. I hve both been requested to move and I have been one of the lates' where some one else had to move. What whoulo you want to happen if you were the one they held the flight for due to a late inbound.?

FlyMeHomeAA

To answer your question honestly, I would have expected to miss my connecting flight and be placed on the next one. Isn't that how it normally works? Also, they gave away my 10J when they upgraded me. When I went back after I was given 13E, 10J was still empty. So why in the world would I get 13E instead of 10J? Did they give that suddenly to one of the 17? Does not make any sense to me.

bocaEXP

Just so happens I was on that same flight in 1J. If its any consolation I did not see this happen. Lucky for me my upgrade went through last night.

It was also my first chance to try out the suites. They were amazing. I wish it was a longer flight.

Sorry I dont mean to rub it in....

Jumpcut

I was once given an upgrade by a gate agent with the caveat that if the person whose seat I was taking showed up before the door closed, I would have to move back to coach. He didn't show up and I stayed.

benoit

I would expect AA to factor in the # of missing passengers and length of wait in making their decision whether to hold the flight. They probably wouldn't hold a flight for a long time for a small number of passengers, but might hold it for a tiny wait and a large number of passengers. They would do whatever is in their interests as a company.

fly747first

The B777 MIA-DFW-MIA flights are notorious for their difficulty to upgrade. In fact, on May 25 I flew AA 908 MIA - DFW, and though there were 8 seats available in F 3 days before the flight, AA did not release a single upgrade until 4 hrs prior to the flight. I was lucky to get upgraded. If it weren't for two DFW-MIA legs on a B777, I would have a 100% upgrade success rate on AA. Yes, AA would take away a seat from an upgraded pax if they discover that I paid F customer does not have an F seat. I think last week there was another thread on how an Exec Plat was downgraded after being upgraded on a LAX - JFK flight because they needed his seat for a paid F passenger.

JGR01

The reason for the wait for the 17 connecting passengers was probably VERY self-serving by American. The probability that the NEXT flight to DFW (and even the next one) was heavily overbooked and these international connecting passengers (probably South America) could not be accomodated for several hours (maybe even far later in the day).

Gate agents follow the 10-minute rule pretty closely. UNLESS there is more information that is fed to them. Then they can be pretty much tyrants!

STL-JFK connecting to BDA (my weekly trip a while back before the STL schedule-change).. got into JFK early .. but were stuck in ground traffic for a LONG time. Got to the gate exactly ten minutes before my departing flight was due to leave. Of all times, the connection was in T9 right across the concourse from our arrival! WOOOO I could make the flight (which was the last of the day). Plane was sitting there and Jet-bridge retracted. HEY I am confirmed J on this flight .. I am here .. the plane is here . I want ON IT! There were at least 5 other confirmed J pax around me from my delayed connection saying the same thing.

This was soon after all the cut-backs in 'hotel accomodations' as in AA will never pay for hotel for any reason.. but the GA's were saying 'we have you booked in a hotel for the night and confirmed on tomorrow morning flight .. tho J is full'. They finished the voucher and rebooking paperwork .. and sent us on our way .. all BEFORE our plane actually pushed back from the gate.

Putting 2 and 2 together .. flight was oversold . they used the 10 minute rule and filled the entire plane up on the assumption our flight would not arrive in time. There were no seats left for the connecting pax and SOMEONE made this decision. So we were stuffed...until the next morning.

I BET something like this happened with these 17 connecters.. that there would be no seats open for many hours.

SHAME you did not get the upgrade but at least you got your J-class Y-service seat back. A letter of complaint would not be out of line.. you were upgraded by following the Gate Agents procedures.. then pulled from the seat.

Plato90s

Somebody is always unhappy. Right now, you're disappointed about the lost upgrade. If the flight had not been held, there's probably 1 EXP somewhere on that flight complaining that he could have ran to the gate to make the connection if only....

It's a darn shame, but things like this do happen.

pvcnco

Same thing happened to me on AA67 LHR-ORD-DFW.
I was #1 on ug list on the ORD-DFW leg (same 777), originaly on 11J, until they canceled our flight. I found out via sms on my cel when sitting at Admirals club, I somehow did not hear the page.

Ended up on an MD80 30 minutes earlier, cramped in middle seat, back of the plane, too late to grab dinner, etc. I couldn't complain because a bunch of full fare J from LHR are sitting next to or behind me. Boy were they mad.

Of course, my bags didn't make it either. I usually carry on, but colleague checked a bunch, so I figured what the heck... Big mistake.

Nothing I could do, nothing I could complain about. It was our 777 that broke on landing... So I understand OP's frustration. Sorry it happened, but i guess you know many others get it worse.

Pickles

One time not too long ago (maybe six months ago, or so), AA held a JFK-NRT flight for over an hour because 11 passengers on that flight (including yours truly) were stranded in BOS trying to get out on an AE flight that had a mechanical. We ended up commandeering another AE flight to take us to JFK with about an hour delay.

They figured (correctly) that it would be easier to hold the JFK-NRT than to rebook 11 people the next day on who knows what airline. The coolest part is that as soon as we arrived at T9 in JFK, the 11 of us were boarded on a small bus and taken directly to the waiting 777 in T8. We boarded the plane through the stairs between the jetway and the ground (the ones that have wheels and move along with the jetway).

A number of people on the JFK-NRT flight ended up missing onwards NRT connections just so 11 of us didn't miss the longhaul.

hauteboy

This happened to the pax next to me on a CDG-ORD flight earlier this year; I was waitlisted for an upgrade until the last second (2 seats were still available), I was one of the last to board. A few minutes after sitting down the FA came up to the lady next to me and told her the person with her seat had shown up. I wondered why they didn't pull my seat instead (I was EXP, using an e-VIP, maybe she had lower status?).

Blumie

Well of course it was. They're not in business to be selfless. They're in a lose-lose situation: if they depart on time, they strand 17 passengers, some of whom presumably are flying on to international destinations; if they wait, they inconvenience all those already on board. But they've got to do something, so they consider a number of variables, and you bet that profit maximization is high on the list. And they understand that inconveniencing a plane full of passengers isn't necessarily consistent with revenue maximization, so I am pretty sure (in fact I know from experience) that they are not flip about the decision to hold a flight.

JHL

I actually experienced both sides of this problem on the same trip about 10 years ago.

My outbound flight was SFO-JFK-CDG in business class. I had an upgrade coupon for first from JFK to CDG, and was given a boarding pass in first. After sitting there for about 5 minutes I was asked to move back to business class to make room for another passenger. It was a little embarrassing and I think other passenger thought I was poaching a seat. The rest of that flight was pure hell as I was forced to sit surrounded by models on their way to some fashion shows in Paris

The return flight was CDG-DFW and I once again tried to use my upgrade coupon. This time my request was granted and was not rescinded. After takeoff, the pilot report "a little red light is on" and he proceeded to dump fuel as we were diverted to LHR where they apparently had the necessary parts for the repair. I was grateful to be sitting in first class because we were reasonably comfortable for the 60 minutes we sat on the tarmac waiting for the problem to be resolved. This delay meant that my connection in DFW was going to be tight, but they did hold the plane for me. As I hurried into the cabin I caught the end of a heated debate between a passenger and flight attendant over my seat. The passenger evidently was concerned that my seat in 2-class first was going to waste and we wanted to upgrade. As you can imagine he was not at all happy to see my slip into the seat and buckle up for takeoff.

bbkenney

They have upgrade wait lists on International flights?