fly747first

probably because the connecting pax was on a paid F ticket

JJeffrey

Ok, but in the thread you started on this you said you were #1 on the upgrade list until last minute when someone bumped you to #2 (supposedly because they were connecting according to the GA). This is a far cry from someone "bumping you out of a confirmed seat in F".

It would be one thing if OP just cleared the last upgrade seat at the gate, only for the GA to reverse this last minute when a late arriving paid F connecting pax made the flight. Sucks, but understandable.

But OP's upgrade cleared 3 days prior, not to mention the flight originated in ATL, so I don't see any way a connecting F pax had anything to do with anything here.

Going with my gut, this just screams shenanigans and/or a bad GA that somehow did think row 5 was F and didn't want to fix their error once called out so just started making things up (although I'm still not sure how this is possible from a systems perspective, seems like their would be 3 other people in row 5 who thought they were in F too...).

Ilove2fly

Interesting. Last week, I was at the gate 50 minutes before scheduled take off for an UA flight. Talked to GA for an unrelated issue. Was told that because I didn’t answer their page; “someone took my upgrade”. Do these incidents mean that we should be at the gate to guard our upgrades instead of enjoying our time in the clubs, bars,or restaurants?

Antarius

Ever since they rolled out the upgrade list to the app, this problem largely has gone away. I get the push notification of a seat change and refresh my BP.

That said, in the past, this has happened to me. The GA paged some .......ized version of my name that I did not recognize and gave away my UG.

olouie

I hate being a gate lice, but this is why I always try and get to the gate early. Have had more than a few times (precovid) where my upgrades were given to someone else or seat assignment changed to something much less preferable. Its gotten a lot better recently so not sure if its still a big deal but if I am top of the upgrade list I'll get to the gate at least 30 minutes before boarding.

USFlyerUS

Since this was an A321, my guess is a plane swap, at some point from a plane with 5 rows of F to a plane with 4 rows of F. When this happens (or something else, like a broken F seat that cannot be used), AA has a process to downgrade passengers, which I believe starts with the last one to be upgraded and continuing until the situation is resolved. I can only guess that the person who bumped you was on a paid F ticket or upgraded prior to you. As for the GA's explanation, that doesn't make sense as, even if someone "wants" a seat, they won't just move you (unless it's for an air marshal).

The A321s will all have 5 rows of F by Spring 2022, so we're almost (finally) done with multiple configs of each plane type.

fly747first

Also, just for everyone's reference, sometimes gate agents process upgrades thinking that connecting passengers won't make it and in the end, these passengers show up. Lazy gate agents won't bother to downgrade pax fearing this will delay the flight's departure but technically, anyone with a decent knowledge of AA's rules can pressure the gate agents to honor their confirmed F seats, especially after a delay on the previous flight which gives pax less time to show up at the gate.

bse118

This.

A321s are a mess right now for seat changes, IME. In the last several weeks I've been on 3 or 4 flights on A321s that have gone through multiple aircraft swaps in the 24 hours prior to departure

• Two times: Booked for weeks in an exit row "infinite" legroom window seat, T-20something swapped to a non-MCE window (ugh), move myself back to a exit row aisle, swapped again T-10ish to a different non-exit row aisle
• Different flight: Upgraded at t-72. Auto assigned to 5D, move myself to 3D, plane swap somewhere before departure to a 16F version (no row 5 F)

Not sure what happened with OP's situation --- but A321s require close attention to seat assignments at the moment.

fly747first

Were these swaps out of DEN or were you connecting in DFW? My experience is that DFW is the capital of aircraft swaps

bse118

I think one was a DEN-DFW (but the swap likely occurred at DFW on the inbound), one was a connection at DFW, the other was out of SFO going to PHX (but the swap likely occurred at PHX on the inbound)

Noticed all this in the app of course, all these occurred inside of 24 hours before departure.

fly747first

I hear you. My usual DFW MIA 772s often change to the dreaded Zodiac configuration inside of 24 hours and often even much closer to departure, alas.

born sleepy

Apparently!

The config changed multiple times over a week. Before my UG cleared I was variously in row 9, row 6, row 9, etc.

When GA bumped me, my BP read 5D, group 2, but still said first class. This plus her claim that I was still in F got me out of her face and on the plane which seemed to be her only goal.

As for why I think the guy was not a solo CK, his wife/partner/girlf was already in 1A. He swapped with the guy in 1C who took my former 2D. I don't think he was a last-minute CK or paid F just by the confusion in general but I'll never know. It was all very weird.

cova

This may not be the right thread - but it appears that AA is having problems with their upgrade system.

Example: a few days ago I was on a CLT-SEA flight 32Q (neo). I was in Paid F.

At boarding time there was 5 empty F seats and 8 people on the upgrade list - but no clears.
After most were boarded - the list then showed 2 of the 8 upgraded.
However, the seat map did not update (still 5) - thus no seat assignment for those 2 which should be automatic.
(Note I use ExpertFlyer Seat Alert tool to see seat maps in Real Time, even after maps no longer show on AA site).

Turns out the agents did not move anyone up and the flight flew with 5 empty seats in F.

Speculation: the upgrade system was broken. They should have cleared 5 since the flight was almost ready to close.
I am guessing they did not want to go around and move people up from the list - since they may not have been able to process - ie take coupons for those Plat or less.

Also on the 32Q Neo - AA (for many flights) is only selling 16 out of the 20 seats. Appears to apply to flights in a market that could risk an aircraft swap.

Had a flight from LAS a few weeks before on a 32Q and gate agent said they only sell 16 out of the 20 F because of the potential for swap. Good for upgrades - IF they process them.

USFlyerUS

I'm not sure how accurate that is once a flight goes under gate control. I can't recall ever seeing a seat map update real time once that happens.

S80

I can't vouch for the accuracy, but I've received EF seat alerts several times once I've boarded and I'm in my seat while the GA is processing upgrades due to mis(ing/connecting) pax. To me, they seem accurate, as people have been pulled up into those empty seats, but, as always, ymmv.