PHL: Sir please put your tagged bags on the carousel. ...???
 

I just checked in one bag on my flight to ATL from PHL today and right about the time I was to leave the check-in counter, I was told to put the bags on the carousel behind the counter. ...? Even Spirit or Frontier or Ryanair wouldn't go this low. If this is the new procedure, which was confirmed to me by over 8 different employees and the "Check-in" lady at the lounge then I think my days at AA are numbered.

I'm already lifetime Platinum so I have nothing to lose, but, this nickle and dime from "Dougie" might be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

:mad::mad::mad:

Wait -- the agent wanted you, the passenger, to go behind the check-in counter and drop the bag on the belt??

Was this at the new self-check? If so, what is the question?

Yup. Doug Parker literally pulled up your itinerary -- you personally -- on his Panopticon screen, and ordered an agent to treat you this way. Much like a Star Wars villain, he thrives on feeling the anger and hate that flows through you.

Or, y'know, PHL. pmAA had stations known for their surly, useless make-up-rules-to-avoid-work employees. pmUS did, too, and PHL is the big one.

This has been going on at least since August:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...gage-belt.html

While I sure others appreciate the humor in the last paragraph. Not everyone flies through PHL on a regular basis, and thus may not be privy to the proclivities of the pmAA and pmUS staff members there. Did the OP note that this is a change of service level from the staff there? Or does he just not travel there often?

It's ridiculous. I have to walk my car seat down to oversize and put it on the belt myself each time. Including when I'm at the check-in counter immediately adjacent to the belt.

What's going on here? Lazy workers? Who's managing this station?

Maybe the day is approaching where we will get to use their computer/terminal to do their work for them too! Just think of the upgrade options then!!

I think it ~might~ be a gender thing.

The men will do it, the women will tell you to put your bag on the belt (based on my somewhat limited experience).

It really is lazy of them.

If it was true self-check, where I would print my own bag check thing (whatever it's called) and put in on my bag myself, then sure, I'll lay it on the carousel. They aren't so busy that they can't do it.

Think how much more effort and cost they could save if we had to take our bag out to the aircraft and stow it in the baggage compartment. Or as a partial step, handle all baggage the way AE does gate checked ones - haul your bags through the terminal and toss it onto a trolley as you board.

I remember at JFK T4 when you had to wheel your own bag to the TSA xray "pile". This sounds lazy; I'm all for the automated baggage check that Qantas use in Oz. Maybe she was just trying to accelerate the person replacement project...

http://autobagdrop.com.au/case-studies/qantas/

This is standard for JetBlue at JFK T5, for instance.

Pure laziness. There is a difference between having to take your luggage over to a TSA machine or a true self-check versus the agent refusing to handle the bags. MCO has the same setup and the agents there take the bags.

I hope you all are complaining to AA about this, not just on here ...

This is just my (admittedly limited) experience but it's recent so mentioning. Flew PHL-MCO just this past Weds 1/6. Checked in using kiosk in FC lane, my one bag was tagged, and I was not asked to do anything else but have a nice flight. Female employees both behind counter and at kiosk. Man checking in just before me was not asked to place his bag on carousel either.