nutwpinut

According to the OP, did not get conflicting information until after they left for the airport. Sounds like it was 5:59 -> 6:20 -> 6:55 and then they left for the airport and on the way to the airport it went back to 5:59.

This has been a problem with AA for a while now. Push the departure 15-20 minutes 2-4 times and then they decide to board a lot earlier without updating the departure time until 10 minutes before the plane leaves.

--- Added ---

Unfortunately, I don't think you will get anything more than a refund. They were probably waiting for a window to take off and were told it wouldn't be until much later and then suddenly they were told they could leave in 30 minutes and so they boarded quickly and left.

matt85

To rely on the app alone is risky. Here's an experience I've made about a month ago:
I was connecting in ORD to fly to Europe (CDG). When I arrived from my first leg, there was a 2 hour delay and I had in total 3 hours to kill until boarding, so I headed to the lounge, got dinner, monitoring the status via app every 10 minutes or so, but nothing moved. Still in the lounge, 90 min to the delayed departure, I suddenly got a different status: Departed, 5 minutes ago. What a shock! I refreshed status again, but it remained the same. I grabbed my stuff and ran to the gate - totally unreasonable, given it was showing departed, but I figured what else can I do. While running there, I checked the monitors, and the flight wasn't even listed for some reason. When I arrived at the gate: No plane in sight, and the gate monitors didn't show any info about this flight. At that point I almost gave up, got in line at the gate to ask about options and getting ready to complain about that there was no announcement in the lounge, no status update in the app whatsoever... But soon I realized that the flight was still delayed and the plane hadn't even pushed to the gate yet! The app status was just plain wrong. Soon later that status refreshed again and this time it showed the correct departure. But that was an experience I'd rather not repeat, any time.

swag

Yup, arriving at 5:55 for a 6:20 flight can work, but not with bags to check.

Flight delay emails do note "Please be at your gate as originally scheduled as American Airlines continues to make every effort to return your flight to an on-time schedule"

I usually ignore this, but know I'm taking my chances...

nutwpinut

The OP said it was then delayed to 6:55pm, so arriving at 5:55pm would make sense.

nutwpinut

This has happened to me several times as well. It shouldn't be this way though. The app and the monitors should show the proper time as they know it and if they do decide to board early they should update the app and monitors ASAP to let people know they have made this decision.

Often1

A miserable day, but this was unfortunately self-inflicted. Presume that OP was booked on AA 3574 at 5:59 PM. AA requires that passengers be at the departure gate no later than T-15 which was, for this flight, 5:44 PM. At that point, all bets are off.

The information OP received was not "conflicting" but it was "changing". Screen shots won't help because FlightAware and AA's own records will confirm exactly what OP says. There were multiple changes throughout the afternoon and ultimately, the flight was moved back to its original time and then actually pushed 4 minutes early. I don't think that there was anything wrong with the information, it simply changed.

Delays expand and contract all the time. It is all the more common from NYC airports where ATC threads the needle and, if a slot is found, what was a delay can evaporate in a minute. While we do not know the reason for the multiple changes across the afternoon, we do know that the delay evaporated.

It was especially important for OP to be on time because the trip was time sensitive and important and he knew that it was the last AA flight out. AA is unlikely to do anything for him. DL and AA do not have an interline ticketing agreement and thus it will be solely a question of whether travel insurance will cover a no show for this reason (which is far from clear).

Best to show up as scheduled unless there is a clear indication from the carrier that the delay is lengthy and certain, e.g. you are at a small outstation and the only inbound aircraft is your aircraft and it is way behind schedule.

nrr

Unrelated to the AA App is getting to LGA, at times it is a gamble [airport construction causing road delays] cutting it so close is imprudent.
[It is not unheard of for pax to abandon their taxis and walk on the highway [Grand Central Parkway] to get to LGA.]

Antarius

Why publish a delay in a case like this then? If there is no benefit to any pax (such as leaving home later, staying in the lounge longer) then why 2 hours before would you publish it at all?

Just say on-time until much closer to the departure time and reassess?

cur

i dunno what kind of bizzaro world you're from (american airlines?) but once a flight goes delayed, it is entirely reasonable that the flight should stay delayed, or pax who show up for the revised time should be protected. this is not unreasonable and how ua, ac, lh, pretty much all other airlines function.

you don't delay something, then rescind it, then expect a person to abide by the rescinding. people's time is valuable and it's not unreasonable to delay your departure to an airport by an hour if the airline says you're delayed an hour. if your flight is delayed 2 hours, you're saying it's a gamble to show up to the airport 2 hours later? it's unreasonable to expect pax to go to the airport then wait on the airline's whim. if the airline thinks it could go out close to time it should do rolling 15 minute delays (or the symbolic 1 minute delay), not +60, then 0, the +30, then 0, then +20 then 0 again. that's bs and op deserves travel to their destination without penalty.

Geordie405

This is actually a very good point. If what is being asserted above is that you shouldn't ever rely on AA's updates regarding delays as they can (and do) change then why publish them at all? Every departing flight can simply be shown as "On Time" until the moment it's due to depart and then we can have a creeping delay. If there's no benefit to notifying passengers of a potential delay then why do it?

Ldnn1

Because passengers get annoyed and complain if you don't tell them either.

What a number of other airlines do (and what AA should do) for minor delays is provide you the update in the App but make very clear that the delay may be reduced and you should still get to the airport for the original check-in/gate closure times. That way the passenger knows that if they want to arrive late, they do so at their own risk. Only if the airline is sure that the delay will go beyond a certain time do they send out an update saying arrive later and check-in is extended.

flyalways

Personally since my work can be done anywhere there is good Wi-Fi, I am comfortable going to airport and
waiting it out. I just do not like the stress of arriving just in time. If the delays are significant (say 3 hours or more)
then I may delay my departure to airport but usually for such short changes in flight time that OP is
suggesting, I would not have changed my departure time. All airlines ask you to be around the gate area
at the planned departure time so even if delayed due to ATC or MX, they can load as soon they are ready
to leave...AA does not owe anything to OP except some CS recovery miles...

Having said that, AA should investigate a better way to display this on their app. Do not change the time if
the delay is 60 minutes or less. But once delayed stick to that time so people can plan their life little better.
That is how it should be.. My $.02.

Often1

There are a whole bunch of threads about the same topic, relating to not only AA, but UA, DL, and others as well. The answer for OP's purposes is "because that is the way it is now" and them's the rules that OP agreed to and it's what governs his tickets.

People would go equally crazy if carriers did not publish this information and they would rightfully say that it is their decision to make.

Same this with the recommendation that one arrive at the airport 90 minutes prior to departure. Certainly one need not and most make their flight. But, who makes the decision? The passenger.

OP asked what there is to be done. The answer is, not much. I don't know how the booking terms work for AA tickets booked with avios, but that is easy enough to check. As to the DL tickets and the bag fees, that is simply not going to happen, unless OP's insurance covers that (which I doubt).

nutwpinut

There are multiple threads of people checking in once the delay has been posted and the printed boarding pass is the delayed time, not the original departure time (this has happened to me as well). What happens then? Those who check in early have to show up on the original time, but those that check in later get to use the delayed time?

deac83

Nothing is guaranteed but rule #1 for me is: If my inbound air craft is late I'll hedge based on the delay. At somewhere like DFW, where they can bring a plane out of maintenance, that is a little more tricky. If they don't show the inbound delayed, I make sure I'm there in time to make the original time, although I'll cut it closer.

If the plane is there and it's a crew issue they can always put another crew on it and move the time back.

Also consider, we've all seen them load the plane and pull back so they can use the gate.