JDiver

Don’t worry, as Project Oasis (tongue in cheek betting it’ll be Project Awaysis) rolls out to the 737 and A320 family of AA aircraft with the “exciting new” Rockwell Collins Meridian seats while WN runs the MAX 8 Meridians with 32” will agree with you.

WN worked well for me, particularly after PSA, AirCal and Reno were taken over and their route systems killed, for servicing clients as far away as mid-con. But of course, not so well for non-US travel or F/J travel or .

rufflesinc

Wait, you paid $75 and didn't even get a new ticket, just standby?

Antarius

Yes, but AA like other companies try to keep benefit and product separation. Say the JW Marriott has a lounge that can seat 50. There's only 5 eligible people staying there - one option is you bump everyone or some, the other is the club level stays empty and you try to upsell to others.

I just don't see this as an AA-is-horrible issue. Sure, AA COULD have done it for free, but they don't per policy. There isn't a universal right or wrong answer here, both sides have valid points. AA chose to go one way with their rules.

C17PSGR

As they explained it, it was a conditional charge. If I got on, I paid the $75 and if I didn't, I wouldn't get charged. It was obvious from the loads on ExpertFlyer that I would get on. However, the $75 charge showed up on my Amex immediately (I get Amex alerts on my phone.)

Seems to me this is the same policy AA has.

SDQBound

AA is just evil! I had CDG-MIA flight in Economy and wanted a business class seat. I asked the ticket agent if she had any seat available in business class and she asked me to pay 421 Euros! How insulting!!!
I will never fly AA again

BThumme

Yep. I valued not having a minimum spend requirement as more important then the change benefits. Now that both have minimum spend requirements, I go on to the next important factor for me, which is ease and cost of changing. UA clearly wins out, so I've moved back to them. If there was still no spend requirement at AA, I would put up with their very stingy same day confirmed change rules.

I know you're talking tongue in cheek, but there's a big difference from Y to J for free and Y to Y for free.

I tend to think it also makes sense for airlines to let passengers standby move for earlier flights to help alleviate any irrops that may occur later in the day.

jellybomb

I think that to..

rjw242

In both examples the passenger prefers one flight/class over another. Why not charge for something the passenger values?

bse118

WN's boarding system is simple? LOL. How can you get any more simple than "pay attention to the giant boarding group number on the your BP"? WN's system of assigning A,B,C groups is completely opaque to me. Check in right at the the 24 hour mark and still end up in the back half of B? What?

And I haven't ever paid a checked baggage fee on AA - elite status easily takes care of that.

Never mind that AA (and DL and UA) actually fly (or have partners that fly) to where I need to go.

WN's got it's niche. But let's not pretend it's a full service airline.

Antarius

Part of it is WN and people flying WN actually FOLLOW the process. AA's process is simple, but apparently it hasn't been beaten into the passengers yet that it needs to be followed.

writerguyfl

Not sure that analogy works, as the hotel would incur additional costs when placing people on a club level floor. But, an upgrade to a premium view (ocean, park, etc) wouldn't cost the hotel anything. Maybe that's a better analogy. Personally, I'd never complain that a hotel chain was horrible because they didn't give someone that isn't even an occasional guest something for like that for free.

Some concept holds for car rentals. I wouldn't expect free upgrades from economy to a premium cars for everyone just because those premium vehicles aren't reserved.

Superguy

My friend works for Enterprise and told me she always book as an economy car as most lots never have them, so she gets a much better car at economy rate. So at least from her perspective, she always gets an upgrade. I was never willing to take that chance though.

I've also seen several times where I could reserve an SUV from National for cheaper than economy car at times. Can't figure that one out.

Collierkr

beachmouse

WN can work well if your travel needs fall within some very rigid rules (which it's good at not showing but waiting until you run into them). I've flown them and found the product to be pleasant enough though I don't get the cult they have. But their system tends to totally fall apart when you're starting from an outstation and their computer system won't go over their hard connection time. Will WN sell me what should be a simple ticket between Pensacola, Florida and San Francisco (or Oakland or San Jose,CA) i? Not on a high percentage of days throughout the year because of the connection time. If I really want that route, I've got to book it as something like a Pensacola-Houston then Houston-San Francisco multi-city ticket to get there, and the two multi-city ticket option can easily run hundreds of dollars more than what American (or United or Delta) will sell me.

I'm a weirdo in FT terms who doesn't care about lounges or first class tickets or free alcohol on flights. I just want to be able to book a plane ticket to a destination without having to jump through too many hoops and for a reasonable price, and WN's flight schedules are a major fail out of my local airports. I'm currently sitting on a bunch of WN points right now because I can't find decent flight schedule options to use them on.

American and the rest of the legacies are just significantly more interested in doing business with people like in in places where I live.

As for the original poster, want ticket change flexibility, but the ticket where that's written into the terms and conditions of sale.

caburrito

If that happened 10 years ago, I would be annoyed. I would want the economy car as I have no desire to pay for the extra fuel on the SUV unless they provided a free tank to begin with. Nowadays, it's less of an issue as fuel economy has improved across the board and fuel is still relatively cheap.