Checking in
 

Had trouble searching for this one on the wiki... is there value in checking in right at the T-24h mark, as opposed to checking in 2 hours before, as opposed to checking in at the airport kiosk upon physical arrival at the airport?

Related question - at what time do sticker upgrades switch from (potentially) clearing automatically to the Gate Agent's purview?

Thanks!

Can't answer your second question, but as for value in checking in as early as possible...it's all about seats and NOT being bumped. If the plane is oversold, and they need to force bump, they start with those who checked in last and work their way up. Also, if you haven't already reserved your seat, checking in sooner gives you better choices. Even if you HAVE reserved your seat, if you check in late (maybe weather delay or long line or computers down), your seat WILL be given away. I tell everyone, ALWAYS check in as soon as you can (T-24 is best). Less stress, less likely to get bumped, better choice in seats (or better chance of KEEPING said seats).

Are you sure about this? I have never heard this to be the case.

Quite sure. Seen it happen often enough to other people, that I made a mental note of it years ago. I've seen seats given away and seen people be forced to take later flights because they were bumped because they checked in late or at the counter and were not given a seat at check in. It happens all of the time.

Airlines have largely resorted to more generous voluntary compensation instead of bumping--it's extremely rare on domestic flights today. If you check-in late, you are subject to losing your confirmed reservation--not "late" as in the toward the end of check in window, but "late" as in less than 20-30 minutes before departure.

Whether you have a seat assignment or not, with a confirmed reservation, you will get on the flight as long as you arrive at the airport in a timely manner.

Hi - I am doing the AA Status Challenge and need to get to 12,500 by May 15. I am now 772 miles short.

In the old days, I would do LGA > DCA or BOS shuttle flights to get the minimum 500 miles - but it's not like that anymore is it?

Can anyone suggest something cheapish I could do to get these final few miles for the Platinum challenge?

Don’t forget you also must beet the EQD threshold as well.

Question as to what I'm entitled to in terms of rebooking after a canceled flight.

Six months ago, I booked an award trip for May 2019. 3 seats, coach, standard 30k one-way, MCI-MAD via PHL and LHR. MCI-PHL-LHR operated by AA, LHR-MAD operated by Iberia.

Last week, the MCI-PHL flight was canceled. It was a 1:12PM departure, and I've been rebooked on a 10:38AM departure to PHL.

Given that this is greater than 91 minutes' change, I believe I'm entitled to get a rebooking closer to my original flight times. There is a 12:55PM departure that would go via DFW to MAD - one stop, DFW-MAD operated by AA.

Of course that flight doesn't have award seats available - nothing does, and neither did the 10:38AM Philly flight either. But in the past, for a 2+ hour flight time change, I've been able to rebook. I tried phoning last week, got put on hold for 16 minutes, and then got an agent who had no idea what to do. She kept looking for "award availability" when I was trying to explain that this should no longer apply. She did not speak much English and I don't speak much of any other language, so I just thanked her for trying and left my reservation as-is.

Am I right? Am I allowed the change to MCI-DFW-MAD? Both flights are wide open in coach...selling all sorts of fares lower than B. It would save us a connection and save AA the need to put us on another airline's flight for a segment.

I will physically be in PHX today with an opportunity to speak to an agent in person. I just want to make sure I'm asking for something reasonable here.

The key to your statement is "timely manner". The original post was asking if it mattered if someone checked in late or early. I was pointing out that it does matter. And the compensation given for being bumped doesn't help if you needed to make that flight, but waited to check in at the desk or kiosk at the airport 45 minutes before the flight. Especially if you are one of the last ones to check in.

HUCA (or ask another agent) certainly applies here. Your request is reasonable and AA can certainly reaccommodate into non-award seats on their aircraft.

My point was simply that the statement below is inaccurate under current practices for domestic travel. Airlines provide compensation at levels sufficient to prevent denied boarding. Checking in 23 hours vs 6 hours vs 1 hour ahead of time is not relevant, as long as you meet the minimum required time set by the airline. I agree there may be a better selection for pre-reserving seats earlier in the process, but if you don't have seats assigned, you're likely on a basic economy fare, and may not have a choice in the location of seats anyway.

Well, now I've had strike #2 . Agent at MCI says that I cannot change anything because of the Iberia segment. :confused: At first, she said I'd just have to fly 1 Iberia segment, making it sound like I could change it. So I suggested MCI-MIA-MAD (not really knowing if that's even feasible). Then she said no, it has to be LHR-MAD.

Then I asked if being at a hub airport, at a Customer Service Center, would help, and she said "Maybe...they can do things I can't." So that's my next step - I'll be in Phoenix later today. She also suggested I could cancel the entire itinerary and get a redeposit and refund, but I'd rather not do that.

After that, I guess it's Twitter? Unless there's some secret backdoor phone number to a different department that won't put me on indefinite hold...

This used to be much easier. They cancel your flight or move it by greater than an hour or two, you get a reasonable rebooking. It's like they're inventing ways to be unfriendly on purpose, and I don't know to what end.

I booked an award ticket on Hawaiian air via AA, but I can't seem to access my trip on the Hawaiian air site using the record locator from AA. Do I just need to wait longer?

Has AA already issued the award ticket (i.e., do you already have a ticket number beginning with "001")? If so, you need to get the Hawaiian record locator. AA can give it to you.

You will have to call AA or HA and ask for your HA record locator. You could also try to look up the reservation using your ticket number, but the website might not be set up to recognize reservations with tickets issued by AA (tickets numbers starting with 001 are AA issued tickets, regardless of operating carrier).

Thanks guys! Was able to use the ticket number to find my reservation.

For a future schedule change on an award ticket like this you do not need to be asking agents in person at the airport. They will not be able to help and will just make stuff up like the agent you evidently talked to at MCI.

You need to call the normal AA reservations number, the same one you tried the first time. Tell them there was a schedule change on your itinerary, the new flight now leaves too early, and ask to put on the option through DFW. If you get another bad agent who insists there must be award availability on the new flight, just thank them and HUCA.

It's annoying to have to HUCA several times, but unfortunately with AA these days it's often the game you have to play in order to get the correct results.

I was on a paid first AA transcontinental flight last week that was delayed and then cancelled due to weather, and was rebooked on a much later flight in economy (no first was available at that point). I realize I could have refused and gotten a refund, but chose not to do so, and the IRROPs was on account of weather. However, if I complain, is there any chance of some downgrade compensation in miles or e-certificates?

No compensation per se since the cancellation was due to weather, however you should definitely file for a refund of the fare difference.

You accepted a voluntary change, so it could prove challenging.

Any compensation might depend on your detailed fare rules. If in essence your fare was considered an “instant upgrade” or the rules stipulated you could wait for an available seat but could take an earlier flight in Economy if that was available, you might get a few miles in your account - but I’d not count on that.

See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...aster-thd.html

Well AA refunded the expenses and Added 6000 miles to my account. BA said, though it didn't load the bags up until 4 days, they said AA will pay compensation. Not them

The final airline in a trip is ultimately responsible for baggage delivery, etc.

See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html

I still don't have this resolved. Went to Customer Service desk at PHX, and they said they couldn't do anything. I asked if there was any person, in person, anywhere, who could help me. They said no. They did connect me to a phone agent who again said I cannot change unless there is award availability. At least this agent quickly recognized that my flight was greater than 91 minutes' changed and that I had a right to a refund.

Is there any DoT guidance on this? I've never made a government complaint before but this is begging for one. How can an airline sell a ticket for a 1PM flight, then switch it to hours earlier, and then refuse a reasonable reaccommodation when plenty of seats in the cabin are available? Same exact fare basis is almost never available.

Well I've been around a while I guess, but this seemed as good a place as any to ask something I'm sure has been asked/answered lots but my (ok, admittedly cursory) searching didn't find?

What's up with "kettles" exactly? I mean I get that it's a derogatory term for uninformed/inexperienced/just-not-with-it flyers. But what's the etymology here or what analogy is being made?

I think this...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_and_Pa_Kettle

Haven’t flown AA in over two years. Vaguely recall reading a while back that AA still allows people in economy to move to any empty seat, including MCE, after the doors close. Is this still true? (I know this isn’t true on United or Delta.) Thanks.

For the most part, I would say this is still true although since MCE now includes free alcohol some FAs will police that now. YMMV, obviously.

AA Plat Pro • Status match possibilities?
 

Would any FTers be able to advise me as to whether my recently-gifted (by AA) Platinum Pro status (thru May 2019) might enable me to get a status match to another international airline?

I didn't seem to get very far with statusmatcher.com, alas.

Any replies very welcome!

Thank you :)

Many thanks, Joe -- that makes perfect sense. I guess I was pushing my luck anyway.

Thanks in any case. ;)

Traveling back from SE Asia in mid-May - a paid ticket, Business (I) so not full fare J. It's a AA codeshare, operated by JAL - HKG-NRT-ORD, JAL both legs.

I have an 18 hour layover @ NRT.

Can I extend that layover another day?

Yes. You can spend a month in Tokyo if you want, all you have to do is pay the fare difference and change fee for whatever the new fare is to fly HKG-NRT and then NRT-ORD on the new flight 42 hrs later.

Most tickets can be changed. You need to call the airline or travel agent that issued the ticket. The fare rules, not I or J booking class, will dictate whether there are fees to change the ticket and/or add a stopover at NRT (on international tickets, flight segments more than 24 hours apart are generally considered a voluntary stop rather than a connection).

Thanks - I'll give AA a shout, but not holding my breath - ran some quick web pricing on both JAL and AA and I get prices 3x to 11x what I've already got in hand.

The ticket may not require repricing at current fares. Changes on international tickets can often be made if class of service (I in your case) is available for just the change penalty and/or the stopover fee. If only J is available, there will definitely be an upcharge, though.

This is the AA forum, I'm sure if you ask this over on the BA forum you will get lots of recent data points.

Can we have 2 different cabin classes on the same PNR? For example, can we buy premium economy and coach tickets together at the same time? If so, if the elite (gold) is sitting in premium economy, can the others sit in MCE or preferred seats? Trying to keep us all together (relatively) while being sensitive to a tall family member who can't stand coach on long flights. Thanks!!

No, it's not possible to have multiple people in different classes of service on the same flight in the same PNR. So to keep it all on the same PNR, you either need to book everyone in Premium Economy or everyone in Economy. And if the elite member is in a different cabin, then it's not possible to use their elite seating privileges for others to get MCE or preferred seats for no charge.