Is taking 2 stickers for my wife’s upgrade worth complaining about?
Feb 7, 2019, 2:27 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA & UK -- AA EXP 3.5MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis President's Club
Posts: 6,411
You were a party of 2. There are three possibilities here:
- Nobody gets upgraded. (and no stickers get deducted)
- Both get upgraded (and stickets for the second pax get deducted, because the first pax gets a comp upgrade)
- One gets upgraded (and no stickers get deducted, because that pax gets a comp upgrade)
If both got upgraded then stickers should have been pulled. If only one got upgraded, then there are two ways to look at it:
- AA did the right thing and pulled no stickers, or
- AA did the wrong thing and pulled stickers.
Feb 7, 2019, 11:43 am
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: MIA
Programs: AA PPRO
Posts: 31
I accepted the upgrade, and then let her move up front so there was no "second passenger".
Feb 7, 2019, 12:17 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,302
the fact that most of the time, the courtesy is extended, doesn’t mean you are owed anything when it doesn’t happen. And unless you actually occupied the seat at some point, you upgraded your wife but not yourself. The fact that you’ve done it without stickers deducted all the other times doesn’t mean they were wrong to go by the rules this time.
Last edited by beachfan; Feb 7, 2019 at 1:57 pm
Feb 7, 2019, 7:22 pm
#20
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 255
the seat swapping, I believe, is allowed as a courtesy. But we’re you ever in the seat?
the fact that most of the time, the courtesy is extended, doesn’t mean you are owed anything when it doesn’t happen. And unless you actually occupied the seat at some point, you upgraded your wife but not yourself. The fact that you’ve done it without stickers deducted all the other times doesn’t mean they were wrong to go by the rules this time.
I do watch upgrade lists like a hawk and, rest assured, if someone is upgraded out of sequence, AA gets a complaint email. They don’t even bother to mince words when they reply and happily provide the details they have on what position on the list was upgraded and confirm it was out sequence. The apology and customer service gesture ensues, with recognition that policy was not adhered to.
Feb 7, 2019, 8:02 pm
#21
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: USA & UK -- AA EXP 3.5MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis President's Club
Posts: 6,411
If this travesty (deducting stickers when they're not supposed to be deducted) stands, what prevents AA from making the same mistake every time?
It was a party of two. One passenger gets comp upgrades. The other passenger has to pay for upgrades. There's only one upgrade available. What's the right procedure??
Obviously, the passenger who gets comp upgrades gets that one remaining upgrade. It doesn't make any difference whose actual butt is in which seat. It was a party of two. Only one upgrade ... the FREE one ... cleared. It's pure baloney if AA gets to clear the expensive one then claim that the free one never cleared.
OP should contract AAdvantage Customer Service and get the mistake corrected.
It was a party of two. One passenger gets comp upgrades. The other passenger has to pay for upgrades. There's only one upgrade available. What's the right procedure??
Obviously, the passenger who gets comp upgrades gets that one remaining upgrade. It doesn't make any difference whose actual butt is in which seat. It was a party of two. Only one upgrade ... the FREE one ... cleared. It's pure baloney if AA gets to clear the expensive one then claim that the free one never cleared.
OP should contract AAdvantage Customer Service and get the mistake corrected.
Feb 7, 2019, 8:43 pm
#22
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FNT, but DTW if I can't help it
Programs: AAdvantage Former EXP/Current PLT / Total Rewards - Diamond / Hilton HHonors - Gold
Posts: 757
Is this seat swapping allowance official AA policy or a listed benefit? Quite frankly, if I were the next person on the list after the OP, I would be very upset. If he didn’t take the upgrade, it should go to the next person on the list. If that person were his wife, stickers should be deducted unless she is Platinum Pro or higher. This “I get an upgrade but I am giving it to my significant other” is people circumventing policy.
I do watch upgrade lists like a hawk and, rest assured, if someone is upgraded out of sequence, AA gets a complaint email. They don’t even bother to mince words when they reply and happily provide the details they have on what position on the list was upgraded and confirm it was out sequence. The apology and customer service gesture ensues, with recognition that policy was not adhered to.
I agree that AA should credit back the stickers, but can see why they may not.
Feb 8, 2019, 1:15 am
#23
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 255
His wife would have the same priority on the list and would therefore be next on the list if she was traveling with him. One of them would have gotten the upgrade no matter what, and it has zero bearing on anyone else further down the list.
I agree that AA should credit back the stickers, but can see why they may not.
I agree that AA should credit back the stickers, but can see why they may not.
If the policy/benefit does not state that upgraded passengers can give the upgrade to whomever they please, regardless of what practice has become commonplace, then the certificates should be deducted. When policy is stretched or ignored, it leads to inconsistencies and issues down the line...which is a big part of the reason why there are so many complaint threads on the forum.
Feb 8, 2019, 5:08 am
#24
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SE Wisconsin
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond for Life
Posts: 337
I guess now I’d like to know what the policy really does say. Is this subject even addressed?
What if, instead of trading seats with his wife, he had accepted the complimentary upgrade and then traded seats with a soldier returning home. He sat in coach, and the soldier sat in his first class seat. Would it still be so upsetting?
What if, instead of trading seats with his wife, he had accepted the complimentary upgrade and then traded seats with a soldier returning home. He sat in coach, and the soldier sat in his first class seat. Would it still be so upsetting?
Feb 8, 2019, 10:39 pm
#26
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FNT, but DTW if I can't help it
Programs: AAdvantage Former EXP/Current PLT / Total Rewards - Diamond / Hilton HHonors - Gold
Posts: 757
Then the wife, who is not entitled to complimentary upgrades, should pay with stickers because she was the one who was ultimately sitting in the next class of service. Simple. The OP gave away his complimentary upgrade when he opted for number 2 to sit upfront. He could always reach out to AA and ask that the upgrade certificates be deducted from his wife’s account.
If the policy/benefit does not state that upgraded passengers can give the upgrade to whomever they please, regardless of what practice has become commonplace, then the certificates should be deducted. When policy is stretched or ignored, it leads to inconsistencies and issues down the line...which is a big part of the reason why there are so many complaint threads on the forum.
I don't give a crap what the published policy says. I'd ask for the stickers back regardless. The worst they can do is say no.
Feb 8, 2019, 11:29 pm
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
That has happened to me too. I'm guessing she was the one upgraded because she was higher on the list. Didn't you check the list at any point within 30 minutes of departure to see where you and she stood?
In any case I would play dumb with AA customer service and assume that you were the one upgraded and you gave her your seat and that you don't understand why the stickers were pulled.
In any case I would play dumb with AA customer service and assume that you were the one upgraded and you gave her your seat and that you don't understand why the stickers were pulled.
Feb 8, 2019, 11:32 pm
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
If this travesty (deducting stickers when they're not supposed to be deducted) stands, what prevents AA from making the same mistake every time?
It was a party of two. One passenger gets comp upgrades. The other passenger has to pay for upgrades. There's only one upgrade available. What's the right procedure??
Obviously, the passenger who gets comp upgrades gets that one remaining upgrade. It doesn't make any difference whose actual butt is in which seat. It was a party of two. Only one upgrade ... the FREE one ... cleared. It's pure baloney if AA gets to clear the expensive one then claim that the free one never cleared.
OP should contract AAdvantage Customer Service and get the mistake corrected.
It was a party of two. One passenger gets comp upgrades. The other passenger has to pay for upgrades. There's only one upgrade available. What's the right procedure??
Obviously, the passenger who gets comp upgrades gets that one remaining upgrade. It doesn't make any difference whose actual butt is in which seat. It was a party of two. Only one upgrade ... the FREE one ... cleared. It's pure baloney if AA gets to clear the expensive one then claim that the free one never cleared.
OP should contract AAdvantage Customer Service and get the mistake corrected.
He could have accepted the upgrade and then swapped seats after the manifest had him in first class.
Feb 9, 2019, 8:36 am
#29
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: AUS
Programs: AA Exec Platinum/MM, DL Gold/MM, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,959
He adds his wife for a companion upgrade.
She is listed just ahead of him. (It does happen. It has happened when I have my wife as a companion.)
Agent upgrades her because she is at the top of the list, and appropriately pulls two stickers.
So technically AA did this correctly, but only because of the quirk of the upgrade ranking that put her above him. It's possible AA does this deliberately to maximize the number of stickers to pull for upgrades, or it may just be chance, based on alphabetical order or something. In either case, I think the OP should try to get the stickers back. I do fault him for not checking the app prior to all this to see where he and she ranked on the list.
Feb 9, 2019, 9:17 am
#30
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 328
Worth complaining IF genuinely you would have declined paying the two stickers, had you been presented with the offer that way. Otherwise, if you would have said "sure" then don't bother.
Not worth trying to get those two back on some kind of technicality. The universe will remember. Doesn't sound like you're being a **** about this anyway.
Not worth trying to get those two back on some kind of technicality. The universe will remember. Doesn't sound like you're being a **** about this anyway.