Stop the early boarding (D0) stupidity
Feb 28, 2019, 4:06 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
Someone decided to begin the boarding process early (who knows why) and the gate agent (correctly) noticed you were checked-in but not on the plane once it finished. You can complain, but flights take off and arrive early quite frequently.
Leaving a lounge approx. 10 mins away from your gate at scheduled boarding time implies that you weighed the risk of missing your flight and decided to take a chance. You are very lucky they contacted you before closing the door.
Leaving a lounge approx. 10 mins away from your gate at scheduled boarding time implies that you weighed the risk of missing your flight and decided to take a chance. You are very lucky they contacted you before closing the door.
- 15 minutes before departure on domestic flights
- 30 minutes before departure for international flights
The doors close 10 minutes before departure and you will not be allowed to board once the doors close.
Wow, the amount of misinformation on Flyertalk.....
I value my time much more than some people here it seems. If I bought a ticket on AA that says it departs at 5:00pm, I expect to be accepted for boarding up until 4:50pm, no matter if all of the plane is already on board or if they have some operational reason to. If they don't want it that way, then CHANGE the boarding time and the contract of carriage!!!
Feb 28, 2019, 4:09 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
Both me and Alex Rodriguez were once offloaded (separately) at T-15. Luckily I was a second away and got back on. Lost my preferred J seat but got back in J. ARod got dropped from F to J. This was at MIA and I think he had an AA escort, and he wanted to board last to stay incognito.
He found J to be like steerage. I was just happy to have a J seat, albeit a middle seat (back before they were refurbished)
I wouldnt be surprised if T-15 isn’t also written somewhere.
In this case, I knew the flight was not sold out and there were plenty of seats, so T-10 should be the absolute deadline.
Either way I was there at T-15...
Feb 28, 2019, 4:11 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: 8,315
So for a flight that would be filled by standbys, it’s T-15. The door may not be closed but you still wouldn’t get on.
not sure how someone would know that the standby list is shorter than the number of empty seats for sure without seeing the standby list at the gate. And if in F or J, wouldn’t your seat be at risk because of upgrades? The upgrade list seems like 30% of coach seats these days (in premium transcons at least).
not sure how someone would know that the standby list is shorter than the number of empty seats for sure without seeing the standby list at the gate. And if in F or J, wouldn’t your seat be at risk because of upgrades? The upgrade list seems like 30% of coach seats these days (in premium transcons at least).
Feb 28, 2019, 4:47 pm
#20
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 255
Today I'm flying an envoy flight BOS-JFK, which departs out of B36. The flight departs at 2:57pm, and boards around 2:27pm. I'm at the lounge at B4, which is about a 10 minute walk to the gate. I leave at boarding time sharp (2:27pm).
About 5 minutes into my walk (2:35pm), I get a phone call from a mass. Number. It's AA:
AAgent: "hello no2chem this is x with AA, will you still be traveling with us today?"
Me: "yes, I'm at gate B23 and walking"
AAgent: " you're the last to board the gate will be closed soon"
Me: " boarding started 5 minutes ago"
AAgent: "you're the last to board the gate is about to close"
.... So I get there and the agent repeats how I'm the last to board and they were about to close the gate. I make it a point that the gate isn't supposed to close until 10mins before departure, and it's 2:40, 17 mins before departure.
To add insult to injury, the flight departs 10mins late anyway
While I appreciate the call (sort of, the AAgent was really rude and it sounded like she wanted her bonus points for closing the flight early), they really need to fix this early boarding crap. At least announce in the AC when you're going to do that.
Anyone else experience this?
About 5 minutes into my walk (2:35pm), I get a phone call from a mass. Number. It's AA:
AAgent: "hello no2chem this is x with AA, will you still be traveling with us today?"
Me: "yes, I'm at gate B23 and walking"
AAgent: " you're the last to board the gate will be closed soon"
Me: " boarding started 5 minutes ago"
AAgent: "you're the last to board the gate is about to close"
.... So I get there and the agent repeats how I'm the last to board and they were about to close the gate. I make it a point that the gate isn't supposed to close until 10mins before departure, and it's 2:40, 17 mins before departure.
To add insult to injury, the flight departs 10mins late anyway
While I appreciate the call (sort of, the AAgent was really rude and it sounded like she wanted her bonus points for closing the flight early), they really need to fix this early boarding crap. At least announce in the AC when you're going to do that.
Anyone else experience this?
Feb 28, 2019, 6:30 pm
#21
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
are you serious? 2:35 is like 7 mins after scheduled boarding start time. Calling me and asking me if I'm going to make the flight 7 minutes after boarding is supposed to start is a bit ridiculous to me.
Also, AAs own docs says 10 minutes, not 15. I think most US domestic carriers are 10.
Indeed.
Also, AAs own docs says 10 minutes, not 15. I think most US domestic carriers are 10.
Indeed.
Arriving at the gate
Be at the gate and ready to board the plane:
- 15 minutes before departure on domestic flights
- 30 minutes before departure for international flights
The doors close 10 minutes before departure and you will not be allowed to board once the doors close.
Feb 28, 2019, 6:40 pm
#22
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
Two questions. Not to criticize you in any way, but to satisfy my own curiousity.
(1) Was this a one-way or return leg of a roundtrip?
(2) Was there a segment prior to BOS-JFK, or was this the only segment on this journey?
(1) Was this a one-way or return leg of a roundtrip?
(2) Was there a segment prior to BOS-JFK, or was this the only segment on this journey?
Feb 28, 2019, 7:09 pm
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP (owe), BA Silver (ows), AB Silver (owr), WN A+/CP, IHG Spire AMB, Avis First
Posts: 1,414
The COC expressly states that you must be at the gate no later than T-15. Doors close at T-10. At T-15, you may lose your seat. You can argue all you want, but the time to do that is when you agree to the COC. At T-14, if everyone at the gate has boarded, AA may choose to oddload you and push.Arriving at the gate
The doors close 10 minutes before departure and you will not be allowed to board once the doors close.
Arriving at the gate
Be at the gate and ready to board the plane:
- 15 minutes before departure on domestic flights
- 30 minutes before departure for international flights
The doors close 10 minutes before departure and you will not be allowed to board once the doors close.
To support this, paper BPs explicitly have the 10mins before departure text. And I'd say the right time for the GA to call was T-15, not T-25. And she could have been a lot more polite!
It was the return of a round trip. BOS-JFK-SFO.
Feb 28, 2019, 7:47 pm
#24
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SAN
Programs: AA CK, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 839
I never trust the AAgents in the AC to give me the correct boarding time and gate. Once in PHL an AC agent told me the wrong terminal and gate! I now do my own boarding and gate location “research” and get there at least 10 minutes before boarding time because I’d hate to be forced to gate check my bag and/or have my seat reassigned, as both have happened in the past. I don’t want to be left standing at the gate debating the specifics of the CoC or any other nonsense while my plane pushes back.
Feb 28, 2019, 8:40 pm
#26
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
Only if there are other passengers to give your seat to. Otherwise T-10. I think your reading is incorrect.
To support this, paper BPs explicitly have the 10mins before departure text. And I'd say the right time for the GA to call was T-15, not T-25. And she could have been a lot more polite!.
To support this, paper BPs explicitly have the 10mins before departure text. And I'd say the right time for the GA to call was T-15, not T-25. And she could have been a lot more polite!.
Feb 28, 2019, 8:50 pm
#27
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
LAX-LAS right now and got to gate 30 minutes before departure and they’re wrapping up group 3 and as I board through the Group 1-4 lane the agent still checks out my rollerboard as if she’s about to ask me to size it (which they were doing with other Group 3s). I just said don’t worry it fits and kept walking.
Still barely any overhead room in FC once I’m onboard.
Got a refill on my white wine PDB tho so all is good
Still barely any overhead room in FC once I’m onboard.
Got a refill on my white wine PDB tho so all is good
Feb 28, 2019, 8:57 pm
#28
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
Both me and Alex Rodriguez were once offloaded (separately) at T-15. Luckily I was a second away and got back on. Lost my preferred J seat but got back in J. ARod got dropped from F to J. This was at MIA and I think he had an AA escort, and he wanted to board last to stay incognito.
He found J to be like steerage. I was just happy to have a J seat, albeit a middle seat (back before they were refurbished)
I wouldnt be surprised if T-15 isn’t also written somewhere.
Feb 28, 2019, 9:03 pm
#29
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold Five Star, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, HHonors Silver
Posts: 2,038
I may be in the minority, but I'm good with them boarding early since it gives a somewhat better likelihood of us actually getting out of there on time. I find when they start boarding "on time" on the mainline planes, half the time they are still boarding by the time we should depart.
Maybe what they really need to do is bump up the departure time to 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
Maybe what they really need to do is bump up the departure time to 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes.