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Rant: AA non revs seem to regularly take the good seats and overheads on my flights

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Rant: AA non revs seem to regularly take the good seats and overheads on my flights

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Old Jun 9, 2019, 5:01 pm
  #76  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
It isn't a missed revenue opportunity it is a was to avoid having a missed revenue opportunity with people using U class rather than purchasing a business class ticket. J is ( in most cases ) an expensive booking class; I7 might be different

It seems that tehre are some customers that would howl if AA failed to provide a benefit that is documented, but don't think others should get the benefits that they are due
I'm not arguing that this should be a benefit or that people should get free upgrades. I am merely commenting that J7 U0 C0 is a different circumstance than the previous posts about non revs and cabin rolls.

J7 U0 doesnt mean all that was left are full fare J - well, in a vacuum it does, but if a flight is J7 at departure, there is almost invariably D,I etc. Inventory. And sure, opening wide U may discourage people from paying for premium cabins, but if someone wants to roll the dice and ends up with a U seat before departure, that could happen regardless in a different circumstance, just no guarantee.

AA has released R inventory before C before too. Another missed opportunity.
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 8:46 am
  #77  
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Originally Posted by moondog
I have never encountered a situation where J seats were open, and I was denied an upgrade with an instrument, though I'm sure there are cases of gate agents hooking up employees.
I have seen some J7 (with 25 open seats) and C inventory doesn't clear till T2, which does seem odd. I spoke to the Club agents and they confirmed that the flight had over 20 seats for sale and were equally confused as to what RM was holding onto seats for.

Originally Posted by moondog
My gut tells me that some people in this thread believe they should be upgraded without supporting instruments instead of doling out the good seats to non-revs. This makes no sense to me from the standpoint of the airline.
Several posters have said it point blank, let alone gut feel.
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 10:18 am
  #78  
 
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Originally Posted by nancypants


as always often on the money

every time one of these threads come up, the outrage brigade starts up (“hired help”, really? any concept of what a pilot actually does?!)

non rev travel is a neat mechanism for the airlines to give away something that would otherwise go out empty in lieu of just giving an actual pay rise, in dollars, to their employees (sorry, “baggie servants”)

customers are getting a bloody good deal here, if every employee got the money instead airfares would be higher. This way everyone gets what they pay for, employees feel valued, frequent flyer perks are completely unaffected, there isn’t an additional excuse available to either raise fares or manage revenue
Yes, my best friend is a pilot at AA so spare me the lecture. Other than business owners, we are all "hired help." I intentionally used quotes....

And I am not sure how you write that FF perks are completely unaffected. My cabin-roll "proposal" provides more upgrade opportunities for elite flyers than does giving F seats to non-rev (vs.giving the latter coach seat).
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 10:40 am
  #79  
 
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Just to insert a little bit of levity into this thread (and without personal comment), it is ok for AA to do this because UA and DL do.

Safe Travels
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 12:01 pm
  #80  
 
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Originally Posted by Often1
All a business decision by AA. AA is free to offer experienced Captains minimum wage and no more. It may find it hard to locate competent people at that rate. So, it offers more. Dollars, benefits such as F, and the like. Just like many other businesses.

Not really so hard.
I don't think anyone is claiming it's hard. Some are expressing their opinions as to what might be a better way.
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 12:07 pm
  #81  
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This is one way the industry encourages good applicants, travel benefits, which include the potential of premium cabin seating. If having a J seat is so important to one then pay for it. If my upgrade clears why should I care who AA gives the empty seats to. Yes cabin rolls are a very nice surprise but no one should expect it be an official benefit of AA elite programs.
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 12:42 pm
  #82  
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
Yes, my best friend is a pilot at AA so spare me the lecture. Other than business owners, we are all "hired help." I intentionally used quotes....

And I am not sure how you write that FF perks are completely unaffected. My cabin-roll "proposal" provides more upgrade opportunities for elite flyers than does giving F seats to non-rev (vs.giving the latter coach seat).
They are unaffected in the sense that this is the rules that we signed up for and at no point have non-revs changed anything for us.

AA could not sell F and just upgrade EXPs too. But that isnt what the program is or ever was. (And yes, I recognize that the above is hyperbole, but the broader point does stand). There are lots of things that AA could do, like eliminate 500 mile upgrades and auto roll GLD members, but they dont and anyone who signs up for aadvantage knows that going in.
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 3:03 pm
  #83  
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
Yes, my best friend is a pilot at AA so spare me the lecture. Other than business owners, we are all "hired help." I intentionally used quotes....

And I am not sure how you write that FF perks are completely unaffected. My cabin-roll "proposal" provides more upgrade opportunities for elite flyers than does giving F seats to non-rev (vs.giving the latter coach seat).
Again,

1. creating the expectation of free upgrades discourages people from paying up

2. Letting non-revs sit in, otherwise empty, seats is good for the company
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 3:19 pm
  #84  
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
I hope this post is not meant to garner sympathy. Anyone who is so _________ (fill in the blank as you wish but I'd go with foolish or reckless) to live in a city from which they must fly to get to their work city has to rethink their priorities or deal with a high volume of inconveniences. Too bad - so sad!
This is not uncommon in the industry, for various reasons (and mitigating factors), come up to speed.

The terms of the programs are rather clear. Don’t like them, find another one. They’re not unreasonable. They’re much more beneficial than most foreign airlines. IMO, the only valid frustration I see is the 3-class transcon scenario, though frankly, you want the upgrade that bad, then sponsor an upgrade for a random paid J pax to create the space... I’m sure an agent can find someone on a J/D fare so it’s only 15k miles. @:-)
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 5:11 pm
  #85  
 
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
Yes, my best friend is a pilot at AA so spare me the lecture. Other than business owners, we are all "hired help." I intentionally used quotes....

And I am not sure how you write that FF perks are completely unaffected. My cabin-roll "proposal" provides more upgrade opportunities for elite flyers than does giving F seats to non-rev (vs.giving the latter coach seat).
lectures breed lectures, who knew?

i should probably have clarified as it’s clearly not totally obvious that I meant EXISTING FF perks are not affected. What airlines may or may not offer to frequent flyers at some indeterminate point in the future can never be entirely guaranteed

the list of airlines not offering non rev benefits to at least some staff is vanishingly small
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 6:27 pm
  #86  
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
And I am not sure how you write that FF perks are completely unaffected. My cabin-roll "proposal" provides more upgrade opportunities for elite flyers than does giving F seats to non-rev (vs.giving the latter coach seat).
The airline offers the ability to upgrade when there is availability to upgrade - it has never suggested that it would move people around to enable an upgrade, nor does that seem to be a reasonable expectation.

If someone turned up and wanted to purchase a business class ticket , then it may well upgrade a passenger to 1st class to enable it
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Old Jun 10, 2019, 7:52 pm
  #87  
 
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Originally Posted by Antarius
I have seen some J7 (with 25 open seats) and C inventory doesn't clear till T2, which does seem odd. I spoke to the Club agents and they confirmed that the flight had over 20 seats for sale and were equally confused as to what RM was holding onto seats for.



Several posters have said it point blank, let alone gut feel.
I have a LHR-LAX flight next week. EF shows J7 R7 D7 I7 and the seat map shows 34 unassigned seats in J and I’m still waiting on my miles and copay to clear. PE is W7 P7 though there are only 3 unassigned seat, so I’m guessing that a bunch of upgrades will clear at some point.
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Old Jun 11, 2019, 1:59 am
  #88  
 
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I’m actually shocked this thread is still going strong...
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 11:55 am
  #89  
 
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
This is not uncommon in the industry, for various reasons (and mitigating factors), come up to speed.

The terms of the programs are rather clear. Don’t like them, find another one. They’re not unreasonable. They’re much more beneficial than most foreign airlines. IMO, the only valid frustration I see is the 3-class transcon scenario, though frankly, you want the upgrade that bad, then sponsor an upgrade for a random paid J pax to create the space... I’m sure an agent can find someone on a J/D fare so it’s only 15k miles. @:-)
While intriguing, that approach of randomly upgrading someone from J to F only works if I am #1 on the upgrade list from Y to J. And yes, the 3-class scenario where I the paying customer sit in coach and some random, low-level non-rev sits in F is the most galling to me. I recognize it's AA's prerogative but I am free to speak-out against it!!
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 2:27 pm
  #90  
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Originally Posted by LINDEGR
While intriguing, that approach of randomly upgrading someone from J to F only works if I am #1 on the upgrade list from Y to J.
Well if you were #3 and there were 3 F seats, you could still probably upgrade 3 J pax. You just have to decide what it's worth to you.
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