pmblinn

If the delay caused the misconnect and the misconnect caused OP to miss the work event in Belgrade, can he not claim trip-in-vain and ask for a full refund?

Tbooth3

PurdueFlyer

Typically, for any carrier, if a jumpseat is INOP, the F/A who was supposed to sit there would be re-assigned to a cabin seat such that their duties could be adequately completed from that seat. There is likely a chart in AA's operating manuals that state "if the jumpseat located "here" is INOP, break seats XX and YY for F/A use" and they would have this verbiage for each fleet type. The gate agents would not pick and choose randomly which seats to break.

An example would be, if the jumpseat next to the forward boarding door was INOP, they would be re-seated in a row that affords them easiest access to that boarding door (so probably row 1). This way they can jump up, look out the window for fire / smoke before opening the exit in the event of an emergency, etc. If a jumpseat in the rear galley was INOP, a business or first class seat probably would not be required, they would get a Y class seat in the back instead.

I recall on the Northwest DC9s, the forward jumpseat held 2 F/As. If it broke, the F/As were assigned aisle seats 1B and 1C in First class. There was nothing super-special about 1B / 1C other than that it provided them the most direct access to get back to the forward galley. The gate agent would re-shuffle the F cabin to free up those 2 seats, but the passengers who occupied those seats didn't automatically draw the "short straw" and get downgraded. This sounds like what happened to the OP.

gateH15

TWA884

Take a look at the AA downgrade - compensation? What else? [merged] thread to see what compensation others received in similar situations.

OskiBear

swingaling

moondog

I rarely chime in on threads like this, simply because the rules aren't transparent enough for me to provide useful feedback. However, add me to the list of people who feel that 10k miles is beyond insulting.
@Cason Crane: If I were in your shoes, I'd let this thread run for a day or two before making your next move because the collective feedback is likely to be crucial wrt how things pan out in the end (i.e. ask for too little, and you will get too little; ask for too much, and you might get a lot of runaround in hopes that you will give up).

Bear96

It's typically a seat with the quickest access to their assigned exit door in case there is an evacuation on take off or landing, which may or may not match the cabin they are working during the flight.

no1cub17

Wow this is nuts. Clearly the GA didn't follow protocol in picking which passenger to downgrade. And they could've let you know before boarding so you could've had more time to figure it out. You were a paying customer! Surely there was someone who used a SWU that should've been downgraded instead?

ijgordon

enpremiere

Ah yes but that means that the next unfortunate soul would have started their own post on FT -

"Involuntary Downgrade of Confirmed SWU or Award sAAver ticket in J -> Main Cabin because no1cub17 took my seat because theirs was taken."

I really do sympathize with the OP; regardless of payment type, award level, or upgrade instrument, downgrades when no other options are available add the suck to flying. To boot, the OP missed their meeting.

Antarius

Someone else posted that when an a333 got replaced by an a332, AA bumped the people in the last 2 rows, which is abjectly idiotic.

Given how restrictive QIK seems to be, why is it that basic stuff like downgrades turn into inconsistent Mickey mouse level GA discretion?

Often1

This was poorly handled by the GA who should have followed AA's policy, time-permitting, and downgraded the last upgrade, e.g., the lowest person on the pole and then reseated OP in the seat vacated by the downgraded passenger.

I suppose that this could have all been last minute and a decision made not to delay things by shuffling the cabin. But, someone should have at least paged OP to discuss it.

As to the complaint, I would trim it to not one word more than three short declarative sentences. The sole relevant facts are that the cabin became oversold due to a malfunctioning FA seat and OP was downgraded. He is due a refund of the fare difference (which might not be that much) and AA would then ordinarily make a customer service gesture which is not compensation and should not be described as such.

I would make an express ask for a specific voucher amount and leave it at that. There is no requirement for AA to do anything here, so take one best shot and leave it.

moondog

I agree with you on the "one shot" thing (in fact, I suggested the same upthread), but I'd take a bit of time to ensure that it's an especially strong shot. Focus steps/elements include: 1) gather intel here on relevant comps; 2) identify suitable recipient for the message; 3) make a specific request/demand; 4) state that substantial future revenues hang on the satisfactory resolution to this minor issue. I normally refrain from making even tacit threats in written correspondence (e.g. point #4 ), but the instant case is honestly one of the most obnoxious customer service responses I've ever witnessed during my entire travel career. And, this is actually the kind of thing that could lead me to boycott the corporation based on principle (note: I'm not a hub captive though).

I would also consider calling the Exp line in order to have a friendly conversation before firing off the email.