Exleftseat

A couple of weeks ago we arrived at LAX from a domestic AA connection with NRT as final destination. We were flying domestic F International C. I had one carry-on. A Luggageworks Stealth 22 bag which is used by thousands cockpit crews all over the world. It has been with me for four years and flew with well over fifty carriers on hundreds of flights on anything from a regional to an A380. The great thing is that this bag fits virtually any bin, either sideways or front facing. As we boarded the 787-9 a heavyset agent approached us pointed to my carry-on and said "This will not fit. You need to check this in" . I was stunned. I inquired as to who she was and she said she was the supervisor. Clearly a misunderstanding I thought while following orders to put it in the sizer. Couldn't find anything wrong with it yet she insisted. Her voice got louder she barked at my wife to stop moving around and stand at a designed spot. My wife was not intimidated by this woman despite her being three times her size and asked why she was being treated like a criminal. No response. She was determined to make our lives and the trip miserable for whatever reason. I politely told her that we were booked in business class and had never ever in our flying lives be subjected to such a harassment about a carry-on which at 22x14x8 was within AA requirements of 22x14x9, To add insult to injury the carry-on contained exactly one item, a 2.6 lbs Thinkpad x-1 carbon inside it's protective sleeve. I took it out and she tagged it. An empty piece of carry-on that if she was the supervisor would have been familiar to her since crews carry it was now separated from me and going to NRT in the luggage hold. Needless to say since practically every seat in C has it's own exclusive overhead bin there was no lack of space and of course lots of carry-ons were oversized. Not a big deal. This woman in my opinion is completely unqualified to serve as a front line employee with management duties.
Since we have no status with AA I wasn't sure if I should contact AA CS upon return home. But I did this was too atrocious to us. Well the result was predictable. A canned message about overhead bins getting full and if the bag does not fit under the seat it must be gate checked. Obviously they didn't read my message and hadn't noticed that I was a business class customer.
Very disappointing when there is an ill tempered employee with an over inflated ego doing the opposite what is expected from them. AA won't notice it but they are not on our list any longer.

Parrotinct

Sorry to hear of your troubles, LAX is notorious for bag checking regardless of your flying class.

Finkface

What does the size of the agent have to do with anything? It must have been an important part of the story since you made a point of mentioning it twice.

Exleftseat

Believe it or not it may indeed have something to do why this all happened. Of course we are grasping for straws. But maybe the woman's irrational behavior might be her way to compensate for possible insecurities.She was obviously on a mission. This could be one explanation why a "seasoned" supervisor would go rogue like this. If you have a better suggestion I am happy to hear it.
The question is what triggered her to assault a business customer forcing a gate check of conforming carry-on luggage which was empty and where the aircraft had plenty of overhead bin storage.

estnet

Here's the solution - don't fly AA fly JAL

Exleftseat

Exactly our plan. JL to/from Japan and we skip the domestic onward on AA and go SW.

carlosdca

This is the only relevant part of your post yet it is very unclear.
What do you mean here?
So the agent asked you to put your bag in the sizer.
So did it easily fit in and out of the sizer and still she insisted you check it?

Sounds strange that the agent would go through the trouble of making you try your bag in the sizer if she already had decided to check it.

SJOGuy

Yes. The better suggestion is that you can't possibly know such a thing. Stick to the facts in recounting what happened. Wild speculation only harms your case.

Exleftseat

The bag did fit the sizer easily. I first put it in sideways since I never used a sizer and was reprimanded to put it upright. Slid right in and out. The Luggageworks has a steel frame that guarantees perfect fit all the time. Nothing stretching or bulging, sort of rigid. And it was empty anyway. We are guessing she was pretending to prove something to us and justify her action. It was just for show. She had her mind made up already.

Antarius

I agree, but I can see the OP trying to find a different reason other than the less easily quantifiable "the GA is a .... idiot".

I dealt with one of these people in HNL. I'd be fine if the rules were the same for everyone, but when I'm being run through the sizer for my backpack (in J and my only piece of luggage) and someone walks by with 3 pieces of luggage - I'm left grasping as straws to explain, as no one can be that stupid.

Broader point- AA needs to manage or fire people. Either choose firm rules or common sense. This rogue banana republic policing is absurd.

/rant

Exleftseat

Thank you for putting this out there way more eloquently than I could have ever done it myself. Nailed it. Also nice to see that my situation was probably not as isolated as I had thought.

beachfan

How long did you stand your ground for? If it fits in the sizer, I don’t yield until I think I’m going to be offloaded. Haven’t yet ( but I know I could be one day)

AA100k

Your carryon needs to be front facing, not sideways in the overhead bin. I fit into an overhead bin but I wouldn’t fit in the sizer! It has to fit the sizer and not cross over the blue lines. I’ve had my bag sized before and watched others and have never witnessed a single case where the bag fit within the lines and the agent forced a gate check.

enviroian

OP yes report this person to AA. She should be terminated.

#goingforgreat

Dr. HFH

I have difficulty believing that there isn't more to this story. The bag fit easily into the sizer and OP was forced to check it nevertheless?