LeonS

Domestic, paying (with cash) First Class booking.

Last week AA delayed by more than 3 hours my flight SEA-DFW, causing me to miss my onward connection.

When working with an AA rep to rebook me, the options to rebook me in First Class were severely limited, as most flights had no longer any First Class seats available. All flights we checked had availability in Economy though.

I wonder: would it not make more sense to save 1-2 empty seats in the First Class cabins until right before boarding in case a paying First Class passenger needs to be re-accommodated? Instead, I am under the impression* the airline seems to give away ahead of the flight every First Class seat as complimentary upgrades for passengers that did not book First Class. Note that I don't think AA is the only airline to do this -I regularly experience the same with Alaska-.

It severely recudes the incentive to book First Class if my options to be re-accommodated in First Class are so limited.



*I had looked up on ExpertFlyer some of those flights earlier in the week and they were showing C7 available.

LowValueCustomer

AA generally holds a seat open, blocked from comp upgrades, until boarding begins.

Antarius

how often do you end up in this situation? A rare case of this doesn't change the calculus in my mind.

Centurion

Delta seems to be very good at holding at least two seats back for revenue pax on every flight. Did you know you are flying a credit card company?

WeekendTraveler

This is a key reason why I think twice before buying a first class ticket. In addition, if you want to go standby, with a paid first class ticket, first you usually clear the standby list into coach, and then you can get back to first class only if seats are available, and they aren’t because first class upgrades have already been processed. And you get a pittance of a refund if you are downgraded from a first class seat that you paid for.

enviroian

AA sells the F buy ups on their app. That revenue trumps you getting screwed so unfortunately you got screwed.

Adam1222

I know everyone on FT thinks they are unique, but there is a strange assumption that leaving 1 or 2 seats open until close in would avoid this happening. If a flight with 16 F passengers is canceled, it is possible that more than 2 "paying first class" passengers will need to be rebooked.

Upgrading passengers to first class before takeoff also opens up seats in the back of the plane, including for "paying coach class" passengers who may have missed a flight. It's always impossible to predict the future, of course, but there's a balance between accommodating the possibility "paying first class" passengers will have irrops on another flight, a timely departure for all passengers, and sending planes out with empty seats.

fastflyer

When I am given a seat in F before departure, whether by purchase or by confirmed upgrade, and the flight as a whole has a problem, AA in my experience does the best job of offering alternative flights in F. Delta also makes an effort.

All of the airlines that sell domestic F want that cabin to mint coin. And they have done some serious math on the permutations. When IRROPs happen, F passengers who don't need to travel right away will usually wait a day or two for the best outcome. Those that need to fly immediately should be offered the best alternatives. Passengers should also verify that the upgrade status is DES-F even if you accept an economy seat even for only one segment. The Admirals Club AAngels are quite helpful in times like these.

Unimatrix One

It's even worse when you're traveling in a group, such as a family of 4. If you misconnect, it's nearly impossible to find alternative flights with 4 F seats. For this reason I always try to book long connections (3 or 4 hours) or, if it's really important to make the connecting flight, I sometimes even split the trip with an overnight stay at the hub (for example, the Grand Hyatt DFW).

SAN_Finn

Agree. I often fly with family on business and this has happened to us multiple times. We always buy J or F but its almost impossible to get 3 to 4 people in F if there is a misconnect.

To avoid this I've given up any loyalty. Simply book direct when ever its possible. If not then leave an extended connection time as noted above.

777lover

That is for F upgrades. Not paid first. If u have a paid first class seat you will go on the priority list and cleared j to F if available. If not available, u are suppose to be given the choice of Y or waiting till the next flight.

ijgordon

Well nobody is talking about 3-class flights with J and F, but still no, even for paid premium class tickets. The priority is making sure all pax with confirmed reservations for the flight are able to get on the flight (to avoid paying IDB/VDB comp), and often that means clearing upgrades from any last-minute F pax no-shows to make room for those folks in the back. Sometimes, if the GA is cooperative and the flight isn’t full, they can intervene to get you confirmed on the flight and then “upgraded” to F in one step, but I believe it’s a manual process.

MDFFlyer

What does this mean: "Did you know you are flying a credit card company"

LeonS

Even when there aren't any IRROPs, the current flow is suboptimal for a paying First Class passenger.

My experience -in particular with Alaska, my main carrier- is that attempting things like a same-day change in First Class are very, very hard. I have usually not had any problems to make First Class changes 2 days prior to the flight, but once you are within the 24h - 48h before takeoff, almost all First Class seats disappear. It's undeniable that the selling-out of First Class seats -and the resulting less flexibility and solutions in case of IRROPS- detracts from the experience of a paying First Class passenger.

As you point out, the airline is free to upgrade folks when and how it pleases. But I am also free to point out that for me -and seemingly a handful of other folks on this thread- it worsens the First Class experience and as a result it reduces the amount that I'm willing to pay for First Class.

WeekendTraveler

NO, I AM CORRECT.

This has happened to me repeatedly when I’ve had a paid first class ticket on a domestic flight.

there Is a code that agents can use to clear you straight into first class when you are going standby but they don’t automatically do it. Many of them don’t even know what the code is (I forget the code letter(s).)