guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch

I'm reposting this from reddit since most of the advice I've gotten there is not particularly useful and the few people who seem to know what they are talking about have redirected me here. I'll try to keep this direct:

Booked a flight a while back normal coach. In app upgraded seats to be premium economy/exit row/front of plane/whatever. I know sometimes there are biz-class upgrades in app - so I tried looking into that. Was dirt cheap, but only for the super tiny leg of my flight. Ended up calling help desk/customer support (whatever is listed on website) after seeing that there were in fact business class seats still available for purchase on flight. Talked for a long time to first customer agent who explained the process of needing to be re-ticked/refunded/I dunno and that she could only do it for the departure because there weren't business seats on both legs of my return flight. She found the price differential and it was kinda "yikes" high for me so I said I'd think about it and thanked her for her time. Next day I noticed that the booking looked out of whack and there were duplicate departure flights - some of which I couldn't reliably click into in either the app or the website. Figured it would get resolved on its own but when It didn't I called up customer service again and went through another long conversation. Took them a while to see the problem, but when they did they did ask me "did you pay to upgrade" at which point I more or less admitted what had happened and asked if the price was still the same (I think she confirmed but I couldn't quite understand or if she was just saying "mmm") but anyway I said that I'd be fine just keeping my original seats. Anyway she said she fixed it and told me to log back in. To my surprise when I logged back I had the business/first flights for my departure and not the premium economy ones. I didn't tip my hand but I thought (maybe) something in her voice implied she knew what she was doing or maybe she just made a mistake. In any case, I've talked at great length on reddit about this - and I've dug in a little more. On the positive side the receipt I can get from them does show what I believe to be correct booking codes, and everything seems to be in order (maybe?) But I don't really have proof. I've even called back once more and the newest guy seemed to not know what I was talking about (I asked for an e-ticket and he said he couldn't do it before checkin) but repeatedly verified my flight info was "correct" - though I didn't volunteer I'd gotten something for free. At this point short of calling them and begging them to take away the free accidental upgrade I'm not sure what else to do? Any thoughts on how to verify if this is real or if this is going to be a nightmare when I eventually try to check in/board?

Thanks!

enviroian

Welcome to Flyertalk and also like your username

sehgalanuj

Since the OP will hit the post limit, for those that might want to get background from Reddit, here's the post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comm...de_experience/

For what it's worth, guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch mentioned that they can see booking class D for onward and O for return.

I'm not a AA or OW flier so I did my best to help the OP over at reddit. But I'm sure all you smarter AA folks will have better advice.

Good luck guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch .

PS: I too love your username.

lrdpenn

I would expect to be bumped down - there may be a reconciliation process that will eventually catch you did not pay for business . Or maybe you won't be able to check-in. The risk which you have identified is that by the time it's corrected, there will be no good economy seats left, much less MCE. Maybe someone here has experience in this exact situation.

IMO you confused the agent by not being straight with them that you didn't pay for the upgrade. That may or may not catch up to you.

guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch

Just to clarify - I was actually pretty straight that I didn't pay for the upgrade on my second call (first call was trying to purchase upgrade and then deciding it was too expensive which set off this chain of events) - I even asked about the price again. On my third call (today) I didn't volunteer that information, but I did say I was "upgraded" and I want to make sure it's correct - basically asking them to find a problem. I'll admit I'm not putting much stock in that conversation - but morality aside, I've not tried to game anyone yet actually - though I didn't volunteer "oops you screwed up" when they deleted the coach departure instead of the biz/first class seats. At this point all I can do via customer service I fear is like directly tell them "I don't deserve this - should you take it away from me?" and either I fear a.) they will - and may original seats may still not be there. or b.) they'll say "no worries good for you" and let me keep the seats, but they won't in anyway meaningfully resolve the problem you are identifying and I'll still get screwed at check in.

danielflyer

As long as you have a confirmed reservation, I would not mess with it further.

Also, it’s great to hear someone else mention that Reddit isn’t helpful. There seem to be so many people commenting not just about travel, but also many other topics, who will openly argue with you yet have no idea what they are talking about.

I have more than 40,000 karma on Reddit and am tiring of it by the day.

lrdpenn

Ah ok - hope it didn't seem like I was accusing - i had just skimmed your reddit post and seemed to to have appeared so at the start of the call.

guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch

No worries... didn't take it that way, the only real thing I did was not correct her when she deleted the coach ticket instead of the upgraded one...

guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch

It says I'm ticketed - so I guess I'm about as good as I'm going to get?

rumboj

Being ticketed might not be enough. I had a situation where I was ticketed for a flight recently, received the “get ready to travel” email 3 days out, received the “it’s time to check-in” email and in-app notification 24 hrs out and found I could not check in. When I initially called the customer service line, the agent said everything seemed fine and that the reservation was ticketed. When I insisted, she called the help desk and they confirmed that AA had cancelled the ticket because of an issue with the payment and the reservation was actually in “no-go” status on the backend, regardless of everything being fine on the front end. Note that they had flagged the reservation as “no-go” status 2 weeks prior. I never received any notification. Not the easiest thing to figure out on day of travel.

LowValueCustomer

I know that sometimes a cash and miles copay upgrade will process (deduct the miles) and permit seat assignments, but will not truly be set for check-in until you call in and pay the cash component. It is possible that you have a somewhat analogous scenario here.

That said, in this scenario, I would probably ride it out and see what happens. I concur with your assessment of the downside, which is significant, but IMHO the upside is much more significant and is certainly not out of the question (especially in view of the fact that you're already showing a "D' fare class).

guywhofliessometimesbutnotthatmuch

I hear that...my concern is I haven't found anyway to prove what I have is real. And even if I decided it was worth it to either try to pay for the seats/revert back to the old/whatever such that I end up getting anything for free...I'm not sure my old seats would still be there, or given all the confusion - if something else won't still go wrong at check in?
At this point I'm not sure what else I can really do...this is the most stressful gift I've ever received.

glob99

If the agent can't give you the eticket no., you have no ticket.

PHL

Did you receive an email after the conversation with the agent that moved you up with an actual ticket number much like the very first email you got when you purchased the coach flight? Not just something that says 'confirmed'. You would usually get a receipt showing amount paid, as well (which you didn't, admittedly).

If the system did not actually re-issue your ticket in the new class of service, it's quite possible you will not be able to check in without first seeing an agent at the counter. At that time, they will be given an 'add collect' notice before the ticket may be properly issued. That "add collect" means payment. You can play the odds and hope that a potential mistake made by the phone agent will be to your benefit. But there are checks and balances that prevent the system from re-issuing a new ticket without a payment collected so don't hold your breath. And then are you prepared to be moved back to a potentially terrible seat in coach? Or what if coach is sold out then, are you prepared to be bumped to another flight?

When is the trip?

thelark

your last few sentences sum it up - how much is the OP willing to gamble? Personally, I’d rather ensure that everything was appropriate so I don’t get to the airport, be unable to check in and end up with a horrible (or no) seat. I’d call up and be honest (it’s not “tipping one’s hand”) - “it looks like I have a business class seat but I didn’t pay for it. If AA is being generous, then thanks, but I want to make sure everything is right.”