beachfan

On May 10, LAX-LHR AA 136 delayed 6 hours.

As I live far from the airport, to both avoid rush hour, and since I was in F so I could dine in Qantas F lounge, I arrive 3 hours and 20 minutes before flight time.

While the flight did eventually take off, it was posted as a 5 hour 30 minute delay by the time I got to the airport. The only reaccomadation offers in the app were flights in Y taking 25+ hours.

There was Y availability that day on BA and F the next day. AA refused to accommodate me on the same day BA flight. They said that BA refuses the passengers , claiming that they don�t have meals for them. I found this hard to believe (flagship lounge agent), so I spoke to a supervisor who said the same thing.

ultimately the flight took off, the only reason I was considering it is that such a lengthy delay for maintenance makes me think it�s only 50/50 that the flight will take off. But I found the agents position, while acknowledging it was against policy, to be disturbing.

sharing in case others run into a similar issue.

i proactively received 7500 miles as compensation, my repeated requests to explain why I wasn�t allowed on BA have gone unanswered.

Bear96

It sounds like you have an answer but you just don't like it.

tennessetom

AA can’t force BA to accommodate passengers, I think aa kind of did you a favor because some agents will say yeah sure and go ahead and change you but BA then doesn’t reissue the ticket as they never accepted the rebooking. It sounds to me like given the circumstances you ended up with the best possible outcome. But in the end you were refused by BA not AA

ps 7500 miles is rather cheap

DWFI

BA didn't have enough Y meals? Sounds very odd to me.

Definitely have heard of this for F cabin, but I feel like Y and J are usually fully catered, or at least over-catered?

USFlyerUS

You received an answer: BA wouldn't accept the bookings. That's within BA's right -- AA can't force them to take additional passengers.

fotographer

In terms of delays with AA.... I have had 9 hours delays on a short 1 hour flight.. after several attempts got 7500 miles form AA
that seems to be standard..
lie others have said.. AA canot force any other OW partner to open up seats, in Y or in F...
If LHR was your final destination, its unfortunate that you landed later then expected,
and if you had a connection.. were you able to get on another flight..?

dw

This actually is a new initiative by BA for Y in the name of reducing food waste (but is likely really driven by cost cutting).

AJNEDC

J is not fully catered. At least it was not the last time I flew BA from LHR to JFK.

S80

I've been reaccomodated by AA onto BA flights on that route multiple times in the past year, both for maintenance and for a broken seat (and without paying the extra BA award surcharge). One time originating LAX it was an absolute nightmare to get reticketed, required going back and forth between the Oneworld Lounge, Gate, and AA Flagship lounge, but I did get ticketed. When originating LHR they seem to be much more coherent, at least the folks in T3 ticketed me and then sent me to T5.
In any case, if the meal isn't important, just tell them you'll eat in the lounge and forgo the food, I know they load more pax than meals anyways (and in the event of an opup, they now serve you the meal from your original cabin). It's better than the Lufthansa Group carriers where I've been told multiple times they just haven't loaded enough food, and I've drawn the short straw (despite being ticketed at least a month in advance).

spanishflea

I had the same issue in 2022 and had no issue being rebooked from AA J onto BA J. If BA are selling seats then there is absolutely no reason why AA can�t confirm you onto BA.

Antarius

As we know from experience with AA, this could be true or it could be some Pulitzer winning fiction.

S80

It's all part of the JV anyways, so the money is going into the pot to be split, AA isn't losing your revenue by rebooking you.

beachfan

They didn�t even call up the ticket to see if it was award or revenue.

interesting about the restricting. Can�t AA reticket it on BA (if revenue)?

BWISkyGuy

AA can reticket on BA, but it requires BA's approval. AA can't just reticket unilaterally and force BA to accept it.

spanishflea

AA can�t force BA to open up inventory that isn�t there. But they absolutely can rebook into available BA inventory without requiring special �approval� from BA.