American Airlines

[Horn_Spanker 524]

Hey AA, how about hiring people where English is their first language for positions that deal with customers in central Texas.

I try to fly Delta most of the time.  There you get the southern belle who calls you darling.

 

[ERhine 1921]

Well, it was all
That I could do to keep from crying'
Sometimes it seemed so useless to remain
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even called me by my name

[52-80 19282]

 

[Anastasis 23514]

Never had a problem. Maybe “two Woodfords and a cup of ice please” is the universal language. 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Anastasis

[phdhorn 6224]

Speak Engrish, Moddafucka!

[HenryJames 66307]

My internet speaks English.

[closetohumping 17552]

Wife and daughter flew American last weekend.  First flight to DFW was delayed.  They land with 20 minutes to make it to the next terminal (DFW has different American terminals, another annoyance).  They run up to the counter and the lady says "final call'' and then ten seconds later "no more boarding" or something like that.  They had missed it by 10 seconds.  So, wife starts to try to rebook when the other lady says "they're still backed up on the ramp, just let them in."  I understand security, metrics, etc, but how about using a little common sense especially when you're the reason we're delayed.

[Your Mom 4883]

If they did that for everyone, every flight would be late. There is somebody running for the airplane and barely missing it or barely making almost every flight every day.  

It’s a bigger picture than just you.  There are probably other tight connections that are in jeopardy on the next flight. Or a crew close to timing out. Or an ATC takeoff window that has to be met.  Or just the downline schedule that has to be caught back up to to keep the rest of the day on time or as close as possible.  Every delay causes more delays down the line. One family getting on isn’t worth jacking up the rest of the day. 

And the days of making up time in the air have been gone for many years now. The airspace is just too busy for that.

Edited July 23 by Your Mom

[closetohumping 17552]

4 hours ago, Your Mom said:

If they did that for everyone, every flight would be late. There is somebody running for the airplane and barely missing it or barely making almost every flight every day.  

It’s a bigger picture than just you.  There are probably other tight connections that are in jeopardy on the next flight. Or a crew close to timing out. Or an ATC takeoff window that has to be met.  Or just the downline schedule that has to be caught back up to to keep the rest of the day on time or as close as possible.  Every delay causes more delays down the line. One family getting on isn’t worth jacking up the rest of the day. 

And the days of making up time in the air have been gone for many years now. The airspace is just too busy for that.

Literally just standing right there though.  Plus, I've been on a plane where they've announced there's a late connection and they'd like to let those passengers board.  Nobody groaned as they probably have been in the same shoes.  When the delay is your (as in the airlines) fault, maybe a bit of brevity could be helpful?  Plus they were still loading.   Literally people on the ramp.

 

It was literally "final boarding" which she heard and then "whoops no more boarding."

 

The fact that her own colleague semi called her out says as much.  "We're still loading, why not just let them on?"

Edited July 23 by closetohumping

[MonkeyDoughnut 10479]

My money is on them already giving away your wife and daughters seats to other standy by passengers. 

[Gil Bang 26101]

3 hours ago, closetohumping said:

Literally just standing right there though.  Plus, I've been on a plane where they've announced there's a late connection and they'd like to let those passengers board.  Nobody groaned as they probably have been in the same shoes.  When the delay is your (as in the airlines) fault, maybe a bit of brevity could be helpful?  Plus they were still loading.   Literally people on the ramp.

 

It was literally "final boarding" which she heard and then "whoops no more boarding."

 

The fact that her own colleague semi called her out says as much.  "We're still loading, why not just let them on?"

The gate agents get dinged if there's a late departure and it's nobody else's fault (not weather, mechanical, etc). 

[closetohumping 17552]

43 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

The gate agents get dinged if there's a late departure and it's nobody else's fault (not weather, mechanical, etc). 

Oh I get it.  Have to adhere to metrics.  

[closetohumping 17552]

3 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

My money is on them already giving away your wife and daughters seats to other standy by passengers. 

Nah.  They let them in. Although you know I can ask if they got the original seats

[dieucla98 2942]

This is common across every airline in the world. They'll hold the plane for extreme circumstances (last flight out and the delay was the airlines fault and they don't want to deal with free hotels, for example) but otherwise, this is all very much SOP. On time % metrics are pretty damn important to airlines because they're important to us as passengers. 

[closetohumping 17552]

1 hour ago, dieucla98 said:

This is common across every airline in the world. They'll hold the plane for extreme circumstances (last flight out and the delay was the airlines fault and they don't want to deal with free hotels, for example) but otherwise, this is all very much SOP. On time % metrics are pretty damn important to airlines because they're important to us as passengers. 

Yep and to the airlines credit they had just locked the gate five seconds ago so they’re actually in the right.  That being said their connecting flight was the reason they were late.  

[Ghost of LL 15605]

On 7/23/2024 at 9:54 AM, closetohumping said:

Wife and daughter flew American last weekend.  First flight to DFW was delayed.  They land with 20 minutes to make it to the next terminal (DFW has different American terminals, another annoyance).  They run up to the counter and the lady says "final call'' and then ten seconds later "no more boarding" or something like that.  They had missed it by 10 seconds.  So, wife starts to try to rebook when the other lady says "they're still backed up on the ramp, just let them in."  I understand security, metrics, etc, but how about using a little common sense especially when you're the reason we're delayed.

Years ago, I had this same experience on DL connecting through ATL.  It's infuriating.  And obviously by no means unique to AA.

14 hours ago, closetohumping said:

Oh I get it.  Have to adhere to metrics.  

It isn't just metrics.  There are other scheduling considerations, including crew time (as @Your Mom points out above).  And if they run over crew time and have to cancel a flight, the DOT now makes the airline refund everyone.  And I think the traveling public favors that rule, even if the consequence is that people are from time to time going to get left behind at the gate.

[closetohumping 17552]

4 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

Years ago, I had this same experience on DL connecting through ATL.  It's infuriating.  And obviously by no means unique to AA.

It isn't just metrics.  There are other scheduling considerations, including crew time (as @Your Mom points out above).  And if they run over crew time and have to cancel a flight, the DOT now makes the airline refund everyone.  And I think the traveling public favors that rule, even if the consequence is that people are from time to time going to get left behind at the gate.

100%.  I will say I was on another flight that was on to and again one of the connecting planes was late.  The pilot decided to wait and there were no audible groans on the plane

 

in this case I think the gate agent was just doing here job and I’m sure feelings aren’t supposed to come into play.  It shouldn’t. But even her colleague said “they’re still backed up on the ramp. Just let them in. Why make them rebook?”

[wild_turkey 3223]

Being DFW based and flying AA more than anything else, I’ve been pretty pleased with their customer service the last few years.

[Ghost of LL 15605]

52 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

Being DFW based and flying AA more than anything else, I’ve been pretty pleased with their customer service the last few years.

I will go further--having Platinum status on AA and having access to the AAdmirals Club is really nice.  The ladies at the Austin AAdmirals Club know me.  On the occasion where I had a problem with a flight, I can go to them and they take care of the rebooking.  So my experience isn't exactly standard, but I have been pretty pleased with AA.

[Mo Horn 8899]

36 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

I will go further--having Platinum status on AA and having access to the AAdmirals Club is really nice.  The ladies at the Austin AAdmirals Club know me.  On the occasion where I had a problem with a flight, I can go to them and they take care of the rebooking.  So my experience isn't exactly standard, but I have been pretty pleased with AA.

Same. And always go to the club for rebooking. We had to a couple of months ago and they took care of us in about 10 minutes. The line in the terminal stretched past several gates. All airlines have their issues, and cancelations happen to all of them, so it's always funny to me when someone bashes one over the other. I've flown AA all over the world and sure there are times when things have happened and I've been frustrated, but your gonna get that with any of them. Find one you like, be consistent so you get status, and then get the benefits of that. 

[Steamboat1874 4175]

I do not fly that often but my last two flights (Boston, Orlando) were both on AA and they were great.

They didn’t even charge me for beer on the trip to and from Disney World last December.

 

[Pescado_Rojo 19454]

23 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

I will go further--having Platinum status on AA and having access to the AAdmirals Club is really nice.  The ladies at the Austin AAdmirals Club know me.  On the occasion where I had a problem with a flight, I can go to them and they take care of the rebooking.  So my experience isn't exactly standard, but I have been pretty pleased with AA.

This. If you have at least Platinum status and a club membership you will usually get taken care of pretty quickly. Sometimes shit's just borked, but it's pretty rare. A modicum of patience and a smile go a long way, too. 

[Ghost of LL 15605]

1 hour ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

This. If you have at least Platinum status and a club membership you will usually get taken care of pretty quickly. Sometimes shit's just borked, but it's pretty rare. A modicum of patience and a smile go a long way, too. 

I'll also compliment AA on their baggage handling of late.  They've always put this "Priority" tag on your bags if you're Platinum or above.  But until the past year or two, I never noticed it making any particular difference.  But the past several times I've flown and checked bags, my "Priority" bags have come off the conveyor within the first ten bags.  And that's a pretty nice perk.

[Updawg 2327]

I don’t know about that baggage tag. I used to be platinum or whatever back with continental. To me it just seemed like it slowed the whole process down just so they could sort the luggage to get them out first

I don’t fly much anymore so who knows

[Iceman 2812]

Yesterday in a non-Texas airport, 8 TSA agents set up shop at our gate, re-checking IDs and randomly searching purses/ carry-ons before we scanned our boarding passes and got on the jetway.  I travel almost every other week and several other folks who said they travel all the time also noted they had never seen this before.  It was weird and extremely awkward/ clunky.

Then when I was making connection in DFW, dude in AA uniform like a gate agent was filming everyone with a headshot with his i-phone as we approached to scan our boarding passes.  Just like the earlier experience, it was just fucking weird.  Put em both on the same day and it was borderline WTF is going on?

[Prepuce of Doom 21125]

13 hours ago, Iceman said:

Yesterday in a non-Texas airport, 8 TSA agents set up shop at our gate, re-checking IDs and randomly searching purses/ carry-ons before we scanned our boarding passes and got on the jetway.  I travel almost every other week and several other folks who said they travel all the time also noted they had never seen this before.  It was weird and extremely awkward/ clunky.

Then when I was making connection in DFW, dude in AA uniform like a gate agent was filming everyone with a headshot with his i-phone as we approached to scan our boarding passes.  Just like the earlier experience, it was just fucking weird.  Put em both on the same day and it was borderline WTF is going on?

Sounds fishy. 

[bluto 4947]

Flew with wife and our infant on AA, night before flight the seat next to us was empty. At the gate I ask the agent if it’s still empty since we’re flying with baby. Well, that seat got booked. Damn. 
5 min later I’m coming back from bathroom and agent had called my wife up to let her know he rebooked us to a dif row promising an open seat. Damn fine work. 

Edited October 20 by bluto

[Js1 85825]

On 10/19/2024 at 6:57 AM, Iceman said:

Yesterday in a non-Texas airport, 8 TSA agents set up shop at our gate, re-checking IDs and randomly searching purses/ carry-ons before we scanned our boarding passes and got on the jetway.  I travel almost every other week and several other folks who said they travel all the time also noted they had never seen this before.  It was weird and extremely awkward/ clunky.

Then when I was making connection in DFW, dude in AA uniform like a gate agent was filming everyone with a headshot with his i-phone as we approached to scan our boarding passes.  Just like the earlier experience, it was just fucking weird.  Put em both on the same day and it was borderline WTF is going on?

Guess you made the list 

[Mo Horn 8899]

On 10/19/2024 at 6:57 AM, Iceman said:

Yesterday in a non-Texas airport, 8 TSA agents set up shop at our gate, re-checking IDs and randomly searching purses/ carry-ons before we scanned our boarding passes and got on the jetway.  I travel almost every other week and several other folks who said they travel all the time also noted they had never seen this before.  It was weird and extremely awkward/ clunky.

Then when I was making connection in DFW, dude in AA uniform like a gate agent was filming everyone with a headshot with his i-phone as we approached to scan our boarding passes.  Just like the earlier experience, it was just fucking weird.  Put em both on the same day and it was borderline WTF is going on?

Had the TSA thing happen on one of my flights this year

[Exposition 93]

On 10/19/2024 at 6:57 AM, Iceman said:

Yesterday in a non-Texas airport, 8 TSA agents set up shop at our gate, re-checking IDs and randomly searching purses/ carry-ons before we scanned our boarding passes and got on the jetway.  I travel almost every other week and several other folks who said they travel all the time also noted they had never seen this before.  It was weird and extremely awkward/ clunky.

Then when I was making connection in DFW, dude in AA uniform like a gate agent was filming everyone with a headshot with his i-phone as we approached to scan our boarding passes.  Just like the earlier experience, it was just fucking weird.  Put em both on the same day and it was borderline WTF is going on?

The TSA thing could be a randomly selected exercise? That one's the least fishy of the two, but the AA agent filming people definitely is weird. Those company issued iPads have a lot of passenger data so maybe AA wants updated headshots for everyone. And we probably agreed to it via some random hidden clause they threw into the fine print when we bought the ticket. 🙄

[bluto 4947]

And the good AA lord taketh on the return flight. just a fucking cunt of a gate agent. 

[Gil Bang 26101]

Holy fuck, I started today at MIA, and it was a shitshow with fucking Swifties everywhere. I must have seen 1000 Taylor Swift shirts.   And connected through Austin, which IMO is a pretty meh airport on a good day, and when you mix in all those F1 bros in McClaren hats, it's an outright disaster.  I'm glad to be home. 

[kevwun 15944]

Had the picture thing happen on an Alaskan flight in August, but it was when we were boarding and there was no extra TSA check.

Edited October 22 by kevwun

[Napoleon 8710]

Flew DFW to Maui on Sunday.

My sister was flying 1st class and I was in plebeian coach. My sister was allowed in the Flagship Admiral’s Club, but to bring me in we would have to go to the regular Admiral’s Club. 

I asked if the food was better in Flagship and the lady said that she couldn’t say one way or another, which I said “Means ‘Yes!’.” I told her to eat up and I would wait downstairs.

The lady saw that my sister’s birthday was on Monday (today), so she came after us. Score we could get to the elevator and dragged us into the flagship lounge where I had a nice breakfast. 

Then I got three seats across in the middle 3 seat section and was able to lie flat and sleep for about 4 hours. 

Along the way, my sister brought a blanket from first class and covered me with it. 

Then AA arrange for this sunset my first night ever in Hawaii. 

Thanks American!

 

[Gil Bang 26101]

Tip for those flying AA in steerage:  they FA's have new tablets that shows  passenger seats,  etc.  They used to be able to swipe your card for drinks and food purchases.  They were recently given new devices, and these devices cannot swipe a card...they can only do the tap thing.  I have an old CC that I use for travel only, and it isn't comparable with the tap thing.  So, my drinks were comped.   

I plan on hanging on to this old card as long as possible, just for AA in-flight purchases. 

[Napoleon 8710]

18 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Tip for those flying AA in steerage:  they FA's have new tablets that shows  passenger seats,  etc.  They used to be able to swipe your card for drinks and food purchases.  They were recently given new devices, and these devices cannot swipe a card...they can only do the tap thing.  I have an old CC that I use for travel only, and it isn't comparable with the tap thing.  So, my drinks were comped.   

I plan on hanging on to this old card as long as possible, just for AA in-flight purchases. 

My trip before this, I was returning to Dallas from NYC (may have flown with a layover) and I hadn’t eaten, so I ordered fruit plate plus the cheese & crackers. 

Tried to pay with my phone and the stewardess acted like she was going to try to use the tap and then said “Our machine is broken, it’s on us.”

I am not strikingly good looking nor appear to be wealthy (though I do have excellent grammar), but that happens to me about 20% of my flights. 

🤷‍♂️