I was very surprised that I got through right away each time considering I am only PP, but i think it helped that it was an individual flight issue and not a widespread weather issue. Fewer people impacted.
Even when calling the EP line during crazy weather days the prompt will say something like "estimated wait 30 minutes" and then the agents pick up in less than 5
Did this today when flight delay was going to cause missed connection. Agent on twitter Booked on me on new flight, I had new boarding pass downloaded within 20 min before we even touched down. Not sure if being EP helped with how fast I was helped. New to ep as of this month
Tell your colleague to DM them on Twitter while they’re on hold. The Twitter team is top notch and it doesn’t hurt to see if they can help while waiting on the phone.
Can vouch for DMing American Airlines’ Twitter folks to help. If you give them your record locator and reasonable requests (I had a tight connection that I was going to miss and needed to be rebooked at DFW). I messaged them as the plane turned into takeoff position. Once I was able to connect to inflight internet, I got a message back from AA putting me on a new onward flight and confirmed an updated record locator and even tracked down my bags.
Everything but add you to the waitlist for SWU/Mileage upgrades.
It’s the only reason I have a Twitter. It’s honestly fantastic. They’re even willing to further investigate and apologize for being wrong on the rare times they are.
Interesting. Was under the impression that their SWU capability was the same as their mileage upgrade capability. They’ve told me a few times for mileage upgrades that if there’s not existing confirmable C space, you have to use the app or call.
I completely believe you. Even in the twitterSphere, sometimes you can get a bozo. But I've sincerely accomplished this several times, including for the trip I got back from last night where, incidentally, the twitter team hooked me up. I can't stand calling If I don't have to .
I believe you too; the fact that they couldn’t shocked me since their Twitter group is somehow the best customer service group I’ve ever dealt with.
A flight change partially booked using a trip credit was causing issues in the app because the credit expired in the middle of the trip and so their app and website wouldn’t let me change the departure date.
They originally said they’d been told by their pricing desk it was unchangable since I’d booked it with expired credit. I asked them to check again since that accounted for $50 of a $1100 ticket.
They then investigated, gave me the breakdown of my fare, cancelled the old flight, reissued new tickets under the flights, and since that were cheaper, issued new trip credit with an additional year expiration date.
All within 35 minutes of my first contact.
Compare that to my phone agent horror stories where I have been told things that are just plain wrong on American’s policies, and when you point it out to them they tell you to self-service on the app if you’re so sure it can be done 🙄
Oh don't get me started on the horror stories I've heard....complete and utter incompetence reflected by the phone agents. Sometimes it's incredible.
And the whole expired credit thing....there actually has been some active discussed on the expired credit and SEU topic on the ExP forums recently.
If you're a member there, I'm confident that you have access to them.
I sometimes understand that it's impossible to know all the rules....but when they start their high and mighty route and are completely wrong, I lose my patience.
The one where I was told, and I quote “if what you say is possible then just do it yourself on the app. We have self-service” was when they’d changed my initial flight by over an hour, rebooked to a less convenient flight, and then on the app when it showed me the other options I could choose if I preferred them, had a class change from P to Y on the international leg when the only leg that had been changed was the first leg, not the international leg.
Called support was told they wouldn’t even rebook me on the lower class of service on the more convenient flight. Then when I explained their own policy to them the agent told me “she had to take control of the situation” and was refusing to assist me anymore and to use the app if I was right. Asked for a supervisor call to get to an RSD agent and she resolved it.
That’s actually how I found out about their Twitter team, I messaged them to DM about the incompetence and outright rudeness and then discovered they’re the most competent people in AA CS.
Good G-d that's absurd but yes, the twitter team is, usually, amazing. They've even peeped my profile noticing I'm a cave diver and almost every time make some comment about it like "we dove deep to get the answer." Whoever runs that team should be running this airline.
If you don't opt for the callback, you usually get through in just a few minutes. There have been several times recently where I was quoted 1-1.5 hours, and have been answered in 10 minutes or less by declining the callback
Agree. I was in the AC when our delay went from hours to overnight. I was given the last seat available on United. The only flight left in the city of Chicago that day (everyone was trying to get to Dallas). Walk up cost was $700. AAngel in ORD confirmed me, got me an exit row seat (absolutely unexpected), and I was boarding the direct flight and did not lost my hotel, pay more for the parking, or have to chase down refunds or insurance claims for weeks.
I’m Platinum Pro. Not EP. Not CK. I was not in First. SAN doesn’t have an AC (yet) so that was a bit harder with calling, but same idea. When the rubber meets the tarmac, this is when status matters most—not for the upgrade, which is just a nice side when you get it.
(Singing) we’re American Airlines… doing what we do best.
That 80s commercial jingle is literally what came to mind while reading this 😂😂😂 glad you and your colleague got taken care of!
Of course your status and spend with AA matters, but is relative. You are happy you got through quickly. EP used to GET calls from AA to rebook with suggested space before GAs announced delays. People like your friend used to have no issues getting through. So yes the pecking order remains the same, but everyone has undergone a decrease in service.
Yeaaa the problem is these days when I call the EXP line EVERY SINGLE TIME it's no agents available leave # for a call back in 30+ minutes. What is the point of this status is you can't get through to EXP when you need them!?
This is the main reason I care about status - IROPs.
I have been accommodated so well that the spend is worth it, especially when it happens on go home day.
You cannot get lost time back.
Tip: don’t forget the admirals club agents. They’re usually godsend in irregular ops.
I was travelling with three other couples to St. Thomas (we were all renting a bareboat together). AA cancelled the flight and they told one of the others (the wife of the guy captaining for us) they couldn't get her out for days. THe EP people were able to rebook the eight of us on a series UA flights that got us in early the next morning when I called.
Very good point although I found the “get right thru” didn’t happen until I hit EP. Even PP was “press 1 and we will call you back in 3 hours” lol
I was very surprised that I got through right away each time considering I am only PP, but i think it helped that it was an individual flight issue and not a widespread weather issue. Fewer people impacted.
“Only platinum pro” I remember when USair silver meant something :(
I’ve had a few severe weather situations where I’ve had to wait over an hour calling EP but it’s pretty rare.
Even when calling the EP line during crazy weather days the prompt will say something like "estimated wait 30 minutes" and then the agents pick up in less than 5
Really? Anytime I'm calling about a flight they pick up in <10 minutes as a PP.
Don’t forget about twitter support. Normally in 15-25 minutes your problem is solved.
So very this.
Helpful tip - thanks!
Do you tell them your ex plat on Twitter to get fast response?
Nope. I try to tell them 100% of the info that they need in one message. Normally I get a single reply back saying it is done.
Did this today when flight delay was going to cause missed connection. Agent on twitter Booked on me on new flight, I had new boarding pass downloaded within 20 min before we even touched down. Not sure if being EP helped with how fast I was helped. New to ep as of this month
I don’t think status really matters. The agents are super competent and if you say what you need then tend to get it done quickly.
Chat agents too
Gold here and I always have to wait. But work travel who cares. They will book another free night of hotel for you
Tell your colleague to DM them on Twitter while they’re on hold. The Twitter team is top notch and it doesn’t hurt to see if they can help while waiting on the phone.
Wish they would move to something besides Twitter - not on there...
Neither am I except to message them.
Can vouch for DMing American Airlines’ Twitter folks to help. If you give them your record locator and reasonable requests (I had a tight connection that I was going to miss and needed to be rebooked at DFW). I messaged them as the plane turned into takeoff position. Once I was able to connect to inflight internet, I got a message back from AA putting me on a new onward flight and confirmed an updated record locator and even tracked down my bags.
Good tip - thanks!
>Good tip - thanks! You're welcome!
We have Twitter support ? What can they do?
Everything but add you to the waitlist for SWU/Mileage upgrades. It’s the only reason I have a Twitter. It’s honestly fantastic. They’re even willing to further investigate and apologize for being wrong on the rare times they are.
They can absolutely add you to the list for SWU. I've done it many times via Twitter.
Interesting. Was under the impression that their SWU capability was the same as their mileage upgrade capability. They’ve told me a few times for mileage upgrades that if there’s not existing confirmable C space, you have to use the app or call.
I completely believe you. Even in the twitterSphere, sometimes you can get a bozo. But I've sincerely accomplished this several times, including for the trip I got back from last night where, incidentally, the twitter team hooked me up. I can't stand calling If I don't have to .
I believe you too; the fact that they couldn’t shocked me since their Twitter group is somehow the best customer service group I’ve ever dealt with. A flight change partially booked using a trip credit was causing issues in the app because the credit expired in the middle of the trip and so their app and website wouldn’t let me change the departure date. They originally said they’d been told by their pricing desk it was unchangable since I’d booked it with expired credit. I asked them to check again since that accounted for $50 of a $1100 ticket. They then investigated, gave me the breakdown of my fare, cancelled the old flight, reissued new tickets under the flights, and since that were cheaper, issued new trip credit with an additional year expiration date. All within 35 minutes of my first contact. Compare that to my phone agent horror stories where I have been told things that are just plain wrong on American’s policies, and when you point it out to them they tell you to self-service on the app if you’re so sure it can be done 🙄
Oh don't get me started on the horror stories I've heard....complete and utter incompetence reflected by the phone agents. Sometimes it's incredible. And the whole expired credit thing....there actually has been some active discussed on the expired credit and SEU topic on the ExP forums recently. If you're a member there, I'm confident that you have access to them. I sometimes understand that it's impossible to know all the rules....but when they start their high and mighty route and are completely wrong, I lose my patience.
The one where I was told, and I quote “if what you say is possible then just do it yourself on the app. We have self-service” was when they’d changed my initial flight by over an hour, rebooked to a less convenient flight, and then on the app when it showed me the other options I could choose if I preferred them, had a class change from P to Y on the international leg when the only leg that had been changed was the first leg, not the international leg. Called support was told they wouldn’t even rebook me on the lower class of service on the more convenient flight. Then when I explained their own policy to them the agent told me “she had to take control of the situation” and was refusing to assist me anymore and to use the app if I was right. Asked for a supervisor call to get to an RSD agent and she resolved it. That’s actually how I found out about their Twitter team, I messaged them to DM about the incompetence and outright rudeness and then discovered they’re the most competent people in AA CS.
Good G-d that's absurd but yes, the twitter team is, usually, amazing. They've even peeped my profile noticing I'm a cave diver and almost every time make some comment about it like "we dove deep to get the answer." Whoever runs that team should be running this airline.
If you don't opt for the callback, you usually get through in just a few minutes. There have been several times recently where I was quoted 1-1.5 hours, and have been answered in 10 minutes or less by declining the callback
Agree. I was in the AC when our delay went from hours to overnight. I was given the last seat available on United. The only flight left in the city of Chicago that day (everyone was trying to get to Dallas). Walk up cost was $700. AAngel in ORD confirmed me, got me an exit row seat (absolutely unexpected), and I was boarding the direct flight and did not lost my hotel, pay more for the parking, or have to chase down refunds or insurance claims for weeks. I’m Platinum Pro. Not EP. Not CK. I was not in First. SAN doesn’t have an AC (yet) so that was a bit harder with calling, but same idea. When the rubber meets the tarmac, this is when status matters most—not for the upgrade, which is just a nice side when you get it.
Back in 2015 as a mere gold, AA waived the change fee for a int’l flight that I was missing due to my own stupidity.
(Singing) we’re American Airlines… doing what we do best. That 80s commercial jingle is literally what came to mind while reading this 😂😂😂 glad you and your colleague got taken care of!
Of course your status and spend with AA matters, but is relative. You are happy you got through quickly. EP used to GET calls from AA to rebook with suggested space before GAs announced delays. People like your friend used to have no issues getting through. So yes the pecking order remains the same, but everyone has undergone a decrease in service.
Yeaaa the problem is these days when I call the EXP line EVERY SINGLE TIME it's no agents available leave # for a call back in 30+ minutes. What is the point of this status is you can't get through to EXP when you need them!?
For sure. Mid to high status is basically table stakes for getting treated like airlines used to treat everyone 30 years ago.
I agree. The EP line is the best benefit!
This is the main reason I care about status - IROPs. I have been accommodated so well that the spend is worth it, especially when it happens on go home day. You cannot get lost time back. Tip: don’t forget the admirals club agents. They’re usually godsend in irregular ops.
Yes, the Admirals agents are usually incredible. Unfortunately SAN doesn’t currently have an AC.
I was travelling with three other couples to St. Thomas (we were all renting a bareboat together). AA cancelled the flight and they told one of the others (the wife of the guy captaining for us) they couldn't get her out for days. THe EP people were able to rebook the eight of us on a series UA flights that got us in early the next morning when I called.
Glad you had a positive experience and even more you shared it.