The Newest Low for American Airlines

A few weeks ago, I flew American Airlines (AA) to Chicago to attend a conference. I happen to be an AAdvantage frequent flyer member, for what that is worth, but ran smack into the latest AA ploy to rid its customers of their sanity (and cash, of course). Here's how it went down:

Almost as soon as I received the e-mail from AA, I checked in online for the flight to Chicago. Nearly 24 hours before take-off. And no bags to check in, either. I was assigned boarding group 6. Six! That's got to be the last one, or thereabouts! I was obviously among the first few to check in for the flight, but was being made to board last! Anyway, what choice did I have? I printed out the boarding card and stuffed it into my pocket, hurriedly stifling the choice words rising up my throat.

When I got to the gate, the flight was already delayed by more than an hour. They had my phone number on file, yet decided not to inform me of the delay. So I burned some big cash in the name of food, after having skipped the perfectly good lunch that would have been ready at home. By the time they got around to boarding group 6, there were only about ten of us left. I was dreading the task of locating overhead space for my small cabin bag. Luckily, I found space right above my seat. Thanking my guardian angel, I twisted my long legs into something like a pretzel and settled down to a ridiculously cramped flight.

The group assignment is clearly a random process, right? I am sure it was just my luck of the draw that got me such a bad group. The return leg would be better.

Right?

Wrong.

First, I find it annoying that airlines send you on-line check-in reminders for the onward journey but rarely for the return journey. I still fished out my AAdvantage number, tried a few passwords before locating the right one, logged into AA.com and finished the process several hours before my flight. Group..... Five!

Lucky me! At least, it was not a six again!

The hotel's business center had such a hard time printing the boarding card that I decided to finish this step at the airport. The automatic kiosk was prompt to suggest that I could board in group 1. For $9.

I was already drained from the conference, and not wanting to deal with the Great Amazing Luggage Space Race, I coughed up the $9.

Imagine my surprise when they announced group 1 for boarding, and a sum total of TWO people stepped up! Obviously, AA has decided to assign everyone to a high group number, to then see how many $9's they can scrounge out.

Incredible!

AA had the gall to send me a customer satisfaction survey this week. I just sent them my feedback, though it was frustrating that I was limited to a measly 500 characters. I am sure I will henceforth avoid AA like the plague.