As any frequent flyer knows, one of the best benefits of any airline elite status is flexibility. Once you earn even the lowest tier of elite status with an airline it becomes immensely easier to change flights in the event of a schedule change. When I flew every other week for work it was this flexibility that I valued most. I could book the latest or cheapest flight of the day and change to a more desirable flight almost without fail.
On American there are two ways to change your flight on the day of travel. Passengers can of course add their names to the Standby List. The standby list is ordered by elite status so as an Executive Platinum customer my standby request almost always clears. The second option is to request a confirmed flight change. Confirmed changes are a little more difficult to come by but as the name implies when you make the request you receive a confirmed seat. American typically charges a fee for either of these options, however American waives the fees for passengers with elite status.
American Introduces Online Same-Day Flight Change Requests
In the past, in order to request any of these changes you would have to either speak with an agent at the airport or call the airline. I always found this frustrating because you would have to research flights online and then call with a specific request. Well, that’s at least what I found works best. Also, I hated this because you were at the mercy of whoever was helping you. Some agents would go the extra mile and work with you while others would barely give you the time of day. Overall, it was just a frustrating system.
That all changed not too long ago when American Airlines introduced online same-day flight change requests. Now, you could log-in to your AAdvantage account online and request a same day change. I found that most of the time you could only request same-day standby, but occasionally, if you got lucky you could get a confirmed seat.
The online system is nice, but I’ve noticed it’s not nearly as friendly as United. United elite customers seem to be able to move their flights around so much easier than American. However, that’s a topic for a different day.
Same-Day Flight Changes Aren’t Always A Great Deal
While American has now made it possible to request same-day changes online and in the app I wouldn’t say the system is perfect. I found that out the hard way earlier today when I tried to request a confirmed flight change.
Earlier today I was flying from Chicago to Los Angeles to begin my trip to Australia (more on that to come). I had to work all day (yes I have a day job still) so I ended up booking the 6:35PM departure from ORD to LAX. Upon booking I was lucky enough to snag seat 12F, a Main Cabin Extra seat with the seat in the row ahead missing.
At around noon my work day started to slow down. I realized that I could most likely take the earlier 4:40PM departure and arrive at LAX a bit earlier. So, I launched the mobile app and requested the change.
As confirmable space was available, immediately after making the request my reservation updated to reflect the new flight.
The Same-Day Flight Change Page Does Not Show Delays
Right as the app refreshed I noticed an issue. When the new flight data updated the orange “delayed” banner appeared in the top right corner of the flight’s card. Sure enough, the 4:40PM departure was delayed until 6:40PM or 5 minutes after my original flight.
Once I noticed the issue I immediately went back into the mobile app to request a change back to my original flight. At this point though I couldn’t confirm a seat on my original flight, but could instead only request to be on the standby list.
At that moment I ended up calling up American to explain the situation. The phone representative was extremely helpful and ended up getting me a confirmed seat back on my original flight. However, as you may have noticed in the picture above, I was no longer in seat 12F. Instead, the only non-middle seat available was 17A; a standard window seat.
Unfortunately while I tried to correct the issue someone on my original flight managed to grab my now empty seat. There was nothing the phone agent could do about it other than recommend I watch the seat map like a hawk.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t the first time I’ve lost a great seat to a flight change and I’m sure it won’t be the last. The frustrating part about it is that the app did not show the 4:40PM flight as delayed. Online and in the mobile app there was no indication that the flight was delayed. So, at first glance, it seems like a great deal to get on an earlier flight. Then, only when you make the change do you realize that the flight now departs after your originally scheduled flight.
Going forward I don’t think I’m going to use the same-day flight change option unless American starts showing flight status. Instead, I’m going to continue calling American to make these changes. By calling American the phone agent should notify you if the flight is delayed, etc. so I think it’s just easier to call.
