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I did something this morning that I never do. The last time that I flew in the Economy Class cabin (aside from on low-cost carriers like Ryanair in Europe that don’t offer one) was in 2023 when I had an issue with a United Airlines delay and needed to find an alternative. American Airlines was the other option and the carrier would not sell me a First Class seat. I was willing to pay, but the agent could not sell me the seat. She was quite rude and I swore off American for a bit. I’ve been flying American more lately, but book First or Business Class on every flight. I needed to fly from Tampa International Airport (TPA) to Miami International Airport (MIA) this morning. Flights in First Class were full when I booked. I noticed an hour before departure that two seats had opened in First and I wanted them. I’m Executive Platinum with American, but found my party as numbers five and six on the upgrade standby list. The agent tried, but could not sell me a paid upgrade or reprice the tickets in First Class. This seems to be a real issue for American and the airline is leaving money on the table.
We had two seats in the bulkhead (Row 8). While the flight took a delay, it was fine for such a short hop. But, I was willing to pay. I was not looking for a complimentary upgrade. I had cash in hand (well, a credit card). The agent typed for a bit and was quite pleasant, but he was not able to sell me the seats. I told him to name a price and it made no difference.
American’s just posted record full-year 2025 revenue of $54.6 billion with only $111 million in GAAP net income. Compare that to Delta Air Lines ($63.4 billion in revenue and $5 billion on its bottom line) and United Airlines ($59 billion and $3.53 billion) and the issue becomes clear. American is not profitable for many reasons, but not taking my money and that of countless others has to contribute to the failure. If you want to buy a seat at Delta or United, the automated system and the gate agents are going to gladly sell it. The agent was nice about it, but I could see that he agreed with me and that American should have a way for him to make that sale.
Anthony’s Take: I survived the flight in Economy. I jest. It was a short flight. But, my point remains. American could have picked up some easy money and instead made its system unable to sell me an upgrade or reprice a ticket. And, before I get called out for being “bougie,” I was being sarcastic about surviving, but I do strongly feel that American could better monetize itself.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
7 comments
From Tampa to Miami you need to fly first. How long is the flight? 30m in the air?
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About that. We sat for 30 delayed on the ground. It’s not the point of the flight duration. I was trying to say that American should still want the $$$.
So, you are saying that AA shouldn’t give upgrades to loyalty members as there could be always someone with a credit card willing to pay?
Yes. AA is a business. They should try to monetize everything they can. Airlines in general have made it clear that long-term loyalty does not matter. It’s all about the $$$.
All about $$$ – yes, it is and look what is one big revenue creator …. the loyalty program. Cannibalize it enough and people with go with another program, and with them airfare, fees and points they (indirectly) purchased from credit card spend.
You decide to take a flight and expect to be able to cash upgrade one hour before departure (with “upgrades as early as 100h before departure” for loyalty members) if that would have happened, I would have shifted my spend to another carrier.
Why not cancel the ticket and use the flight credit to repurchase up front?
It was too close to flight time when the seats opened. I could not book a ticket. I tried on my phone and it said it had to be purchased at the airport.