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American Airlines has just unveiled another customer unfriendly policy. Airport agents are not allowed to assist passengers that wish to standby for an earlier flight unless they hold Platinum Pro or higher elite status.
@AmericanAir crap service DFW, gate agent refused to help us, stood on phones 30m and stated they didn’t “have time to help me”! Brianna didn’t even attempt to assist, 13 extra seats Honest truth would rather be on phones then assist customers! Called supervisor 20m ago evidently pic.twitter.com/fWzP8Ky8uM
— Jennifer Hughes (@Jennife83749624) March 26, 2025
Agents are not allowed to add passengers to the standby list even with plenty of time and open seats. This all comes down to the bottom line and American can staff less employees by taking away the functions that staff could once perform. Passengers without an American AAdvantage account are not allowed to standby at all. Those with status lower than Platinum Pro must use the app to standby. Regardless of status, you must be added to the standby list 45 minutes or more before the flight.
AAdvantage elites at all levels are allowed to standby with checked bags. But, once you check a bag you’re not allowed to add yourself to the standby list. Essentially, this makes it impossible to standby for an earlier flight if you’re not Platinum Pro or higher with checked bags. This policy is far more restrictive than what United and Delta offer passengers.
Anthony’s Take: I am not a fan of American Airlines. I find the service, route map, and policies to be sub-par. Airline management talks about making the airline more premium, but policies like this put it firmly in the low-cost carrier bucket.
(Featured Image Credit: American Airlines.)
(H/T: Live and Let’s Fly.)
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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.
1 comment
While the policy is not fantastic, you and Gary (always always Gary) are reporting old news. And Gary knows it because he reported it the first time (and again here citing the Feb. 2024 memo: See: post called American Airlines New Standby Rules Are Wreaking Havoc Don’t Get-Left Behind from June 2, 2024–can’t post here because your filter rightly thinks his recycled clickbait is spam) AA made the policy over a YEAR ago. I hate United and its special pricing for this and that. Fine. Whatever. Can we major on the major things and not rehash all the baby whining from Gary’s view from the backside?