Combined Travel Rules

[1AA]

One serious downside I see to fcfs is you can't make a last minute decision on flights because of the requirement if you want to have a chance to get on. To list 24 hours prior. In coming back from FL over busy spring break, we ended up switching at last minute and flying to providence instead of boston. At US you can maintain your position even with a last minute listing. At AA you wouldn't make out well.

First thing is that traveling is a benefit. If you can not travel within your time frame then just buy a ticket and put your concerns to rest. We all do it from time to time.

 

[JFK Fleet Service]

In coming back from FL over busy spring break, we ended up switching at last minute and flying to providence instead of boston.

Heavy flights out of Florida during spring break? I'm shocked by this development.

 

[IORFA]

Not what I was saying. Correct me if I'm incorrect.
I check in 24 hours prior on PBI to DCA with then connecting flight to BOS.
In our case BOS flights were oversold all day. revenue sb being denied.
We decide to list to go to PVD and get on train.
New listing.
Under current Senority system. No harm by not listing and checking in early. I list for my DCA PVD and get my DOH slot.
So yes nothing to do with making effort and checking in 24 hours prior.

Using your doom and gloom scenario bookended by your whining, if I am not mistaken. When you get rolled over to your beloved PVD flight, your checkin time follows. If you doom and gloomers put a little effort into researching your ridiculous worries, then you might actually understand the system. For all the dumb questions you guys worry about makes me think it will be years before you figure it out and the rest of us will do quite well in that system! It sounds like you might be better served buying an AA20! I'm not sure you'll understand what that is either.

 

[flyer63]

Wow, thanks for the hospitality. So this is the AA way?....
I was just pointing out a potential flaw .. In fcfs.... It's a done deal so will just have to figure it out... Yeah fl over spring break... Made it both ways and all it cost was a35 dollar train charge from pvd to bos. Conductor comped me as I was in pilot uniform... Just paid for wife...
aa way does require a lot more pre planning and is not nearly as flexible as DOH.... There is no way to argue that....

I don't mind paying for a ticket but as you know tickets over April vacation were pushing 800 to 1000 rt and with a little effort we did it for next to nothing

 

[IORFA]

Wouldn't it be better to do some research on Wings before to see if your "potential flaw" was even possible? Or is it better to spread misinformation and worry? I'm not sure how the AA way requires more pre planning? Unless you are a 50 year employee who is accustomed to just showing up and getting on. You were junior once. I'm sure you had to do more pre planning back in the day. It really isn't that hard of a system to understand or navigate. Super simple. The only difference I see now is if I want to go coast to coast, I now have too many options. Much easier when I only had to choose ORD over DFW. DFW is/was and always will be my last resort. Only go through there if it is my destination or on positive space DHD.

 

[jimntx]

To paraphrase Pres. Clinton, define flexible.  Flexible for whom?  People with lots of seniority, that's whom!  LOL
 
I'm probably going to be retiring within the next year or so.  And, with less than 15 years seniority, I'll probably never non-rev again unless I want to go to Vail in the Summer and the beach in the dead of Winter.  This new D2R classification means I get on after you, your family, your dog , and your mother-in-law (that you don't even like  )  have boarded.  Is that what PMUS calls fair in the seniority system?  Someone gives 40 years to the company and then boards after some snot-nosed teenager who didn't want to go on vacation with you anyway.
 
Someone said that DP said in one of his town hall meetings that the D2R was created because there are now more retired employees than active.  As we all die off, let's see if they change it back to the way it was.  I doubt it.

 

[eolesen]

Not what I was saying. Correct me if I'm incorrect.

Gladly.
 

I check in 24 hours prior on PBI to DCA with then connecting flight to BOS.

In our case BOS flights were oversold all day. revenue sb being denied.

We decide to list to go to PVD and get on train.

Sure. No problem. Your original listing time follows you, provided you bother to ask an agent to transfer you to the alternate destination, where you'd probably jump to the head of that list with your early check-in time.
 

New listing.

No, it's only a new listing if you didn't ask the agent to move you over from the BOS flight over to a PVD flight.

It's actually worse for you to do it that way, since you get a new time, but also due to the fact your name remains on the original list for BOS, which means the agents will waste time calling your name, just to have you not be there, and possibly run out of time, burning a few seats and leaving people at the gate.

On a busy day, it was quite common at DFW & ORD for us to have multi-page standby lists to some destinations, yet D3's would still manage to get on flights because of all those in the middle of the list who gave up and listed for something else without getting transferred.

The long lists would also deter new listings as people showed up ("sorry, there are already 100 people on the list, so don't bother..."), and we'd eventually we'd wind up going out with empty seats by the end of the night.

Having a DOH system won't make that problem go away, either.

 

[flyer63]

thanks for the explanation eolesen.
this will take some getting used to for us, and appreciate the help.
definetly a lot more quirky than DOH... (very straight forward)
you all have been using this and are comfortable with it.  US , not so much, so if you were in our shoes I think you would be feeling the same pain.

 

[eolesen]

To be clear, I'm not using it anymore, and won't if given a choice.

But I consult with a lot of airlines using various different check-in systems, and most of those most comfortable with DOH ultimately don't care who gets the seat, as long as it's filled and not a lot of work for the agents. Others have simply accepted DOH as the way to go, and have little interest in changing it because their unions are more than happy too let their members be seen as little more than a commodity in the company's eyes.

What I've also found is that the airlines willing to use check-in time see the value in equal access to flight privileges. They also find that employees using FCFS tend to show up earlier, which lessens the overall workload for the airport in staging the bags and getting the flight out. DOH sees the opposite: people showing up close to the cut-off time for closing out the flight.

 

[cubs_in_2012]

Eolesen and others gave great advice, always ask the gate agent to change your listing in order to preserve your check-in time. That took me about a year to figure out. Two observations and a question:

- Revenue stand-bys seem to be the wild card in the whole process. They pop up at the last minute and there go empty seats.  Completely unpredictable.

- I was on standby last week in which a captain (250lb) took the cockpit jump seat while a new hire FA took a seat in coach.  Several D2s and D3s did not make the flight.  Flight was an hour and a half long.  And yes, I know she was 100% within her rights to do exactly that.  Just sayin' though...

Question - Is it against AA policy to be listed on a flight and *also* hold a ZED ticket on the same day on a different airline, as a backup?

 

[QQAAramp]

Yes, it is legal to be listed on AA and hold a ZED ticket on another airline on the same day as a backup.  Have done that numerous times.

 

[cubs_in_2012]

Thank you QQAAramp

 

[dfw gen]

thanks for the explanation eolesen.
this will take some getting used to for us, and appreciate the help.
definetly a lot more quirky than DOH... (very straight forward)
you all have been using this and are comfortable with it.  US , not so much, so if you were in our shoes I think you would be feeling the same pain.

it just takes a little time to get used to the system. it does appear to be a little more equal for all. I think some one had mentioned that legacy aa hasn't hired much in the last 12 years or so. lot of seniority at aa.

 

[eolesen]

Question - Is it against AA policy to be listed on a flight and *also* hold a ZED ticket on the same day on a different airline, as a backup?

The only prohibition is standing by on a D1/D2 when you hold a revenue booking ON AA in the same market.

 

[cubs_in_2012]

Thanks eolesen, that makes sense.  My understanding is that you cannot list for multiple flights (multiple PNRs) on the same day either.  For example, if I'm trying to get from BOS to DFW, I can't list for BOS-ORD-DFW and BOS-MIA-DFW as well, 'just in case'.
 
Thanks again.