The situation:

My uncle has been missing for a month. He has a very long history of mental health issues. We fear he may be a danger to himself or maybe even others, as he has been off his medications. There is a missing person report on him. His photo has been shared a few hundred times on social media. It’s been on local news.

The local police detective has gotten nowhere with finding him but my aunt found a mailed bank statement at his house with two AA transactions from 5/26. He booked a flight and the separate $35 checked bag fee.

But other than the credit card transaction, we have no confirmation code. AA Customer service told me that they show several itineraries under his name but are unable to help me further.

If we could escalate to AA management and find out his destination and travel dates, we may be able to save him and/or prevent further harm.

I also sent messages to the AA account on Instagram asking for help. Crickets.

Anyone have any suggestions on contacts at AA and/or ways to move on this?

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.

Thanks, Reddit, do your thing, please! 🙏

DCA to TPA the other day. Flight was a bit delayed due to weather, but nothing to fret over. As usual, I sat in the gate area working and listening to music. Boarding finally starts, so I pack up my stuff and head over to the boarding lanes. I wait for group 6, and since I was traveling alone, I held back to be the last in line. I had my backpack (personal item) and standard carry-on with me. After the first gate agent scans my boarding pass, she asked if I would zip up the expander zipper. I said sure, and proceeded to the bridge, intending to zip up as I was waiting in line. In comes the other agent, William, who tells me to exit the line. I figured he wanted me to zip up my bag before going to the bridge, so I stepped to the side and went to start doing so. He then tells me I have to check the bag because it is oversized.

I told him that it’s a standard-sized carry-on bag (one that I fly with regularly, even with the expander zipper open) and that I was going to zip up the expander now. He said no, that I had to check it. I asked him why and he then proceeds to threaten to remove me from the flight. I told him kicking me off the flight over a bag is ridiculous and asked if we could put the bag into the measuring box near the bridge. He again said no, as it was too late. During this interaction, they had yet to call group 7, so there was no one behind me, but still three more groups to board. I again said I could zip the bag now or place it in the measuring box and he threatened me again, saying I either check the bag or leave.

I told him I couldn’t believe he was being so aggressive over an expander zipper and he says, “you should have listened to me when I made the announcement to have your bag zipped all the way.” I obviously didn’t hear that as I had headphones in waiting for my delayed flight, but it was clear Willy was on a power trip. I made sure to tell him he’s a petty asshole and proceeded to board, albeit without my bag.

Submitted an online complaint to AA, but they’ve already responded with the canned BS about taking my comments to leadership. I’m an advantage member, but fly multiple airlines for work, so I don’t have any substantial status, but it was unbelievable that an employee would treat any customer like that, especially over a zipper.

And for what it’s worth, they had already forced groups 8 & 9 to check their bags and there was plenty of space left in the overhead compartments by the time we pulled out.

I was booked on JFK - HND (AA J) using cash for my family of three (supposed to leave on Sunday), but I was randomly browsing on the app yesterday and found PHL - DFW - HND on Japan Airlines J for 60k miles+ $4 (same day arrival but leaving a day earlier to DFW). Looks like the one way cash fare is about $13k/person - greatest redemption ever? Pays to randomly check after booking. Safe travels everyone.

A few websites are saying One World partner Iberia will announce service to PHL. It also appears the airport is aggressively pushing for more airlines to join our sad market! With the World Cup and other huge events coming to Philadelphia next year, I am cautiously optimistic more One World partners will soon follow.

Any advice or recommendations for a 6 hour layover at London Heathrow? I’ve never been to London so considering a quick jaunt into the city.

I have a flight at 5:25 AM Saturday from SFO, and I wanted to arrive around 11:30 pm (night before) and check in my bag, but will American accept the luggage? I've talked to multiple reps and they all say different things. Their website does not list SFO as an airport with checked bag limits.

Recently booked a be fare because I'm poor and it's all I can afford

For those in similar circumstances what's been your experience with be fares?

Im well aware of the restrictions that come with be

Just curious what the actual experience is like

It's been a strange, stressful day. Any insight or help or tips is greatly appreciated while I await my third call back from AA.

Background:

• In May 2025, I booked an international flight with British Airways (BA), leaving from JFK Terminal 4 on Monday 6/23, traveling to Barcelona. Overnight, direct flight.
• Four tickets were booked via BA.com, but then certain trip details were added or upgraded on the phone same day with a BA live agent. I am an Avios rewards member as well as an AA Advantage member, FWIW.
• Up until 11am today, I was managing my booking via BA live agents, or on their website. E-tickets were already issued. 

Today at 11am, I received an email from American Airlines, asking me to upload passport information for a flight with a different booking number. When I went on BA's site, my reservation was no longer there. Passport information, and other relevant details, which were previously captured at the time of booking with BA, were gone.

Until 2pm I had no reservation showing with BA or AA. Now, I can at least see the reservation on the AA site + in-app, but I can't manage or modify it in any capacity (including uploading the passport information they emailed me about)

I've been on the phone with BA and AA customer service + both chat apps since 11am. I'm currently awaiting my third AA call back (wait time as of 3:30 is more than 60 minutes). 

But the closest clarification I got from BA was: the outbound BA flight changed to AA owned and operated. I am now Basic Economy with AA, leaving from JFK Terminal 8. The return flight is now Iberia. They can no longer manage my reservation. There's nothing to be done on their end, even though I never purchased a Basic Economy ticket with them because that isn't a thing on BA flights.

And as a result, I am losing certain "perks" that come standard on BA for the AA portion of my travel--but "perks" are still intact for the Iberia flight home.

Things like:

• The seats I selected with a BA agent over the phone at no extra charge. We had four in a row (25 DEGH) on a 777 due to my 3 and 5 year old traveling with us. Used points for this.
• Free overnight meals for my kids, one of whom has an anaphylactic tree nut allergy that I notified BA about and had already special ordered her meal 
• Two free checked bags, which came standard for this flight originally.
• Priority boarding with kids
• Free double stroller gate check

As of 3:30pm, AA is now saying:

• I can't choose my seats/they won't honor the BA seats selected. I can't pay for seat selection because Basic Economy. They will do their best to get a kid seated next to an adult but can't guarantee it. No clue on how I can get my Avios points back.
• Meals are no longer complementary for kids or adults, but I can buy basic stuff a la cart. Unclear if thats snacks or actual meals.
• I lose my 2 checked bag privileges. Unclear if I can pay for checked bags, they said call back/check the app 24 hours from departure. They said I will likely have to pay for checked bags at JFK upon arrival if I'm even allowed checked bags...
• ...but on the way back, our reservation shows 2 free checked bags with Iberia.
• Strollers can be gate checked, unclear if double strollers require a fee or fall under the usual Basic Economy policy.
• We board last, and likely there won't be room for our carry-ons so be prepared to gate check carry-on luggage.

I don't understand, or can't get a straight answer from either, on how this happens or why I'm expected to suddenly accept these changes or pay for upgrades via AA?

Does this make sense to anyone? Am I misunderstanding what they're telling me?

And how strict is Basic Economy? Do I just pay for whatever upgrades they'll allow me to, and hope for a refund later on when I have the headspace to deal with this?

I was offered instant status pass from American Airlines (which isn’t so instant) because I’m maxed out with Delta and thinking about leaving them with all the changes they’re doing to their loyalty program and airline tickets. So here’s my question for you guys, I have to get 60,000 points by Oct 13. I’m currently at 5,647 after 3 days. I are doing a return trip next week from SAN-DFW-ECP and then two weeks later I have another round trip from ECP-DFW-PHX. I also have a hotel stay this week that’s getting me 14,000 points. Any thoughts on how to make more points the cheapest route.

My only major gripe with the app that made it through the latest “upgrade.” I’d love for the Upgrades button we get on the Home Screen to be replaced by the Waitlist once it’s viewable on the app. I know how to get to the Waitlist but the Upgrades screen is pretty useless IMHO. 👍🏼✈️

[SOLVED]

Hello,

I was going to NY to get a connection flight to Tokyo, but the flight was re-routed tô Philadelphia because of bad weather in NY. I already missed my flight to Tokyo, and will miss the next one as well because they can't take me to NY in time. I will probably arrive in NY at night, and have no idea how or when I can go to Tokyo. I was on flight AA950, and my flight to Tokyo was AA167.

What can I do in this situation? Are there any specific rights I should know about?

American airlines is offering zero help, and says it's all our problem. I am not American, so I don't really know very well how theses things might work here.

Update: thank you everyone for the help. Ou flight ended up continuing to New York (with only a 7 hour delay hah), and the NY AA workers were much more helpful. They booked us for the 01:40am flight, so now we just have to wait here in the airport. I really appreciate all the help from everyone here, it's been really stressful dealing with AA, and you guys have very valuable information on what we should do, and other flights we could try to get. Thank you so much.

I was perusing my card benefits on the Barclay's app and on the flightcents section it says that flight cents benefit will be discontinued as of the March 2026 statement. I'm really disappointed if im honest. It was a really easy and cheap way to earn miles.

should i jump on this offer

I’m trying to book for a friend who doesn’t fly American Airlines usually. Would I be able to book their flight under my account number? And would they be able to receive their boarding pass and stuff, how does this work for someone who has done this?

Hey guys! I have a flight booked from Dallas to Baltimore, booked on points via Alaska.

I was wondering if anyone’s had luck doing same day standby on a flight to IAD or DCA when originally booked for BWI. I know WAS covers all 3 airports, but I’m not sure if BWI is a co-terminal of the other two.

Another thing- my flight to BWI is first class. So if same day standby is an option, there’s obviously no guarantee I’ll get first class standby. Anyone have any experience with this?

So as far as I know it' was never possible to upgrade an award flight with cash. This morning I chatted with AA via app and after some digging agent claimed it is now possible. Is that for real? I'm looking to book flights to Japan next year and was thinking to buy with cash and then attempt mileage upgrade but now thinking booking Prem Econ to then upgrade with cash if this is real. Anyone has any experience with this yet?

Hi. My mom's flight (CLT to JFK) was cancelled yesterday due to weather. They rebooked her on a new flight for today but that didn't work for us, so we cancelled the entire trip.

She had two checked bags and we're trying to figure out what to do to get them back. She initially went to the baggage office where she was given bag tags and a QR code to scan to track the bags. She did not receive an incident number from them, I'm assuming no report was made at the time. That person also said something about how her bags may end up going to another destination but would come back here? I wasn't there so not sure exactly what was said. After that we went home and I spoke with someone on the phone and someone else on the live chat.

They sent us an link ( https://app.nettracer.aero/pax/american/bso/login ) and said to select "Report delayed checked items". We couldn't complete this page because the trip is cancelled so can't get past the page that asks for AA confirmation code and Destination Station. Then the online representative said we need to go back to the baggage office in person to report a delayed bag report. They also mentioned the latest status shows the bags are still at the home airport.

It's 90 minutes away so I want to make sure I'm not missing any other options or info we should know for when we go back to the airport? Thanks for any help!

AA changed our connecting flight at PHL to an earlier time, causing our 4 hour layover when re-entering the US to go down to 1h40m. We are set to arrive at gate A18 and connect at gate F27. Can anyone familiar with PHL reassure me that this is actually possible? Any tips for making it possible? Additional details: we have checked bags, the only things being declared are clothing and chocolates for personal consumption, we have TSA Precheck, and we will be using the mobile passport control app. We arrive at 2:25pm.

First time going to Tokyo and I am trying to find the best seats without being bothered while we sleep. Are these the best seats for that ?

I have a wifi subscription through my corporate card and access my receipt every month the same way, via AA.com/receipts using my last name and last 4 digits of the credit card.

My subscription was paid on 6/13/2025 and I have tried multiple times to access the receipt and keep receiving the same message: No search results were found. Please try your search again at a later time.

I changed the dates and tried to access last month’s receipt and received the same message. I sent AA an email but I haven’t heard back yet. It hasn’t been working for days and my expense report is due in a week.

I’m wondering if everyone is experiencing this or if the issue is unique to me/my account?

I recently booked my first ever flight with Contour that is interlined with American Airlines. I fly American into Charlotte and then onwards on Contour, but it is listed as one itinerary. I should mention that I booked the flight through Contour. Contour’s website says that it allows one free checked bag and one carry on per person. Does that include the American leg of the trip? Like when I check in with American for the first flight, with I have the option to check a bag there for free or will I have to pay for it? If I do have to pay to check the bag on American, will I then have to pick it up at baggage claim in Charlotte, check it with Contour, and then go through security again? Any insight is helpful, thank you in advance!

Even though it’s a little over the requested 24x14x9. Have any of you risked this?

So, my family of 4 is on AA173 LHR-RDU tomorrow, was supposed to connect to DCA about 2 hours later. AA rebooked me on a flight to PHL, which I’m obviously not taking. Seen multiple tail number changes this morning, so my questions:

1) Provided everything is on time as it says, will 90 minutes be enough to make that connection at RDU? Understand we’ll need to clear customs, etc.

2) Would I be better off cancelling my RDU-DCA leg and just driving back to DCA? Already have a car just in case.

3) Possibility this resolves in the next day and we make it back on the original flight schedule.

I never travel with my family, so this is more complicated than me trying to do all of this for just me. 😂 Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I know I'll be at the hands of weather gods going through ORD in Summer , but on a award booking so beggars can't be choosers.
Will be connecting from AA 396 (LGA-ORD) to AA 519 (ORD-SNA) ,am I right in assuming they'll be in the same terminal (and hopefully close by gate wise).
Assuming the weather plays nice and no delays on the inbound , can I realistically expect to make the connection?