a man in a uniform

When you show up late to board your flight, you cannot expect a seat on it. An American Airlines Executive Platinum member plus a companion and child lost their seats after showing up late to board a flight in Miami, but have only themselves to blame.

American Airlines Passengers Shows Up Late To Board, Get Upset When Denied Boarding

Video streamed on Instagram shows a couple berating an American Airlines gate agent in Miami for denying them boarding on a flight. The agent, who remains calm, confirms the offloading, telling the passengers that departure time is 12.5 minutes away and they should know better as Executive Platinum members (AA’s top published elite tier).

The passengers, traveling with a child, push back, arguing that they are at the gate and the door is open, so they should be allowed to board. But standbys had already been cleared into their seats and the gate agent refused to reconsider and turned away to walk down the jetbridge and close the aircraft door.

While the police were summoned and sympathetic to the passenger, they also admonished her that creating a disturbance was not permitted.

In my opinion, the passenger comes off looking very entitled and very bad.

I am giving away your seats
byu/TheManager_1 inKarenGoBrrr

It’s Not A Perfect System, Though…

What I don’t like about the interaction above is the sense of entitlement and the poor language. There is no “right” to a seat on a flight once you are within 15 minutes of departure…the AA rules are clear.

I think there’s a difference between stepping off a delayed flight and running to make your connection and just showing up late to the airport or spending too much time in the lounge.

The 15-minute cutoff is reasonable to ensure an on-time departure and so my sympathy to this couple would extend only to a situation in which the delay to the boarding gate was not her own fault.

But if that were the case, they should have very calmly explained what was going on. The outcome may have been no different, but the result would have been sympathy, not scorn.

CONCLUSION

An entitled pair of American Airlines passengers thought they came across as the victims by shaming a gate agent who denied her boarding for showing up late to board her flight, but actually came across looking entitled and foolish.

The technology at American Airlines is also not as advanced as other carriers, making it all the more important to get to the gate on-time or early.

This isn’t Japan: you show up early to board your flight or you do risk missing it…

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