American Air Travel Hacks
The Philadelphia airport has become my second home. Along with American Air airplanes and the Amex Centurion Lounge. All praise a good, fully-stocked lounge. But we’ll get to the lounge stuff on another post. This one is dedicated to those who are looking for a row all to themselves. Sound appealing? Read on friends, read on…
About ten minutes before boarding you go up to your gate and kindly say something like, “excuse me, could you tell me if there are two seats next to one another that are totally open? I really could use the extra space. I don’t even mind if it’s the last row.” (Reminder!! Most of the time NOT all of the available seats are shown!!)
Immediately the gate agent will look at what’s available and give you either an abrupt no because there actually isn’t anything open (aka fully booked or worse – an overbooked flight) OR will give you that sly smile and say, “what seat are you currently?” Tell them whatever it is, they’ll move you, print out a new boarding slip with your updated seat alongside NO ONE, and BAM you’re set!
Of my last eight recent flights I had my own row seven times. Not too shabby, huh! Obviously, my method isn’t a guarantee, but it’s totally worth a shot. Also, if you’re scanning your boarding pass, make sure to refresh it after they change your seat. Otherwise, it makes a very bad-sounding noise when you scan (with the original seat assignment) and no one’s trying to make a scene while boarding, right??
Now if you really want to better your experience with American Air this is what needs to happen:
1) Search for your flights in a PRIVATE browser
2) Once you find the one you want switch to a “regular” window so you can automatically enter your personal info with ease (private browsers don’t have cookies enabled so any automatic login or password info you have won’t appear)
3) Whether this is your first flight with AA or your 80th make sure you make an AAdvantage number – it’s free and will only help you rack up miles!
4) Choose BASIC ECONOMY (opposed to main cabin)! I know what you’re thinking. Wow what a peasant. But GUESS WHAT! It’s the cheapest option, but you still get everything main cabin does except boarding priority and seat assignment….or so you thought
5) Since you don’t get assigned a seat until you check in you have two options
Option 1 – pay for your seat a few days after you book through the AA app or website which is WAY less money than the typical $100 increase from basic economy to main cabin
Option 2 – wait until you get assigned a seat from AA and if you would’ve chosen it yourself, yay! And if not, you can still either pay about $20 for the seat of your choice OR wait until you get to the gate to see if they can give you your own row. (Even if no open seats are showing, there’s a good chance they exist!! They’re just hidden!! Re-read paragraph two^)
6) When booking basic economy you automatically board with group 9, soooo…
Option 1 - prepare to board last (aka you’ll 99% have to valet your carry-on rollaboard) which really just means you check it at the gate, you won’t have to lift it up into an overhead bin, and you’ll wait for AA staff to take it off the plane and hand it to you at the gate of your first destination (NOT at baggage claim)
Option 2 – if you’re flying with a friend or family member, you can board with them!
7) Sit back, relax, and (hopefully) enjoy your spacious flight!
