American Airlines gate agent Matt in San Diego is a real bad apple. He made the start of my trip miserable, and he seemingly did it because he made a mistake, didn’t want to admit it, and made himself feel better by threatening me.
This is my blog, and I share a lot of personal travel stories here, both my successes and failures and the reasons why I do things. So it only feels appropriate to share with readers how a gate agent got the better of me.
My wife, daughter and I spent a few days in San Diego. The non-stop flights home to Austin (on Southwest and Alaska) didn’t work for me, and I had a $99 companion ticket valid for two people, so we flew American Airlines through Dallas.
When we travel with my two year old we bring a stroller, though she’s also great walking through the airport. It’s a YoYo stroller bought specifically for travel, to be able to collapse it and stow it in the overhead bin. The stroller’s dimensions are well-within carry on limits. This stroller has been all over the world and on dozens of flights in the U.S., within Europe, and Asia Pacific where stricter rules often apply.
As we walked up to board our flight in San Diego, American’s gate agent Matt said “strollers must be checked.” I smiled and offered that this one collapses and is no problem to fit in the overhead. He pointed to the bag sizer beside the boarding door and said “show me, people say that all the time and it’s not true.”
So we showed him. We took my daughter out of the stroller and collapsed it. It fit inside the sizer just fine, because its dimensions are within American’s rules. He got mad. “You’re still going to have to check it, or you won’t be boarding this flight.”
Ok, I wasn’t going to fight him. But this meant having to wait on the jet bridge for the stroller to come out, rather than having extra time to connect in Dallas – to stop make stops for our daughter before our next flight. That just makes travel a little more difficult when you’re flying with a two year old.
He wouldn’t even let her stay in the stroller down the jet bridge. He confiscated it at the gate – perhaps now knowing that it does fit in the bin, he presumably wanted to ensure we didn’t board with it, since he realized it would fit. And that meant I even needed to wonder whether the stroller would be boarded or not.
Now, I tweeted this and the American Airlines twitter team backed Matt up.
Matt at @americanair gate 27 in SAN is an embarassment.
He informed me all strollers must be gate checked. I showed him ours collapses and fits inside the sizer.
He got mad, declared it would be gate checked or we would not travel. Now we'll see if he even boards it for spite.
— gary leff (@garyleff) May 7, 2021
American’s social media team argued that all strollers must be checked but that’s not actually what the policy says. And a spokesperson for the airline confirms, “our policy does allow for compact, collapsible strollers to be taken on board the aircraft and placed in an overhead bin, provided there is enough overhead bin space.”
Even if there was a policy to forbid strollers that are smaller than a carry on, that’s not Matt’s understanding of the policy. He wanted to prove to us that it was oversized, which is why he insisted we put it in the sizer – to show us it wasn’t an allowable carry on based on size.
I suppose I should give Matt in San Diego more of a benefit of the doubt. The airline did just tell agents to become more zealous enforcing carry on bag sizes.
He shouldn’t take it out on customers, but it’s possible he was just having a bad day – I only dealt with him once perhaps he’s not always a jerk on a power trip the way he was towards my family. Although, perhaps he’s just ill-suited to the role:
Gary, if this agent guy is tall, gray hair, & glasses he was being an *ss on Tuesday too.
— WTX Jet (@WTXJET) May 7, 2021
And after describing the gate agent I dealt with,
Stopped flying AA after they ruined our trip. After trying to politely explain our situation to gate agent in SD his behavior escalated to extreme rudeness then did not allow us to board. Tried to ask AA to resolve it and they just gave the runaround. Very poor guest service
— Trey Foshee (@TreyFoshee) May 7, 2021
Update: and another one,
I've encountered this gate agent before and couldn't agree more. If this is about Matt having a bad day, he must have a lot of them! It really is a shame that AA seems to have a "shoot first policy" that presumes all pax are problem fliers.
— RJ Leighty (@TravForUs) May 8, 2021
The thing is, Matt is an outlier. My family had a row of Main Cabin Extra. A flight attendant on board saved space in an overhead bin for us (this wasn’t a plane with the new bigger bins). I thanked her but explained we didn’t need the space, since our collpasable stroller had been confiscated at the boarding door. She apologized.
And then during the flight when she came down the aisle with the traditional water, snack and sanitizer bag Sonora thanked us for our business and apologized again – knowing that it sets the travel day off on the wrong foot. She even offered us drink service of soda, juice or water (a service that doesn’t return to coach until next month on American).
Later in the flight she even came back with a thank you note, the first I’ve ever gotten flying American. And I was in coach. She made every effort to turn around a bad interaction with the airline – and she did.
The problem, though, is that the outliers like Matt bring down the reputation of the airline. They also bring down the morale of the employees who work hard to go out of their way to take care of customers. It’s tough to work alongside bad apples who get away with it day after day and reap the same rewards as those who love their job and live it each day. And Matt will go on treating customers this way, creating resentment towards his airline.
Fortunately for me I’ve never had an interaction like this one with anyone else at American Airlines in 10 years as an Executive Platinum member. And getting to fly with Sonora? That was actually a treat.
You handled it like a pro
Gary – if you knew you were correct why didn’t you “fight” for what you knew was correct. I have had bad AA gate agents and “sizer” and attitude issues…. I am always happy when I show them they and their attitude is wrong. And ps – AA owes you something for this….apology and mea culpa bonus miles….
@CJ – “if you knew you were correct why didn’t you “fight” for what you knew was correct.”
The flight was already 15 minutes into boarding. I was with my wife and daughter. I made a split second calculation that it was better to board the aircraft than to escalate.
I like your articles and I follow you a lot. But I really think you’re out of line on this one to use your bully pulpit to socially slam somebody individually. Everybody now knows who Matt is because of you are widespread audience. Social media shaming sucks. Every time someone has a bad experience there he’ll they have to broadcast it to the world. Again I get it but when you get to a personal level and call someone out like that I just think it’s too much. Besides what if there are two gate agents in San Diego name Matt. One’s going to get bashed unfairly.
This has to be particularly annoying when you have a connecting fight at DFW – that has to be truly dreadful with a two year old but no stroller.
Publicly name-shaming an employee? And then tweeted that the employee was “an embarrassment”? Volunteered to the FA that your stroller was “confiscated”? Sure sounds like you should have checked your ‘tude along with your pricey pram.
@Dublin, agree. This may cost Matt his job.
@Dublin – How else do we get the attention of responsible folks at AA to know they have a rogue employee that is underperforming? It’s clear the “contact customer service” route is an abject failure; they BACKED HIM UP.
This is a problem with one employee, exacerbated by corporate failing.
@Dublin — I think Gary crossed the line, too. Especially since while Matt made a mistake, he didn’t make an egregious mistake. He made the type of mistake that humans make every day, all the time. We have complicated rules, and not everyone understands all of them all the time. Like when I call an airline and there’s a special waiver for a change fee (like it’s waived if Covid rules prohibit your travel, AND you call within 15 days of the flight) and the agent insists he can’t waive the fee. That’s life. The dumb enforcement of imaginary rules can make your life a little harder. Matt was told to be stricter with carry-ons. He (not surprisingly) misinterpreted the exception-to-the-stroller-rule. I’d be unhappy with that, I’d try to explain why my stroller was permitted, but if he still refused to help me, I’d move on. I wouldn’t use my blog to tell the whole world about how Matt is a bad apple. But that’s me.
Woah what is up with some of the commenters such as @Dom?
Gary was way more polite than he needed to be. The gate agent deserved to have the stroller shoved up his posterior.
Zooming out and putting attitudes aside, I’ve heard this story on another airline. Maybe the practical lesson for us is we should just expect to check strollers every time. Kind of like how TSA Precheck says you can keep light jackets on, but about 20% of the time, they stop me before I walk through the metal detector and tell me to take mine off. Even though if my jacket were any thinner it would be a torso condom. Speaking of condoms I hope this gate agent has one permanently sealed to his member as the world has no utility for his “power trip” gene. Not to mention his “total dick” gene.
“made himself feel better by threatening me”
and then Gary made himself feel better by publishing this.
The policy must not be well known because other AA employees (social media) did know it either.
I know it is a hassle, but pick your battles. Everything doesn’t need to be a pissing contest.
@chopsticks – he declared that the stroller couldn’t board unless it fit in the sizer, and demanded I show him. So I did. It fit in the sizer, because its dimensions are allowable by the airline.
This wasn’t a mistake. Once he saw, by the standards he and the airline declared, that the stroller was permissible that is when he got angry.
What’s ‘complicated’ about this?
Wonder what would happen if airline employees starting putting rude/arrogant/misbehaving customers on blast and doxxing them on social media? I’m sure they deal with a lot more bs than a passengers outrage over a miscategorized overhead bin item. This article is online bullying plain and simple. But I’m sure it made you feel better. gross.
@ABC – this won’t cost Matt his job, though he should receive coaching on dealing with customers for sure
@chopsticks – when you stop patting yourself on the back let us know. Good job omitting the agent’s bad attitude and the actual inconvenience of lost time while connecting in DFW. The stroller policy is not complicated.
@ELO – “The policy must not be well known” the gate agent said the policy was the stroller had to fit in the sizer, it does fit in the sizer, where is the ambiguity here?
@ABC @Gary Leff – coaching on how to deal with customers only works with employees who are not dicks.
Gary, All gate agents are under a lot of pressure to get flights out on time. Many delays are caused by the amount of “carry on bags” passengers bring. They all simply don”t all fit on full flights. Matt would have also got disciplined should he have dispatched this flight late due to excessive carry on bags. There is two sides to every story.
@Dublin is right on….using your social platform to get back at someone that treated you badly is just as juvenile and thoughtless as Matt’s treatment of you. You rightly complained to American, and in such a people-oriented business a company like AA will respond. But don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill. Let it go.
Maybe I am missing something, but the AA stroller policy that you linked says:
Each ticketed customer is allowed 1 stroller and 1 car seat to be checked free of charge
Strollers over 20 lbs / 9 kgs must be checked at the ticket counter
All other strollers should be checked at the gate before boarding
If you have a stroller and a car seat only 1 can be checked at the gate
I do not see any exception that allows for compact, collapsible strollers to be taken on board the aircraft.
People who excuse Matt are just enabling bad employees to ruin a company’s reputation, which costs good employees more.
Maybe the solution to this is for the stroller to have a carrying case?
What happend at the gate of the second flight?
I have to agree that it is not appropriate to name specific employees in a blog but AA clearly does not resolve issues when they are escalated which these days includes via social media. When AA’s social media team saw this, they should have immediately sent a supervisor onboard to talk with Gary or met him at the gate if it was too late to resolve in SAN.
Every company has rogue employees. AA has created layers of rules and empowered people who have no common sense. Somehow , DL and WN employees do a better job of de-escalating situations that blow up at AA and UA. Not always but more times than not.
@Gary Leff: “What’s ‘complicated’ about this?”
Your manufactured outrage and self-importance.
@John C – He didn’t say ‘there’s no space left for carry on bags’ – that would have been one thing, even though there was still space and no broader announcement had been made and people behind us were permitted to bring carry on bags on.
Instead he said that the stroller couldn’t come on unless it fit in the sizer. It fit in the sizer. He still wouldn’t let it on because he resented being shown he was wrong about its size.
@ Gary — On more than one occasion, I’ve had agents tell me my bag has to fit in the sizer, I’ve fit it in the sizer, and they’ve told me I still had to check it! I think it’s psychology: it can be very hard for some people to admit they’re wrong. What can you do? I never raise my voice ever, but my family tells me “I’m too insistent” when I try to get the agent to reconsider (it sometimes works) before giving up and being inconvenienced. My life is filled with these type of instances. I run into imaginary rules all the time –probably because I’m more likely to inventively try to “game the system” to make my life a little easier. When I had babies, I too cleverly had a collapsible stroller that met the carry-on rules. A couple of times, I ran into agents who insisted I check it because “strollers have to be checked.” Life will inevitably filled with these instances. We are humans; we don’t get all the rules right. And then sometimes we don’t admit our mistakes.
If you’re going to be wrong, be wrong with authority.
@Dom – it is self-important to expect employees to follow their employer’s policy which they themselves explain?
You said this policy was ‘complicated’ and I asked you how, I guess by attacking me in response you’re conceding your first claim isn’t defensible?
I’m sure the stroller did not fit. I often see passengers argue about this left and right. It slows down the boarding so much. What’s wrong with following simple rules? I’ve seen folks with super large items arguing that it fits. Clearly doesn’t. As an Executive Platinum myself I feel for the amount of disrespect agents get at the boarding lounge from other frequent flyers who feel entitled to everything and doesn’t want to take no for an answer. I am glad AA sided with the agent. Im sure your complaint is nothing new to the airline and publicly shaming someone is not cool at all. I hope you feel great about yourself and that you accomplished something really good. Next time just follow the freaking rules period.
@chopsticks I agree “it can be very hard for some people to admit they’re wrong.” But that doesn’t excuse being a jerk about it, right?
Imagine a world where it was acceptable to dig in whenever you’re wrong, just because it’s ‘hard’ to accept being wrong. Is that the world you want to live in?
When mRNA was first proposed, the scientists who founded companies like BioNTech couldn’t even get *published* because the idea was considered too farfetched. Imagine if the scientific community refused to admit they were wrong, dug in, and kept the ideas out of journals still. We wouldn’t have the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
@Jennifer “I’m sure the stroller did not fit.”
1) I’ve shared the full dimensions of the stroller, it is within AA’s published carry on size.
2) The stroller did fit.
Seeing “folks with super large items arguing that it fits” and inferring that the stroller must not have fit is inopposite because of the actual dimensions of the item (which are also published on the manufacturer’s website, the stroller is specifically designed to collapse and be brought on board an aircraft).
I bring this on board European narrowbody aircraft. I bring it on board regional jets.
In any case, I will acknowledge that a gate agent sees people bring oversized carry on bags all the time. In this case he insisted *seeing it in the sizer*. And it’s only after he saw that it fit that he became belligerent.
@ Gary How many carry on bags beside the stroller did you have ??? Be honest because they can pull video tape from that boarding area . If you had the max even if stroller collapses and it exceed FAA minimum then you’re completely in the wrong because at that point if not gate check it counts towards carry on.
@Tim – I had my laptop bag (personal item). My wife had her purse (personal item). My daughter had a toddler-sized back pack. That is it between the three of us. I checked my rollaboard. My wife checked hers. This was the only item, between the three of us, that went in the overhead bin across our four flights of the trip.
I think I mentioned this in the post above.
Gary,
you might also get the FA in trouble by noting her name given that she offered a beverage service that wasn’t authorized. The AA union nazis could have a field day.
I was on a WN flight earlier this year and smelled coffee. I went to the back, asked if I could have a cup, was told that they weren’t authorized to serve it to passengers but I could have a cup if I stood in the galley. Did so, turbulence started, they asked me to sit in one of the back rows w/ them and then return to my seat after I finished the coffee and when the captain gave the all clear for cabin movement.
Some people just know how to meet customer needs and follow rules. Others don’t. Some companies foster than mindset while others reward pugilism.
I 100% back Gary here. He handled this like a pro and with more courtesy than I would have. He was totally in the right to call out Matt publicly and Matt *should* lose his job, though he won’t. Hopefully Matt will be re-trained and never harass customers again out of egotistical pride.
Appalling service and bad apples will only change when they are called out.
Does the AA policy explicitly say strollers are allowed in overhead bin? All I see is “Strollers over 20 lbs / 9 kgs must be checked at the ticket counter” AND “All other strollers should be checked at the gate before boarding.”
Are you interpreting the words “should be” to mean they don’t HAVE to be checked at gate?
I felt this post was pretty balanced; drag Matt, applaud Sonora. And maybe FAs should also drag unruly and rude passengers too! F*ck it! Covid19 and quarantine has sucked A$$ and many folks are even more sensitive, socially awkward and lack manners more than ever. Folks, Matt doesn’t deserve a reprieve, the Gate Agents can view the Passenger’s relationship with the airline and the current seat class once the pass is scanned… he chose the wrong one that day.
After flying on three airlines for a long trip last week, I plan to never fly American Airlines again.
After a five hour delay and emergency flight from BWI to DFW, I encountered two BWI gate agents, one apathetic and one aggressively rude, both completely unhelpful with the problem I encountered in flight. Additionally, their check in gates were the most chaotic and hard to navigate.
Now I get to wait and see how they handle my lost item request for help.
Matt might be in a minority of bad employees at AA but not that unusual in my experience with AA. He deserves to be disciplined at least. You can’t even discuss such things with crew or gate folks as you will lose the argument every time. They hold all the power to ban you from the flight.
Oh my, a bunch of snowflakes those defending “Matt”. How about he treats everyone with respect and he won’t have anyone writing on social media in such a way? You can say no and still be polite and respectful. “Crossed a line”, give me a fn break.
Gary, thank you for doing this, WE NEED MORE of holding people accountable nowadays, not less. Please don’t listen to a bunch of these cry babies, these are the types that are going on their power trips at work themselves probably.
These replies are hilarious. “He shouldn’t detail his experience on his own personal blog.” It’s literally his own personal blog, he can write whatever he wants. You would think by these comments he tweeted out his home address and called for his children to be attacked. I’m betting you all are also the crowd that turn around and complain about censorship.
None of these replies actually care about the gate agent – these negative reactions are pure jealousy that you don’t have a platform to attract attention to yourselves when you want to complain about something. Not to mention how the replies that reek of “he should have complied if he didn’t want to get shot by the cop”-type responses.
I get it, but part of travel is dealing with ‘issues’ that shouldn’t occur.
Still miss flying?
Gary’s issue is that the reason Matt gave was inapplicable since the stroller was within the size limits. Rather than conceding, Matt still denied. I would be upset too. I might complain to AA, but probably not. I don’t think I would complain to the flight attendant. And if I had a travel blog I don’t think I would publish a separate post about it as I personally don’t feel this that big of a deal (if part of a trip report, ok). It’s not like anyone actually missed a connection. The family was inconvenienced for what was probably 10 minutes max.
As other commenters note, the linked policy actually says all strollers need to be gate checked. Matt could have given that as the initial reason for denying. I wouldn’t be surprised if he commonly used the size issue as a proxy; less resistance from others and avoids “show me the policy.”
I don’t doubt that Gary has taken the stroller as a carry on countless times. As a top tier status holder and prolific travel blogger, I would not be surprised if most agents looked the other way.
The GA has a bad attitude that appears to be standard for him. In the past, complaints about him may have gone unnoticed.
But having a blogger put him on blast may be the catalyst needed for AA to take corrective action. Bad customer service doesn’t help a company, and not giving the company feedback on their employee (specifically doing their job satisfactorily) isn’t helping the business, or employee, improve.
Some employees just need to be better trained, and some should not be in their job as they are a poor fit.
@Hepworth – gate agents don’t flag me as a ‘prolific travel blogger.’ Occasionally I get res agents who read the blog. But there’s no GateReader tag telling agents at American to give me better treatment.
The gate agent wasn’t stating strollers aren’t allowed, they said oversized items aren’t and we showed this was not an oversized item.
A spokesperson for the airline confirms, “our policy does allow for compact, collapsible strollers to be taken on board the aircraft and placed in an overhead bin, provided there is enough overhead bin space.”
And the linked policy says > 20 pounds ‘must’ be checked and doesn’t use must for smaller ones, because the policy is that compact strollers do not have to be.
@Nathan – absolutely, and sharing my experiencing dealing with them on my blog
Matt, as you tell the story, may have made a mistake. But you, in telling this story and publicly calling him out by name, made an even bigger mistake. It makes you look small. Do better.
Like many of you, I choose to fly AA, sometimes going out of my way to do this or paying more. I get slack from my friends for my loyalty, especially living in a city with frequent Delta service and formerly in other regions with even more frequent United service. Yet, I defend my choice because of my overwhelmingly positive interactions with AA employees, despite a few with truly horrible ones.
It’s clear Matt here was wrong, was given the opportunity to correct himself, and yet chose to be an a$$h0le. He would have saved time and gotten closer to D0 more easily by letting Gary take the stroller onboard, yet did not want to be proven wrong. Because AA’s Twitter team also refused to escalate this, I see nothing wrong with him being called out. Should he lose his job? Depends on his track record, but he definitely needs to learn. Being called out on this blog is harsh but warranted, and Gary shows how wonderful many (most) of their employees are. Kudos to the flight attendants aboard his flight to DFW.
@ATC: Malarkey. Gary is holding Matt accountable. Do better, please…
I am sure another airline will transfer your status so you can tell American Airlines to pound sand. I avoid United and American after bad service over the years and will always find other options or I will drive.
I am a bit conflicted after reading this story but in the end I guess I come down on Gary’s side. Rudeness by an employee such as Matt is NEVER acceptable. However, I am sure he was caught up in the stricter carry-on rules recently put in place by AA. If he was going to enforce the stroller must be checked, then he should have been nicer about it.
My conflict comes from the aggravation all of us have when boarding a plane. We just want to get to our seats, stow our stuff overhead, and sit down. When anyone interrupts that process it is so aggravating. Gate agents also want the boarding process to be fast and smooth. Matt made a quick judgement about the stroller and Gary should have complied without protest. Protesting needlessly held up the boarding process and likely irritated not only Matt & Gary but everyone in line behind them.
I also want to give kudos AA for starting to enforce the size limit for carryons. Nothing is more frustrating than being behind someone who is trying to jam oversized luggage into the overhead bin. I think airlines should let all passengers who have paid for checked luggage to board first.
I didn’t interected with Matt, but from what you say, he was kust doing what he was told to do. What it seems to me though, is that you are on a power trip. Exposing someone like this, just because you didn’t get what you wanted, come on grow up. I will give you however, the benefit of the doubt, maybe you are not always this jerk.
Different people interpret different things different ways. The policy says strollers of one size get checked in the hold and strollers of another size get gate checked. Airline charges you $25 to check a bag but gate checks for free and the guy who boards first might not need his bag but the guy who boards last and gets forced to gate check his bag does have a connection and gets frustrated. Or, the woman who is still on her cell phone on the taxi or (me) who has a purse, a laptop bag, and a convention bag of materials that knows it will all fit under the seat but clearly violates the number of carryons. Everybody sees different things and judges differently. It’s what makes us human. You likely came off as an entitled show off parent looking for an excuse to do things your way and being right. He was trying to board the plane. And the guy 10 people in front of you who really didn’t need his bag on board but didn’t want to pay $25 or gate check is just as right as you are. There’s only so much space on a plane.
I didn’t interected with Matt, but from what you say, he was just doing what he was told to do. What it seems to me though, is that you are on a power trip. Exposing someone like this, just because you didn’t get what you wanted, come on, grow up. I will give you however, the benefit of the doubt, maybe you are not always this jerk.
Annoyances happen while traveling. This guy may have made a mistake while trying to do his job, but you are a big whiner. This did not ruin your day or trip. You must have still been complaining to the flight attendant, who then tried to overcompensate. Publicly shaming an employee should be reserved for someone who blatently discriminates or offends. The fact that the airline supported him shows he was doing what he had been told to do. Grow up.
@Gary Left – I completely agree with you. I think AA does not have the best reputation because of some bad apples. I’m only a Platinum and I’ve been a huge proponent of AA. However, this changed about 1.5 yrs ago.
My wife and I was traveling with our 3 month old daughter and 2 of our dogs from DFW to LAX. This was already a stressful situation as it was our first time making such a trip. Our two dogs are small and fits in one pet carrier. AA’s policy states that two dogs are able to share a pet carrier if they fit within the guidelines, and that the pet fee is charged per carrier. I showed the gate agent the policy on AA’s site.
However, the gate agent insisted that I have to pay for both dogs. Next, I asked to speak to the supervisor but the supervisor took the gate agent’s side. He wouldn’t even look at the AA policy from my phone. I was given the option to pay for both dogs, or not to fly with them. I ended up paying for both dogs and following up with customer service for a refund.
Fortunately the rest of the trip was uneventful. We also sat in MCE and the flight attendants were great and more than accommodating.
At the end of the day, there are definitely some bad apples and power hungry AA employees that spoil it for the company. Until AA decides to do something about this, this problem will always exist. The lack of training and customer service centric mindset is hurting.
P.S. I miss Virgin America! They were my primary airline before AA. Never had a bad experience there.
Did the AA employee at the gate at SAN get angry at any point; or did the AA employee just decide to stick to his plan to not allow the stroller to be carried on as cabin baggage with his stubbornness being interpreted as a sign of anger since the sizer-use did not facilitate his decision to deny the stroller as cabin baggage?
With stubborn, power-tripping employees who don’t seem to want to reconsider circumstances based on the rules, there’s not much that can always be done in a timely manner unless someone else is around in the employee rank and file to put such employees in check just in time.
I’ve seen lots of airlines where some employees come up with excuses on why permitted strollers aren’t permitted as cabin baggage. I’ve also seen bus drivers do much the same in places where there is a stroller capacity on the buses but those capacity rules aren’t to apply to folded up strollers like the one pictured above.
For tight connections, a stroller can be a real drag at times if you’ve got to wait to access it because it’s been placed in the hold as valet tagged luggage or whatever for gate-delivery at the transit/connection airport. That’s why some people don’t take strollers for tight connections and instead use a carrier that enables carrying a 2-3 year old on the back. That or learn to carry a kid like even some children in Somalia carry their little siblings:
https://www.google.com/search?q=somalia+children+hanging+on&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjP4InjuLrwAhXQYqwKHQRdA9AQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=somalia+children+hanging+on&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoFCAAQzQI6AggpOgQIABANOgQIABAeOgYIABANEB46BggAEAgQHjoICAAQCBANEB5QvuQBWOWCAmDmhwJoAXAAeACAAdICiAGMF5IBBzYuOC40LjGYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=BbSWYI_KBNDFsQWEuo2ADQ&bih=640&biw=375&prmd=inv&rlz=1CDGOYI_enSE876SE876&hl=en-US#imgrc=IC4MhuIBKoblLM
I’ve seen some 4-5 year olds transported that way by their parents in parts of Europe too. Works better at times than a stroller.
I used to travel with a ‘lucky’ rock climbing carabiner clipped onto my backpack. One time while departing France I was told I had to check it with my luggage because I could use it like brass knuckles. This was especially difficult because I was already at the gate and had to go back to the counter and back through security, barely returning in time for my flight. Later, I looked up the policy and sure enough, carabiners are specifically allowed on board. From that point on, expecting this may come up again, I printed the policy and kept it tucked away in a pocket. This way I could just show the policy to an uninformed agent, laugh about how obscure it was, and carry on. I do this with camera bags as well since they are specially excluded from carry-on baggage allowance and many agents incorrectly demand they be checked or stuffed inside the rollaboard.
Gary handled this just fine and I think gate agent providing service failure should have been addressed by management. In this case management also failed, so it’s good that Gary escalated further by using his platform. It should reduce future service failures, which is good for all.
Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to have quick access to the policy when you know something you’re doing isn’t widely known or falls under an obscure category. Should save everyone from some struggle.
Can we just call gate agents “Gate Police” so the dems can start calling for defunding them?
Sometimes people make mistakes. It is obvious here that AA has a complicated policy in regards to strollers as even their social media team gave the wrong information initially.
I don’t think it’s cool at all to publicly name and shame an employee. I think it gives the impression of being a bully and entitled. We only hear one side of the story here and that is unfair if you are to name names.
By all means, share your experience via your blog – without identifying individuals that are unable to give their own account. And then if you feel the need, complain directly to the airline highlighting the employee in question and allow him the right of reply.
Of course, strollers are checked and it’s because they are bulky. I see them lined up at the gate all the time. I agree with Mike above about the power trip. People working the gate are trying to get tons of people to their connections. Their job is to follow the rules so they can achieve making your day not misconnecting you. Matt dealt with the public all day, can you imagine what that’s like?
Yikes. Entitlement showing again Gary. DYKWIA?
@Rose H – “Of course, strollers are checked” not if they fit in the overhead, per AA policy.
@Jerry that is the dumbest comment on here. I bet you refuse to wear a mask too.
I Googled AA’s policy regarding strollers. Seems like ALL strollers have to be checked either at the ticket counter if over 20 lbs. or gate checked if less than 20 lbs.
Longtime SAN based LT Plat here. Matt has always been the “soup nazi” for AA in SAN. Some of his peers are truly wonderful. I avoid contact with him whenever possible. Its just easier that way.
Weird … fly Delta all the time with our stroller that may or may not actually fit in a sizer (Uppababy Minu) … actually just checking now it’s 23″ x 20.5″ x 11.5″, so it’s technically a bit large. Never have heard a peep from staff one way or the other.
Gary, who are you to publicly attack someone, using your job position to do that??! You are in effect a social network bully, publicly slandering someone while you do not even give him a chance to defend himself. That is cowardly, chicken shit behavior on your part. Even if the story as you present it is accurate, your unprofessional publicly naming and bashing of this AA employee is far more egregious and worse than your alleged actions of this AA employee.Being a reporter does not give you the right to use your position as a bully pulpit. YOU should be fired, no question.
Gary, here’s a suggestion so this doesn’t happen again: Buy one of those cheap, thin, lightweight nylon duffle bags just big enough for the stroller and put the stroller in it before you approach the gate. It will still fit in the sizer if you are challenged and won’t be obvious as containing a stroller. The bag will also keep your stroller from getting tangled with other bags and hand loops in the overhead.
I Googled the stroller policies for Alaska, Delta. and Southwest and they seem to have similar requirements as American… check strollers at check in counter if heavy or gate check otherwise.
@ Robert, you are completely off base. I read this blog for Gary’s experiences while traveling so it’s a completely legitimate post and based on the other comments from SD frequent fliers it appears this gate agent is known for poor behavior.
@ Mike, get spell check and utilize better grammar.
Let me shed some additional light on this subject that most commenters have not experienced. I’m an American Airlines crash survivor (1420) and knowing that everything in the overhead bins get thrown around the cabin in an event, I can tell you that from a safety perspective I would rather deal with bags than potential metal pieces, especially when climbing through debris. This is just risk management geared towards safety. While we shouldn’t condone the gate agent’s behavior, if you travel frequent enough, you understand the dynamics of having a two year old in tow and the necessity to have contingencies and schedule taking that in account.
I have had repeated problems with gate agents over the years. The American agents are probably worse than those of other airlines but there are problems with all of them. They don’t really care whether something fits in the overhead. They just care about making sure that in their opinion the item is not bigger than the specifications. What do you do when there is a strap hanging off of a piece of luggage? A wheel? A handle? Isn’t the whole point to not take up excessive overhead space and to get the stuff in the overhead and get everyone seated? Some of these idiots would rather just argue than the practical. It’s also very inconsistent. My carry-on just barely is have the right size and yet I get hassled about it every so often. At the same time I see other carry-ons that are much larger than mine and people seem to have no problem with them.
Wow. When i worked for BA the customer was always right but we also knew the rules & policies inside out.
How strict were they, when i was new & on 90 probation after training, i was reprimanded for not smiling enough.
I am amazed at the number of people who excuse failure in favor of not upsetting the apple cart.
Gary did not write the rule–AA did. Gary did not break the rule-AA did.
And by “naming” the employee (first name only), Gary provided just enough info for other travelers to share their own interactions with this employee, which demonstate a pattern of malfeasance
As many employees are reluctant to report colleagues, Gary did this man’s supervisor a service..
@Paul McIntosh “This is just risk management geared towards safety.” Except that American’s policy is to *allow* compact strollers in the overhead.
@Salvador Segovia – except American’s policy is that this stroller was allowed.
And here’s United’s policy https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/baggage/infant.html
“If you’re traveling with an infant or child, you can bring the following items on board in addition to your carry-on bag and personal item: …Compact folding stroller that meets our size guidelines for carry-on bags (9 inches x 14 inches x 22 inches or 9 inches x 10 inches x 17 inches)”
@Robert J Mackay “YOU should be fired, no question.”
Sorry to let you now that this is my personal blog, so there’s really no one to fire me
Matt was in the wrong! Get rid of him
@ Gary Leff My point Gary is that there should be a limitation on what is allowed in overhead bins. Just stating that in the course of an event, the last thing I would want to deal with is a stroller with numerous people in self preservation mode and the behaviors that come with it.
Gate agents in general are some of the rudest, most aggressive people I interact with on a regular basis. I never argue, and I always accept their made up rules, but they so regularly talk to pax as if they’re stupid. I don’t understand why they’re all so mean.
Gary, I agree with most of your readers you need to let it go. You never mentioned that Matt put a Escort tag on the stroller (without a charge). On most flights these items are waiting on the jet bridge before the passenger deplanes. So if you had to wait a few minutes because you in the front of the main cabin (MSE) you avoided the inconvenience of lifting the item in the overhead bin. It is not like you had to go to baggage claim to pick up the item. But to complain to the flight attendant, American Airlines, and on your site is too much.
@Dwight Nielsen this coming from an anti-vaxxer from other comments you’ve left here, so ok
Well done, Gary. It’s great that you have a platform that can identify this sort of behavior. Perhaps it will initiate small incremental changes in needed customer service performance.
Poor Matt, he only has powerful union and a huge corporation to defend him from these mean passengers he’s been harassing and abusing, apparently for quite a while.
Yes, Gary, shame on you for not protecting his identity and instead sending a useless complaint form, so that Matt could co go on collecting pay, benefits and pension at taxpayers’ expense.
Gary, you responded to me that this is your blog, so you can’t be fired. Lol, this is why blogs are toxic to journalism. Anyone can write anything, true or not, in a blog and not be held accountable in any way. But I also think this blog shows how clever you are — you wrote this hit piece against the AA agent, deliberately to fire up some people (including me), thus generating all sorts of comments and reactions and visits to your blog. Brilliant!!
And if you’re going to write candid blogs, how about one advocating that fat people on airplanes should have to buy TWO seats? … Because often, they are literally STEALING some of the personal space (with their fat guts hanging over to the next seat) of the person next to them. And why should that person next to the fat slob, in effect have to be subsidizing the fat person’s flight?
Or maybe the airlines should weigh people, and have an “Obesity Section”.
I wonder if any of the people who seem to defend Matt’s conduct would feel the same if they were the victims of his unprofessional behavior? What say you???
As a frequent AA traveler with 3 toddlers I feel your pain. We have used Pockit stroller when traveling that collapses to similar measurements. I have yet to encounter this problem but we typically collapse the stroller before we board to avoid confusion on the gate checked stroller issue. If I ever got flack about carrying it on in it’s collapsed state…It folds down to a size where we can easily put it in a large purse or backpack- and then it is exactly a same as a carry on- the contents of which (as long as they are TSA approved) should not matter. We usually travel with a small nylon duffel bag that can be used for this purpose.
@Gary,
“Sorry to let you now that this is my personal blog, so there’s really no one to fire me”.
Well, companies can deplatform even personal blogs and other internet sites which they don’t like.
For example, boardinagarea.com could in theory decide to stop providing services to VFTW. The company ultimately providing server space to host the blog could decide to stop providing services to VFTW. Deplatforming is a form of firing.
Airlines employees/flight attendants have been so emboldened since the events of September 11th!
Bottom line don’t get on an airplane to begin with. And how come the “attitude” is always the worst on the U.S. carriers ?!
Paul McIntosh,
I’ve encountered cabin luggage that is far more dense and heavy than that stroller. And I say that as someone who has repeatedly had luggage fall on the shoulder. The danger of sitting in an aisle seat is that while I have been quick enough to avoid having clumsy and inconsiderate passengers’ baggage from falling on my head from in or up by the overhead bins, I’ve not always been able to avoid having falling luggage from hitting my shoulder and upper arm.
I’ve observed similar behavior/attitudes/personality in people who drink constantly and drink a lot so maybe that’s the case with ‘Matt’ Usually worse disposition earlier in the shift. OTOH I’ve known a few who drink heavy but have the will power to show up and do good work every day
I think it would have been more appropriate to title this post something like: “Wonderful Flight Attendant Sonora Saves the Day after Power Trip by gate Attendant”, or something like that. Let’s celebrate the GOOD actions employees do, just as much as or even over the bad actions we experience. Sounds like Sonora is a nice person and a stellar employee, who deserves more recognition than she received, buried so deep in the post.
Did everyone in the party also have carry-ons and a personal item, meaning you would be taking up more overhead space than what is above your own seats?
So many ridiculous comments that Gary shouldn’t be naming and shaming when it’s to AA’s benefit to deal with an customer facing employee who is power tripping. The number of people who always jump to an airlines defense is quite astounding. They are a business, they are not your family. How people personalize an airline that treats them like everyone else or less than is beyond me. I guess it’s the magic gifts the airlines bestow on us for our money and butt in seat time… To me it’s a bit infantile to defend a business for a myriad of poorly defined and implemented policies and then blame the customer for not complying or understanding said policies.
I have no problem following the rules, but they can’t be the rules of that particular agent. I have a bigger problem when the rules are enforced for some and not others. I fly often and I am loyal to routes and not airlines. On spirit, allegiant, frontier, and sun country I have been told I couldn’t put a small backpack into an empty bin because I didn’t pay for a carry on. No problem. But then they allow other passengers to put as many items as they want and say nothing. Spot enforcement is worse than the rule. I’ve had southwest employees hand me my backpack from the overhead to accommodate another travellers roller bag…so I lose my foot room as punishment for packing light??? Your stroller should have to be checked Everytime or Never. Period. And every other stroller like yours should be treated the same. As should every bag, backpack, purse, computer back etc. The rule shouldn’t change when the flight is empty vs full. I’ve paid for a carry on only to see the attendants allow people to put all items in the overhead because the flight was empty. Not fair to the guy that paid because he followed the rules.
@FatLip – No.
POOR GARY! YOU ENTITLED JERK! Here’s the real truth….YOU HAD FOUR OTHER BAGS CARRYING ON! YOU BOOKED A CONNECTION…The gate agent noticed that….you didn’t tell us that. You wanted everyone to see THAT YOU WERE SPECIAL LIKE SIO MANY OTHERS WHO ABUSE THE CARRYON RULES. suck it up son admit it….you ARE NOT IMMUNE to the guidelines.
You’re a jerk, Gary. I have two small children and I still find you using this platform to try to get someone fired reprehensible! Poor gate agent probably dealt with more in the last month than your privileged self has ever had to deal with.
@steve jenney – no, three passengers had 3 personal items and not a single carry on bag besides the stroller which would not have been ‘abusing the carry on rules’ since it was within regulation size and the airline confirms it should have been permitted.
I agree that I am “NOT IMMUNE to the guidelines” – in this case I was following those guidelines, and the gate agent was not.
Where does AA policy’s say you can carry a stroller onboard? Per the page you linked to:
“ Strollers over 20 lbs / 9 kgs must be checked at the ticket counter
All other strollers should be checked at the gate before boarding”
Seems pretty clear strollers must be checked one way or another?
Gary,
YOU are a bad apple for calling out someone by name. Who’s power tripping now?
Gary, good for you. Agents like this do not belong in customer service. Saw your tweets yesterday and this EP is on your side. Not cool.
Love that FA going out of her way to make you feel personally accommodated after that interaction. I had a 30 min chat with Heather Samp yesterday as one of the 40 “most engaged” members of the AAdvantage program over the last 12 months. I told her about my impression of AA devaluing the brand by removing premium cabin amenities such as full meal service on short haul (seemingly permanently), removing espresso machines, and such. All of these make her job that much harder in trying to engage customers with the loyalty program. However, the reality is that one bad interaction like this does as much damage to the brand’s esteem as all the espresso machines in all the premium cabins in the fleet.
@Jordan – first, the gate agent didn’t think it was against policy so this shouldn’t even be relevant.
second, American Airlines has *told the FAA* that compact strollers are acceptable on board in overhead bins, and gotten approval for this.
third, American confirmed the policy in an official statement to me.
fourth, the website explanation even distinguishes between must and should with respect to checking a stroller.
@Lisa Russell – a first name, no last name, and no photo posted but okey dokey. I’ll make sure not to show up at your customer service counter!
I hear you. I was Executive Platinum for years and it used to be rare to get a bad apple. Although I did get them occasionally, the great service made I usually got made up the few “bad apples”. Now we percentages have changed, running into discontent and undertrained gate agents who seem to have no clue of customer service is more common. Do you think the change is because in many cities gate agents aren’t AA employees? Often times we now choose to drive instead of fly.
I agree with Gary’s including the agent’s name. The AMERICAN AIRLINES agent at our connecting flight in Philadelphia screamed at me because I asked him if he could accommodate my wife and our autistic 10 year old in seats next to each other. He SCREAMED that there were none available . I felt his anger. The funny thing is that there was an empty seat next to my son’s seat. Kudos to the flight attendants who allowed my wife sit next to him, to the pilots who invited him to their cabinet and explained him everything about an airplane to our son, and to the passenger on the other seat next to our son. That gentleman was very accommodating and kind. YES there a few BAD APPLES at AA. Gary did every thing correctly
If the AAgent’s first/given name was far more unique in the world, would that mean it would have been left out?
I don’t know how many AAgents there are working at SAN, but I doubt that there are that many people with his name working AA flights at the gates at SAN.
I’ve had my own bizarre run-in once with a male AAgent during a very early morning flight out of SAN when it came to cabin baggage, but I doubt it was with that guy as it was so long ago.
I don’t think this is a particularly unique situation, nor do I believe it sheds light on a greater issue that is specific to American or the SAN staff. Your issue is with an individual, who, bad day or not, doesn’t deserve to be smeared by a travel blogger. And certainly shouldn’t have to be called an “embarrassment.” So no, please don’t come to my counter either, so to speak.
Gary – Thank you for calling this out.
As a CEO of a company myself, if one of my staff were not providing the best customer experience possible I would want to know so I could improve training and address the problem. If you ignore your customers you damage the entire company and brand. American has many great staff that go above and beyond. I was on a recent MIA to LAX flight in Flagship First and was denied access to flagship check-in – when I went to regular first class the staff took me back to flagship were the staff were rude to me, saying they cannot know all the rules rather than just apologizing and then moving on….
Bottom line “Customer is right” philosophy should be the first intersection and then advising the customer if he is not in a polite manner. specially if the customer is an EP, it is customary to show extra appreciation for the business just like the flight attendant did.
Gary you did it correctly. If customer service agents know they will be called out for good and bad behavior they will give better service. like trip advisor for hotels restaurants no harm in having rating for gate and flight agents. when one calls the airline and speak with an agent you are asked to rate the call and whether you would work with the same agent or not.
hence I see what Gary did is fair and he appears to be unbiased and factual as he complimented the flight agent.
Gary, appreciate your candor in reporting this even though at this point I rarely if ever fly. In the past I always few American as I as a loyalist and they have taken kind and good care of me. It’s sometimes amazing what a random act of kindness can do in both directions. I think sometimes the rules are vague just enough to allow for exceptions and interpretations that would make life easier and kinder for all. But subject to interpretation….we see here what happens. What struck me most while reading your post is that this sort of thing happens in so many environments and situations. I am agitated right now with a coworker who is acting like I am generating the problem in re to helping one of our clients with providing some names and numbers of some resources. The co-worker acted as if I considered it an “inconvenience” when I never used the word and she is the one generating the inconvenience for the client as she could, instead of passing the task (which I consider just another workday task) just provide the info directly and not make the client have to make another call or wait for a return call. So much I think comes from who we are and what we think, and empathy, which one would hope all gate agents and others in these roles would have. Traveling is stressful enough, and then all the issues we have to be concerned about doing so these day….plus the challenge however loving, of being concerned/looking out for a little person….Hopefully more happy miles ahead for you regardless of status!
Did you use his real name and use your privilege in the industry and media to try to fire someone?making If so, you are a bigger ass than him. You bashed him and praised the company. They are one in the same. At that moment he is AA. 2 issues. 1 -His lack of Cust Service 2 -His lack of understanding of procedure (or his managers). If he was flippant with you and others, his manager should have already observed this and corrected this with him or move him out of public contact/company. 2nd issue is the confusion over policy. Did he think the overheads would be full? Was he just a jerk because he thought it was oversize and didn’t want to back track? Still a manager/communication issue.
I was on a full AA flight and they were taking all carryons and checking them in by the time I arived at gate. They politely announced that due to the full flight the oveheads will be full and they need to check bags. Didn’t hear beef but didn’t see strollers. Should be a different rule. Something I learned in CS: You don’t mess with a mama bear and her cubs. Management didn’t teach him that.
Any body in support of Matt on this blog can go to hell! No one forced that dick to take this job and if his rudeness is generated by other rude people to the point where he treats all badly, then he should quit!
So, I’m still a bit confused as to the actual facts of the matter…
1) AA’s published policy seems to state that anything that is a stroller is to be checked, either at the counter or at the gate.
2) Gary has stated that AA has “told the FAA” that collapsible strollers are allowable (I’m not sure what the medium for telling the FAA something is – is that like in the Federal Register or something?)
3) Gary references a “spokesperson” providing an “official statement”, but it doesn’t seem to be posted anywhere. So is the spokesperson stating that the printed policy is incorrect, that would seem to be material – does AA plan to issue a written clarification? I’ve had plenty of company employees tell me all sorts of “policies” or homegrown policy interpretations that were completely made up on the spot. And I’m also curious, if Gary is going to name Matt, why doesn’t he name the spokesperson, if it was an “official” statement?
I’d also note that if we want to be super pedantic, the spokesperson’s statement actually seems to defer to the discretion of the gate agent(s) or cabin crew, by way of the ‘provided there is enough overhead bin space” clause.
I’d just like a bit more of an understanding of the facts, as what I’m seemingly hearing is that AA has a materially incorrect published policy, as the story is being told.
@ Gary — Why don’t you just fly Delta instead? Become Diamond, and you won’t be disappointed.
Must be a lot of airlines union members here to defend Matt, and people who have no children traveler (like Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air). I’m EX PLT for over 5 years now and have over 2 million miles. Yes gate agents have a lot of bad people, but there are some bad people that should have no business working in service industry period. Before pandemic, we were given these vouchers to give to AA employees for outta a boy or girl. Why shouldn’t be opposite apply?
I tried purchasing a ticket from Fl.
To Az. Om American Airlines. The web site would not recognize my secure code. I used my husband’s credit card with same result. After
Trying for 2 days with rates continuing to go up, I drove to the airport to buy my ticket. Which cost $35 more from the ticket agent???
I still don’t have a seat reservation…
Hope I have a seat on Monday.
Farewell AA and good riddance.
I wonder if the thank you notes are becoming more common. I got one back in April from the great Elizabeth in LA
I don’t think it’s inappropriate to call out the agent by first name. Feedback is an essential part of customer service, both for other customers and for the airline.
I was a high tier Delta flyer, but recently have moved a chunk of my flying over to AA… Mostly because I prefer their Asian partners to Delta’s. But I think this boils down to some issues I have noticed with AA’s service, that I’ve never seen with DL. There seems to be more confusion around policies, and FAs/Agents seem to be more on edge with AA. I’ve seen several AA crew members snap at customers… Granted I’ve seen more customers on AA flights that don’t seem to understand how to fly, and act inappropriately as well. So it could be some burnout from having to deal with people that are often out of control.
Delta’s customer service is much more polished and uniform. I’ve had fantastic service from AA, but it’s just not as consistent, and there seems to be confusion as to what the policies are, and how to enforce them.
What is wrong with you people. Yes, call this guy out by name. I work with the public, and frankly customers are generally *ssholes. Selfish and didn’t pay attention during pre-school when they taught wait your turn. I’m from San Diego. Matt should be fired. San Diego has too many people who are good at customer service. So I say, wait your turn, nobody owes you anything, you are not special or better than those people who are putting up with your *h!t.
@Gary you did the right thing. I personally thank you so that when travel does have us going through SAN we know who to watch out for. I’m confused as to why people feel it’s okay to compliment a “good” employee, with name or not, but your a bully by naming a “bad” one. They wear name tags for reasons. This is one of them. I have stood side by side with agents like this as a former Supervisor with NWA in LAX, MSP, BOS and NRT at the counter and gates. I have called them out in public and in private. I have apologized on behalf of them to customers and when able made their flying experience better. Agents like Matt under my supervision would have been stationed at baggage claim, lost and found or other non desirable locations with the least public contact until discussed with the station managers. Was I like by most, YES! The others ended up leaving or transfering with a full explanation in their jacket with them, and still had issues where they went. NWA was great in my mind as they did everything to assist in turning their attitudes around. Some came out shining, others not so lucky.
If I were anyone at American I would be thanking you for pointing this situation out and I would be in contact with the station manager and try to assist Matt in having better days.
People also don’t understand that rules and regulations and policies are written loosely so the airline, at time, may have some teeth in the outcome. I always left it up to the lead agent at gate or counter to make the best decision within reason. Matt should have looked shocked and been pleasantly surprised and stated joking, we learn things new everyday and let you board with no other issues. Apology or not, humor moves everything along. Matt should also have known where your seats were and been able to calculate looking at your belongings whether everything would have been able to fit. If Matt had any issue in thinking it may not he could have easily said to you if the over head bins fill we will need to quickly gate check it and please make sure the FA has no issues. BAM, solved, move on, over, done, have a great flight. Easy peasy! Why make a problem when one doesn’t exist .
Gary, if I were still in the business, you’d be welcome at my gate anytime. Safe travels sir!
Gary – Next time you fly AA, I suspect you will receive excellent service.
Seriously, if you let things like this get to you, you will be on medication soon. It does seem that a lot of people use their PLATFORM, whatever it is, to try to get even.
Frankly, stay home with a 2 year old. Most of the people who sit near you will be annoyed. I know, it is your “right” but get off the power trip.
I agree Gary..they need to be flexible to the customers…. I had an issue with my carryon..we were on standby and were able to board..but they wanted to check my bag. It fits under the seat in front of me but they said no(2 male gate agents who were rude to many in front of us) so i could not board.. I wrote it up with bag pic and got a call from home office apologizing to me.
@Gary Leff “You said this policy was ‘complicated’ and I asked you how, I guess by attacking me in response you’re conceding your first claim isn’t defensible?”
My first comment: “Publicly name-shaming an employee? And then tweeted that the employee was “an embarrassment”? Volunteered to the FA that your stroller was “confiscated”? Sure sounds like you should have checked your ‘tude along with your pricey pram.”
I never said “complicated,” you did. Stop lying. It’s indefensible.
YES! It is our fault to fly AA because we do not learn anything from making a mistake!
It’s not so simple James. Where I live and where I want to go my choice is usually American or American
In this country it’s best to keep your expectations low. That way you won’t get angry when things go south which they too often do. I’ve come to realize 90% of people are either idiots or A-holes. If you want good service, go to Japan or Korea.
Gary is a frequent flyer with high status on this airline and a high profile within the industry. He blogs about policy and and experiences for a living, and has a significant following of readers who value his insight. I’m an AA ExPlat and I read his site because I like his content. Gary bought a product/stroller to expedite his travel experience, and in turn, everyone else’s experience. This product was designed specifically with convenience in mind. The gate agent was rude and wrong. Yes, it happens. But when you are dealing with your best customers, a little effort goes a long way. Gary was likely boarding in group 1 or group 2. For people commenting/complaining that he held up the line, I’d guess you were not in group 1 or 2. You likely were in boarding group 8 on the cheapest standard economy ticket and there was no chance of available overhead space for your bag by the time you boarded anyway. I didn’t read that the flight was delayed because of this incident with the gate agent, so I don’t understand how it was a factor of inconvenience to other passengers beyond the lack of customer service from the gate agent.
Part of achieving high loyalty status with an airline and its partners is for the service that comes with it. AA failed to provide a high level of service for Gary. It’s not an isolated incident and it is one of the reasons I’m changing my airline loyalty and earning status on Delta and Alaska this year. If American wants to keep it’s biggest spenders, they might consider spending more time on customer service training. If not…those of us spending $20k + each year on airline tickets will go elsewhere.
An a side note, as someone who doesn’t travel with children, I thank you for making the effort to seek out a stroller like this one. You are the parent I will absolutely go out of my way to help. So many times people traveling with children have done zero to minimal preplanning and expect everyone else to compromise their own travel experience. There is plenty of time for preboarding passengers traveling with kids or who need special accommodation, before top tier frequent flyers board. For people flying with or without children who have done their homework, they will have streamlined their boarding process, have limited themselves to one bag for the overhead bin and one very small personal item that fits under seat. That neck pillow and blanket, jacket, box of candy, and extra shopping bag from Duty Free, etc. should all fit within the carry-on suitcase and personal item. If not, consider that it is not Gary who is holding up boarding. You are. It’s not the frequent traveler who knows what they are doing. It’s you.
What’s the difference between calling out someone’s name on a blog and sending a complaint message to the airline? If the person deserves to get canned don’t both methods single out the culprit?
Bad Agents need to go. They make everyone’s life miserable and poorly represent the airline. This Matt guy seems to be known to a lot of travelers as a problem. If they do not want to fire him they can move him to a non customer facing position. Dealing with customers is an art and skill. Traveling with children is difficult enough and good agents make it easier.
I was flying AA with my family first class flat bed and the agent forced me to check my carryon which I have taken over 100 flights with and fits in the sizer. When I boarded the FA heard me discussing with my wife and she went out there and demanded the suitcase from the GA and boarded it. Amazing staff can make or break an airline. Fire the bad and put the good on a pedestal and take care of them. Kudos to you Gary!
The way things are going, shortly only American Airlines will survive. I stopped using this airline in the 80s due to rude employees and being lied to by reservations CS employees. Have a problem,,shout it out so the next victim of venomous hate wont have to go thru the rudeness
I think we all have been in situations where the customer service was horrible. Is it right? no but do we choose to make a huge scene every time it happens… Why would you? I just don’t see where the situation was so intensified that you created this.
Yes, I do believe some should be aware of their lack of knowledge or their failure to respond effectively for training purposes and in an effort to improve the customer experience but this article seems as if you were calling this young man out to also be spiteful an wear the ol “I’ll show him who he’s messing with “ mentality.
Its unfortunate that you experienced a difficult time , but I believe there was a better way to handle this instead of an attempt to humiliate another human because you couldn’t have it your way.
Gary is wrong, loud and obnoxious in this case. Strollers must be checked, says the policy. Period.
To those saying Matt was rude, you’re only hearing Gary’s biased version of events. Did Gary act loud and obnoxious too? HE doesn’t think so, but he is hardly a good judge of the situation.
I hate rude people as much as the next person and I have had my run ins with rude gate agents, insolent attendants and downright nasty customer service reps but Matt didn’t do much wrong here. To judge him on a public forum, ex parte, is classless.
On a personal note, I DETEST self important ***icks who shove coats, strollers and bags of airport-bought food in the overhead, when space is at a premium. Inconsiderate little brats, all of them.
I’ve flown many places for work on many airlines. Connecting through DFW I had the absolute worst customer service experience with an AA gate agent. Too long to detail, but the end result was the plane took off with empty seats, and I was stuck in the airport overnight on standby first flight in the morning. As a result the other soldiers on my team has to wait for me and the gear I had checked to complete the mission we had. I was nothing but polite and patient the whole time, and I will NEVER fly AA again if I can help it.
The only domestic airline that I have flown that consistently tries to make things work for their customers is Southwest. That’s why they are our only choice on any route they fly.
What a silly article. “It’s been all over the world.” You sound like a novice flier. This article is obnoxious and unnecessary. If you have a complaint, file it through the proper channels. No one wants to hear your crappy complaining. So you had a bad experience, get over it Gary. This outburst is embarrassing.
When was this post written (not published)? My guess is on that flight from SAN to DFW. Gary fuming and cranking away on the iPad/iPhone/laptop and complaining to the FA while wife rolls her eyes and deals with the 2yo.
The same amount of time spent writing this article could’ve been spent submitting a complaint through the proper channels. You just wanted attention and you got it. Now what? Not that these airlines care, you’re just a dollar sign whether you’re Platinum or Copper.
Gary publishing a whole post about a gate agent who wouldn’t acknowledge he was wrong with his initial reason re fitting in the overhead bin. Gary’s defense in the post is that the agent was wrong and policy allows strollers that fit in the bin. Yet as numerous commenters have pointed out that isn’t the actual policy—it says strollers are checked. Yet rather than acknowledge he was wrong about the policy, Gary cites to FAA notifications and “official statements” he personally received but are not published elsewhere. The irony is dripping off of the ceiling and spoiling my dinner.
Parents are the worst’ “I was with a kid I’m responsible for and the water didn’t part.for me. Didn’t you see I’m with a kid!”
Take a bus
Power tripping gate agents are a very real issue. I’ve worked at two airports and I’ve seen it happen. They will treat ppl bad for any reason, I had this coworker who HATED Indian passengers and she would talk smack about them all the time, while at the counter or gate she would purposely treat them extra poorly, ie no seat changes and charging them if they miss their flight vs being chill with other ppl changing their seat around. Basically it’s modern day discrimination but she was smart enough to be subtle about it in front of those passengers. Hated working with her and she was real buddy buddy with the manager. I’ve seen other instances of power tripping many times when I’m flying or working elsewhere.
Anyone who says that power tripping airport employees do not exist and that it is always the passengers fault is delusional. Not all passengers are innocent but working a job that has us dealing with ppl obviously means that we need to be as patient and professional as we possibly can.
It’s clear the problem is that AA’s policy as written in one place doesn’t anticipate a stroller that can be folded to be as small as a carry on but that the policy is that these can be brought on board.
The “solution” would be for the stroller to come with a fabric pouch so it would look like a carry on, a compliant carry on. Or AA could change the language to indicate that strollers that are larger than the allowable size for a carry on have to be checked.
This is clearly an AA problem. Their language is contradictory but it’s clear given the confirmed that size compliant stroller are allowed on board that this is the actual policy. Now they need to clean up the wording to reflect that and get the correct information out to their front line agents.
Gary didn’t do anything wrong. He was following the rules. AA confirmed that. Matt may have thought he was following the rule too since they don’t make clear that compliant stroller are permitted. If this were another airline (I’m thinking of Alaska) the employees are empowered to use common sense and probably would have realized it’s the size of the bag, not the contents that mattered and let Gary onboard without a problem and then advised management about the problem.
But AA isn’t AS.
This sickens me. Entitled **ick, you just called out by name an agent, where they work, in a small station. You if all people are not unaware of the current climate where unruly pax physically fight airline employees. What you just did is no different. It’s an open invitation for anyone to assault a gate agent in SAN, And if it happens I hope you are sued to the gills. I also hope AA Corp Security follows up and puts you on notice and does like Delta and strips you of your status. These are DANGEROUS times for all customer facing airline employees. We have had broken bones, noses, been injured and off work for months due to pax injuring gate agents and your actions here inflamed the situation.
Do you even realize the responsibilities gate agents have on the ground regarding security and adhering to FAA regulations? Do you understand the policies have been changing and are fluid?
As far as your stroller, was your kid in it? If so he did his job. You should have had it collapsed at boarding. Was your plan to collapse it at the bottom of the jetbridge? Yeah, thought so which impedes othera from dancing around you to board. There is a reason The supervisor sided with “Matt”. I’m sure that was it.
I don’t care if AA apologizes, I’m sure it was a knee jerk reaction by some hourly employee. I hope this escalates and you are called out in the news and you get a taste of your own medicine and your sponsors abandon you.
I had a similar experience flying from Chicago to Buenos Aires. A guy at the gate force me to check in the carry on bag threatening and almost screaming at me. I told me that I was not flying and if I continued arguing he would ban from AA. I had very delicate figurine, computer parts that of course arrived broken to Argentina. AA then refused to reimburse me for the cost only paying me after I started to tweet. I never use AA again and i am very happy about it.
These agents are beat up everyday at work! Day in and day out pressured to keep flights going and on time safe departure. There are standard rules and reasons for boarding so as not to cause delay. A delay trickles down to making a flight late, inconveniencing passengers missing connections and the aircraft could run late from there on. My point is with the world and pandemic etc. etc. these people have to work hard, quick and smart and with a hundred passengers or so they don’t have the luxury or time to hold court in the boarding area and asses your stupid stroller! Everyone is trying to do a great job. Gary you have to put the shoe on the other foot sometimes and quit thinking you’re so privileged. There are bad apples in every single place of business so don’t let your hurt feelings try to hurt the whole great bunch at American Airlines! I know for a fact they are very good at taking a gate checked bag, stroller, wheelchair etc.from the bridge to the aircraft bins and back to you fast and effectively. You sir are a total $ss for writing this petty bunch of BS trying to get back at a great group of hard working people. Shame on you Gary and congratulations you win the “ all about me! “ award. It.s an airplane and guidelines need cooperation. Quit crying around and if Matt is an issue it will catch up with him on it’s own. All I see is a person trying to do a job as quick and effeciantly as it is supposed to be. Safety is another big factor! People like you sir really tick the rest of us off.
Gary..you said tou each had a carryon 3 in total. Plus the stroller which makes 4. The agent working the flight probably realized it might be full and his experience told him the overheads were going to be full thus. At the end of boarding there would be a mad rush to check bags at the gate. Delaying the flight. Still an entitled jerk
@Ron, (or is this Matt from SAN?)
Don’t include me in “the rest of us” – I’ve also dealt with Matt @ SAN multiple times, and hopefully won’t have to again on my flight to SAN next week. The guy is an a-hole and it’s quite apparent that he does not enjoy his job, and certainly shouldn’t be interacting with customers.
Also – where is it in the post that Gary is trying to “let your hurt feelings try to hurt the whole great bunch at American Airlines!” – he noted specifically “Fortunately for me I’ve never had an interaction like this one with anyone else at American Airlines in 10 years as an Executive Platinum member. And getting to fly with Sonora? That was actually a treat.”
Perhaps a reading comprehension class might help you in the future.
@steve jenney – let me clarify: we each had personal items that fit underneath the seat and our only carry on among the three of us was the stroller.
And the agent (1) did not indicate the bins were full (they were not) and (2) did not have an issue with the carry on bags in front of us or behind us.
Who is this guy Ron? He has the customer service attitude of an employee of American Airlines. Only on AA (among American full-service carriers) do I often have to debate agents to let me carry-on the same roll aboard I always use. I recently asked for a soda in the back gallery on a flight (I walked to them) and the agent said “we’re going above and beyond by serving you this drink.”
I’m still wondering if Gary is going to speak to this “clarification” of the written policy by a “spokesperson”. I’m not trying to pick sides here but I have difficulty blaming employees for not following unwritten rules when the written rules seem pretty clear. Now attitude and unprofessionalism are another thing, independent of that. But it seems like Gary came into this situation loaded for bear knowing that his particular item was basically outsmarting the written AA policy, and I do wonder if that may have started a chain of escalation.
Kudo’s to American Airlines!
It’s crazy to see the oversized items passenger’s
Attempt to bring on board!
I seen and experienced delays and getting hit on the head with items that should be checked!
THANK YOU MAT AND AMERICAN AIRLINES!
Let’s be clear. Gary made a fair and balanced observation about treatment he received from American Airlines. He also shared his opinion about it. He did not name-call using terms that need $$$. I am always amazed at the hypocrisy of many. In calling out Gary for complaining, they themselves complained. If they apply the same standard to themselves they are applying to Gary, they would have to call themselves superlatives for being arrogant $$$’s (their words not Gary’s or mine) in their comments. Today it seems to have become OK to use anger, name-calling and intimidation to ‘cancel’ opinions we don’t agree with. What a shame! Thanks to Gary for staying adult and dispassionatly sharing his experiences- bad or good. I have appreciated his consistent free contributions to us road warriors.
Spend $10 and buy a small bag to put the stroller in, then it’s just a carry-on bag. I’ve traveled with my young children both alone and with family, so this isn’t coming from someone with no idea where you’re coming from.
There’s rarely a way to assess an event like this with 100 % objectivity. My pick of airlines to make my go to is based on overall competence and bot isolated incidents. But as for strollers, I really like the suggestion made by another commenter about buying a zipped bag to put it in a d making it a discreet overhead bin item.
Poor service at AA is almost routine but when you encounter really bad service or worse, someone who uses their position to exact retribution for simply being asked to do their job, it is a responsibility to report the incident or person and hope enough complaints causes a change.
About three years ago I had an incident which fit this category. I fly out of a smaller airport that connects to DFW so it is common to see the see the same AA personnel on a regular basis. It is also common for a ticket agent to then also be the gate agent. I observed one agent several times snap at passengers for asking simple questions or making routine requests. Since I carry on most of the time, my only personal dealings with her were showing my boarding passes. She never offered any greeting or said thank you to anyone. Not pleasant but no reason for me to get involved. Then my wife and I were traveling to London on First Class tickets. Since we had too much luggage for carry on, we stopped at the ticket counter to check bags. She did not put one of the Priority tags on our bags when she started to attach the bag tag so I said, “please put a priority tag on our bags”. She snapped back “you are traveling on BA out of Austin and they do not pay any attention to our tags”. I said “I have flown to LHR several times and maybe it is my imagination but it seems to help get the bags on the carousel faster when I have a priority tag”. She proceeded to ignore me and attach the bag tags with no priority tags. My wife and I left the counter without any other exchange. At the gate, here comes the same person to board the flight. A couple of minutes prior to boarding call the gate agent pages me to the gate desk. She tells me “I have downgraded your wife because there is an inoperable seat in First Class and we are full”. I said “we are travelling on First Class tickets not on upgrades”. She said “it does not matter I have to move someone to coach”. She then picked up the mic and called for boarding. There was no one else to talk to and we could not miss the flight so I turned away resolved to save the fight to communication with Customer Service. As I turned away a man walked up to the counter and gleefully said, “hey I just got a text that I have been upgraded” and she handed him a ticket. I was boiling at that point because it was obvious this was retribution for simply asking for a Priority luggage tag, but I thought, be cool it is just a one hour flight to DFW and we can’t get kicked off this flight. When I sat down my seat mate had laid their boarding pass on the arm rest. I noticed the person was a Gold who had been upgraded. That combined with the person who received the last second upgrade proved my point.
As soon as possible I communicated my whole story to AA Customer Service. The reply I received was, they were not able to substantiate all of the facts in this situation but AA was sorry for my experience and awarded 20,000 miles to both my wife’s account and my account for our trouble. It would have been very easy for them to look at the passenger manifest and see my wife was downgraded despite having a First Class ticket and other passengers were flying on upgrades with one being upgraded after she was downgraded. AA was just not willing to admit an employee had acted out of spite. The real reward was that gate agent was evidently fired because I have never seen her at the airport since. I hope it was a learning experience for her on how to treat customers in a service industry. If nothing else I spared a lot of future passengers from having to suffer her poor attitude and service.
I think we should give more empathy to service representatives who engage with high volumes of customers daily. In the airline industry, flight attendants and gate agents’ positions add additional layers of challenge along with the high volume of customers. They must ensure every customer completely follows a set of rules before and during every flight, without exception. Purchasing a compact stroller is a reasonable approach to make travel more efficient. However, I can see a gate agent having the same daily conversation with most other customers who do not realize their stroller cannot be stored in the overhead bin. Over time the gate agent may just mentally default to “You have to check your stroller” for simplicity’s sake just to keep the high volumes of customers moving in the right direction.
I also think its wildly unfair and insincere to name an employee in a blog or social media post because of a less than perfect customer experience. There are better ways to provide feedback about a negative customer experience.
@Hepworth
With regard to your words:
“When was this post written (not published)? My guess is on that flight from SAN to DFW. Gary fuming and cranking away on the iPad/iPhone/laptop and complaining to the FA while wife rolls her eyes and deals with the 2yo.”
My bet is that his wife wasn’t too happy with the situation either. Why? Because: 1) a gate-checked stroller going into the hold is more likely to get damaged (and also dirty when without a cover) than a family’s folded up stroller that is placed into the overhead bin and being watched to make sure no one tries to stuff other stuff into the same overhead bin in a negligently reckless way that can damage the stroller; and 2) waiting for a gate-checked stroller on arrival can eat up precious time that storing a stroller in an overhead bin (or closet on some flights) saves for a connection.
Now, go think about what would have happened if Gary’s gate-checked stroller slowly came back at the connection airport and was then found to be broken. He and his wife (and the child) would now have lost time waiting for the stroller, have a child they may need to possibly carry on top of the other stuff, and also have to figure out what to do with a broken stroller during the transit. [Broken strollers are more cumbersome to use/carry than a stroller in good condition, but ditching a broken stroller airside is also not a great idea.]. How does someone in Gary’s situation at SAN minimize the risk of having to deal with a broken stroller during an airside connection and yet have a stroller airside for convenience? By having a stroller that can be folded up to meet the cabin baggage policy and get it into the cabin, as that minimizes the chances of the stroller becoming checked-in luggage of any sort (including gate-checked-for-gate-delivery luggage).
My bet is that if the folded stroller was in a black (or other colored) opaque soft bag/case and could still meet the size limits, then it would probably also come with fewer issues at times when dealing with airline agents at airports.
Other than perhaps not placing the stroller into a case/cover, I don’t see what more Gary and his wife could have done that would indicate better planning than average when it comes to flying with strollers for airside use by a 2-year-old. Maybe ditch the stroller from the start and use a back carrier thing in which to transport the child? For some, definitely; but it’s not possible for all adults to manage that; and there are often other reasons to want to have a stroller accessible for the journey.
Checked-in strollers do get broken at times, especially if they aren’t packed securely before being checked-in/handed over to airline agents.
Good for you for calling out bad behavior. I get it that we as passengers are constantly bumping into the rules and we need airlines to maintain policies to keep things orderly for everyone. I have also in the past 5 years seen agents on a power trip when being asked “how” or “why” by customers who just want to get to their destination in the least inconvenient way possible.
I’ve seen a particular agent in Phoenix once try to BAN a passenger from a specific flight because she didn’t like the way the customer, being charged a $200 change fee at the time on a relatively close fare, dropped their credit card on the counter and said “a $200 change on a $220 fare lovely. Here American, take it.” She stopped what she was doing and tried to call the gate agent to convince them to ban the passenger! The gate agent wasn’t having it. We in the line were appalled. And yet, when it was our turn no one dared to say a word to this agent. Someone in the line indicated they had seen her “power trip out” before and had called a supervisor, who backed the agent in the past.
Somehow Delta and Southwest never seem to have these problems. Clean it up, American.
I say NO GRACE for snarky service people. MILLIONS out of work would take your job in 5 seconds right now. Matt was professionally trained in customer service by AA. If you cannot be professional go find another job. Fired! Shame on AA for being as….. to parents traveling.
Further, the pandemic has enabled these self proclaimed demigods permission to be absolutely rude!
I never fly AA or Delta. Never had a positive experience!
Be nice or shut it Matt!
I love how the gate agent above refers to customers as “pax”. And then begins threatening *you* by the end of the post. That says it all doesn’t it?
We have been on your side all along, gate agents and flight attendants. And still ARE to the 95+% who are there to HELP customers in a civil way. We know the airlines have designed a system that is archaic and brutal to customers and we can see that it is surely also oriented that way towards employees like you. We know your jobs have become harder for the same money. We’re not stupid; we expect no less of the airlines.
But you are the ones making your living doing this. It is your job to help us understand the un-understandable and to help people like us make it through. You’ve agreed to be the hall monitors of the system (sorry), among other things. When we want to know exactly what our airfare or baggage fee allows us to do and why or why not, we expect an answer with patience – not threats. This comment applies to only a small percentage of agents but like a bad teacher or a bad cop, they make it way worse for everyone including you. Don’t close ranks and defend them.
To the flight attendant in this story and the many others like her who tried to ameliorate a bad situation – YOU are why we keep flying and yes we write in and try to get your promoted. That definitely happens. And, thank you for doing a difficult job with grace.
just a PAX
Bad take, man. No need to make sure you get your way. You feel the need to make the point that while your daughter is perfectly capable of walking the airport (irrelevant to the piece, but sets the tone of showing how great you all are), but nonetheless want to create some extra difficulty for someone because you needed to make a point.
Matt needs to be retrained in customer service. Was he ever trained?
Demote Doug Parker to gate agent.
@CW – this gate agent *did not think strollers were not allowed* on board.
He only thought this one must be too big, challenged us to put it in the sizer, which we did and showed that it fit because its dimensions are within those permitted by the airline.
Once shown he was wrong he became belligerent and threatening. That’s my beef in this situation.
@Gary thanks for confirming this detail. Either way it seems that the written policy could benefit from an update.
Perhaps your social skills need an upgrade. You would actually jeopardize a man’s career because you were inconvenienced? Egotisticle, self aggrandizing, and self obsessed. And you call yourself a “thought leader”. Good luck with that.
Petty much? What are you to do next? Try to get him evicted so he can be homeless? Pathetic.
I’ll admit, I’m a bit surprised to find an article whining about travel. As I’ve discovered from traveling, we like to complain how hard it is, but at its core we walk a few feet, hand other people all our bags and stuff to deal with, then sit on a plane while it easily and safely takes us hundreds or thousands of miles. We watch movies and eat, read or play candy crush. Then we magically arrive at our destination and tell everyone how bad it was.
Just a follow up on the most likely reason for all of this. He had already reached the maximum number of carry on items and, like so many others, was shocked that no exception for his highness was made.
@ John luffred: Gary’s stroller fits in the American Airlines baggage sizer. Therefore, this baby stroller is not oversized passenger baggage. If Gary’s baby stroller fits, you must acquit!
I have had a gate agent tell passengers on my flight that carry-on must be gate-checked because all the overhead bins were full. Fortunately, I was video chatting with another passenger who already boarded. It was easy to see that about 75% of the overhead bins were open, and there was plenty of room to accommodate carry-on passenger baggage. I was then told this was to help the flight depart on time and carry-on baggage slows down the boarding process.
@Brian – in this case,
– there was still overhead bin space
– the agent never suggested there wasn’t
– those who boarded before and after me were allowed to bring on rollaboards
So I don’t think any exception was needed for my highness.
Gary, sorry for your experience. Each city/station has gate agents like Matt who effectively enjoy being police officers of enforcement of “dumb rules” to the detriment of customer service. Having been an AA Gate Agent myself in SFO and DFW, I have experienced guys like Matt too. Used to be guys like Ralph Richardi who used to be the GM in SFO and VP of DFW Airport would encourage his gate agents to make common sense decisions to preserve passenger goodwill and on time dependability when it came to “dumb rules”. Ralph retired in 2007 and was very well respected every where he went by his employees because of the support he gave to his employees in situations just like yours.
I had a police officer AKA aggressive gate agent in DFW pull the same thing on me with a pet stroller that an agent at the Ticket Counter offered to put on an escort tag for me. I was flying with my 15 year old dog in cabin. When I got to the gate, this gate agent removed the escort tag and cited some local DFW policy mumbo jumbo regarding strollers. I could not argue because I needed to be on the flight so I just took the heat and rudeness from this Gate Agent. However, I saw this same Gate Agent again after returning back to DFW, confronted her in Terminal C and I gave her a piece of my mind about how she treated me.
I agree with the writer of the previous post, buy a bag that will hold your folded stroller so you never have to deal with agents like Matt again.
This is a huge prick move on your part. He may have gave poor customer service but using your bully pulpit to trash a man and getting your followers to pile on is worse than anything he could have done. I sincerely hope American sees what you are doing bans you and revokes your account. In fact I think I’ll send this to their social media account and ask for exactly that. If you hate the airline, and judging from the constant poor articles, you clearly do, then you need to exert extra effort and fly someone else.
It’s hilarious to hear all the Matt-defenders. I suspect they are a bunch of over-entitled, unionized public or airline workers, who specialize in doing as little as possible at work. They don’t like the thought of customers asking for the service that they pay for.
Bottom line: if you consistently do a lame-ass job at work you should be fired. It’s a job, not an entitlement.
@GUWonder You write, “My bet is that if the folded stroller was in a black (or other colored) opaque soft bag/case and could still meet the size limits, then it would probably also come with fewer issues at times when dealing with airline agents at airport.”
You have described potential baggage discrimination based on a passenger’s baggage skin color. Many passengers want to know, does baggage skin color matter when checking your passenger baggage in the sizer at an American Airlines gate?
Because my inquiring mind wants to know, as part of a fair baggage testing program, I proposed a boarding gate discrimination color test. One day travel with a folded baby stroller using a BLACK soft bag. The next day travel with the same folded baby stroller packed in a transparent soft bag with identical dimensions. If the BLACK bag is allowed, but the clear bag is refused, that might prove airline discrimination due to the skin color of your passenger luggage. As a traveling passenger, when you see baggage skin color disparities, say something.
“black (or other colored) opaque soft bag/case” may not work out the same as a transparent soft bag if dealing with an airline employee hostile to collapsed strollers being taken on board the flight as cabin baggage. If the airline employee can’t see that the bagged item is a stroller but otherwise fits the size (and, where applicable, weight) limits for cabin baggage, then they have one less thing to fuss over.
@ Gary Leff is a pos
Really? Send to AA social media account? Do you fly much on AA? Ignorance like yours must be bliss.
I may not agree with all of Gary’s posts but I appreciate the insights and perspective that he brings to the table based upon his experiences.
@Mark – don’t read anything into Matt’s use of the term “pax”. “Pax” is simply a neutral industry/colloquial shorthand of the word “passenger” and as such doesn’t connote anything either positive or negative. On any given day I would find myself typing the word “passenger” 50-100 times a day in various parts of the system such as a PNR (reservation), an operational report, etc. “Pax” just cuts the keystrokes a bit. Other shorthand we regularly used included “cxl” (cancel), “inop” (inoperative – which could refer to anything from a broken window shade to the cancellation of an entire flight), “Comat” (company material – often station paperwork transported to HQ via canvas duffle or similar), and of course the one that got the most use during my years working nights in LAS….. “intox” (that one is pretty self-explanatory). In any event, while Matt exhibited some less-than-sterling behavior that morning, his use of the term “pax” doesn’t carry with it any particular connotation.
Just my $.02
Gary should have just complied. The stroller is not needed on the aircraft. Unlike a bag that may have medication or something else.
Gary just wants to get what he wants. The stroller would have been brought to the gate long before he even got off the aircraft.
Customers always complain about customer service when agents don’t bend backwards for them. You are boarding a plane just for a ride. You shouldn’t expect the world.
Gary takes pleasure in bashing AA . Actually that’s the only airline he writes about. I’m beginning to think he is being paid under the table by other airlines to do so. If the service is that bad or you don’t like it fly another airline and complain about them. The fine print on the ticket only states you are guaranteed a seat and may not even be on the flight you wish to go on. Everything else is complimentary service.
Even flight attendants stop passengers who are bringing strollers onboard . It’s not about your stroller. It’s about everyone and everything
As I’ve stated before. American is a marketing firm that flies planes. I left American years ago for Delta. Gate agents are hot and cold everywhere you fly. Toss of a coin.
Sorry you come across as entitled from the last few posts. Do you really need to be right at the time? Get some empathy and let it slide as you just looked like the HA triggered ya.
As an avid flyer and AA cardmember, who usually has to book American, I feel for you. I dread the agents/reps that I deal with before boarding. There is no “good morning/good afternoon”, just “ticket and ID” without even looking your way. Any question is answered as if I’m taking from their previous time. And that is when I’m not told that I must use a kiosk. Most of the time, the kiosk tells me that I must see an agent, and then I have to make a line that is now much longer than when I arrived. I’ve had their reps stand in front of an automatic airport door as I’m trying to enter the airport, while they chat with another rep. I’ve had to go over to the next door and they have not had a care in the world.
Their service continues to decrease drastically outside of the flight time. I have been very pleased with the team onboarding, never had any issues, always pleasant and polite. A real pleasure!
I have to fly American at times because their flight options fit what I need. 2 other airlines are not at our main airport and another 2 don’t have the times I need to go back and forth with the same options. I got their credit card so I could have some priority, as it stated, but even that is an issue when a rep isn’t aware of all your benefits.
I really hope AA can restructure their service team from arrival at the airport to boarding. It is a shame but I think with all the people that do voice their concern over subpar treatment, AA should have done something about it by now. And they haven’t.
We tend to put ours in a pillowcase and a tote bag, then we have what we need when we need it and nobody gets snotty. We count it as a carry on so they don’t question the number of items.
I guarantee Matt is a —–, and that is why he is angry. I know, politically incorrect, but accurate.
AA Lost my luggage flying to Dallas for business. The counter agents were smirking when they explained to me that hopefully my luggage would show up tomorrow but I shouldn’t have checked my work clothing. Btw..the original flight was full and they “graciously ” offered to check my carryon with my work clothing for free. When the remaining miles in my account are used AA can kiss my grits.
I think you are a very lucky person to be able to travel the world with your partner and your 2 year old. This stroller does look fabulous.
I sense your frustration, but I certainly hope that “Matt” is a pseudonym. I don’t think it is kind or considerate to so publicly crucify an individual ( for a possible error in judgement). I have no idea who Matt is, but have you ever considered that someone may be suffering on their own, and to be so publicly humiliated could be damaging to their welfare.
I think that you could have simply contacted the airline about the “policy” , or even vented to them what you perceived as poor customer service. ( But honestly, checking a stroller is not the worst thing that could happen to you. It sounds like a first world problem to me. )
PS I have flown from Australia connecting through LAX and JFK to Boston on my own with a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn infant. I was so thankful for any compassion shown to me
you jest, right? Heidi, in this day & age you want G to use a fictitious name . . .when so many of the respondents here know of this self-abhorred lout? He should be ostracized. I’m sure he cannot be discarded because of union blah blah blah, or playing the orientation card. Dig? Maybe Matt should be cancelled. And since our friend here has a well-read blog (read: bully pulpit), all (including AA) should take notice.
! ,
What an interesting name you have used… “!” . I am assuming that your parents did not name you “!”. I am assuming that you are using a Pseudonym to protect your own identity, so that you anonymously say whatever you want to say, and you won’t be criticised.
I think if Gary had a complaint about Matt then he should have simply taken it up with the Airline. We were not there to witness how Gary was responding to Matt. We only have one side of the story.
I think this particular stroller does look great. It is seemingly made to be travelled with.
Matt did not deserve to be so publicly ridiculed over the checking of the stroller.
It was not necessary to rip Matt apart on social media, and to refer to him as a “bad apple” to make a good headline.
Matt may or may not be the perfect employee. But he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
But being torn apart on social media, can impact ones mental health… and we should all be kinder to one another.
Just like you “!”, Matt deserved to be anonymous.
@Gary – Just wow.
We flew AA on May 7 & 8th. First flights since FEB 2020. CRJ700 direct from SBN to DFW and back. We have a carry-on that fits in the AA size checker and in the overhead on a CJR700. On the way down they attempted to gate check and I said it fits and the SBN folks shrugged and said OK.
In DFW the GA said you must gate check. I said I am in 1st class and it fit in the overhead on the way down yesterday. She glared and put on a tag anyway. Since she did not force me to give up my bag I simply took it onboard and it fit no issue as before.
It will be interesting to be back flying Delta this month to see what it is like in 2021.
Just flew American for the first time and I think it may be the last. Their customer service rep in Chicago O’Hare was really nasty to us when we missed our connecting flight. Maybe he was tired IDK, We aren’t used to traveling so we didn’t know what to do AND needed help. The plane was late and we missed the connecting plane by 30 seconds. It cost us hotel and meals aNd an extra day in long term parking. Also there’s no number to call if the rep isn’t there. You have to use the (dirty) phones at the airport kiosk. Sigh…
We have not flown for 10 years. But this week MY wife flew from Charlotte to Memphis to visit sick older lady. Nothing good to say about the customer service of American Airlines. Bunch of idiots.
Hey Gary – Thanks to you, @TravForUs & @WTXJET we have Matt’s name, physical description, employer, & location. Your one sided inflammatory tirade puts him in danger & is a violation of twitter community guidelines. Set it free dude
We’ve all had our issues with a tix or gate agent … it’s about the most annoying thing that can happen on a flight in my mind. How these guys get away with being jerks so often is beyond me. Three cheers for the FA who took the time to care and show her compassion. Makes an incredible difference. As they say, it’s not the mistake itself, it’s how the mistake is handled.
Just read many posts above advising to ‘just gate-check the stroller’. Inexperienced travellers probably are not aware of how many miscellaneous checked items are returned damaged. Instead of throwing rocks at his head, some of the commenters here might want to do a little research before giving advice to the article’s author.
Maybe he knows you are anti American Airlines in 99.9% of your blogs! Maybe he and giving you the business because you’re consistently a negative Nancy about his airline. I don’t think I have ever EVER seen a positive article from you about AA. It’s possible that you have a reputation as well. One for thinking you’re entitled and looking for any reason to trash AA! I’m sure you reveled in the idea that you were gonna “show him” about your stroller. Since you didn’t mention it I’m assuming you got your stroller and made your connecting flight???…. So why complain about something that didn’t really effect you?