Just venting - missed a flight while literally standing at the gate because of an AA ticketing issue
Booked a short AA flight using Alaska miles. I had already been at the airport for hours and arrived at the gate well before boarding closed. The issue only first appeared when I scanned my boarding pass during boarding and was suddenly told my ticket “did not exist” in the system.
The gate agent had to call internal support while I stood there waiting. The flight itself was already delayed, but by the time they fixed the issue, the gate was closed and I was denied boarding.
What really appalled me was the tone throughout the interaction. I was physically at the gate the whole time, this clearly wasn’t a late arrival issue, yet both the gate agent and later the phone agent spoke as if the situation was somehow my fault. There was no apology, no acknowledgment that their own system/problem-solving delay caused me to miss the flight.
I even specifically asked them to document what happened so customer service wouldn’t assume I had simply shown up late. Later, when I called AA, the phone agent’s first question was whether I had arrived late. Apparently there were basically no meaningful notes.
Ended up paying for a hotel overnight. Alaska refunded the ticket and was much more professional throughout the process.
Honestly wild to “miss” a flight while standing at the gate because the airline’s own support call took too long.
(Edited - clarification added)