united 1k flyer

they will have access to the flagship lounges but not flagship first dining. On arrival it’s likely they will get in but MIA isn’t the best . Wrong thread btw.

MADPhil

It was built with a First Class Dining Room, which is just an extra space since the end of any F services. It always seemed fairly busy pre-Covid and took quite a bit of load of the AC which was usually quite packed.
It was, and hopefully will be, a nice place to hang out.

FlyingEgghead

Please note that

1. Flagship First Check-in (FFCI) -- the subject of this thread
2. Flagship Lounge (FL) -- there is no such thing as "Flagship First Lounge"
3. Flagship First Dining (FFD)

are all different experiences, available at different subsets of airports, and with different eligibility criteria. The only hard-and-fast relation between them is that you will have FL access if you have FFD access, because the latter is located inside the former.

happiest_at_40000

They had an exclusive F dining room that was Landside??

FlyingEgghead

I think this is a game of telephone, where you asked:
(meaning FFCI), and then cmd320 replied:
(maybe referring to FFCI as well), and then MADPhil said:
(evidently thinking the topic was FL or FFD instead of FFCI -- any such dining area would be in the FL).

Overall, perhaps too much use of "it" and not being on the same page of what was being discussed -- FFCI, FL, or FFD -- three distinct things as I described in post #153. This thread is supposed to be about FFCI. Can you tell it's a pet peeve (both on posters for confusing them and on AA for making it confusing in the first place)?

happiest_at_40000

Ah telephone lol. Maybe but I am not sure. I mean unless MadPhil was referring to airside lounge space but given the thread we are in I assumed he/she was talking about the space that FFCI is at. I cant say for sure but I believe CMD was referring to why they had FFCI at ORD (mentioning the F presence in the past on 772's). Then I assumed MADPhil was referring to that same space but possibly not. I thought the only wrong thread post was from AllSetToTravel.

teemuflyer

Well technically, they haven't converted the AA LHR Premium lounge to an FL, although it is closed. When (if) they reopen it, it would probably be as a regular FL with FFD

London Heathrow (LHR)

International First Class Lounge – Terminal 3

Departure level, beyond Passport Control in lounge area H

Temporarily closed

billgrates3

OK, I'm in the LAX AC after my first time using the FFCI. I got to the FFCI entrance about 4:45AM for my flight to MIA on 77W. (BTW as of 8/30/21 there is construction right in front of the entrance, so you have to get dropped off about 50ft before the entrance)
There was a guy at the entrance who checked the printed list, but did not find my name. He asked my status and I showed him my BP... no problem, please follow me. He took me inside to the checkin agent, taking my bag. Both he and the TA where super nice, friendly and helpful. Then he took me upstairs to the TSA pre entrance, where I was the only passenger, no line. After thanking him, I went right thru TSA to the lounge.

All in all, a very pleasant experience.

General99

newly minted BA gold just rejected access to flagship first checkin JFK, this is the second time i was also denied at ORD. Just awful, AA do better.

metallo

Was your BA Gold status in the reservation? Did you show your elite card to the agent to demonstrate that you have non-AA OW Emerald status?

Before I was CK, every now and then I found that I wasn’t on their pre-printed list, but never once was I denied access once I provided an explanation to the agent at the door.

In the past few months, I’ve used Flagship First check-in at every U.S. airport where it’s offered, and the only airport that even had someone checking eligibility for entry was MIA. ORD, JFK, and LAX didn’t have anyone guarding the door at the times I was there.

General99

my BA number was not in the reservation because i credit to aadvantage. I showed them my ba gold card but they insisted international flights only and i wasn't allowed access

metallo

Sorry to hear that… if I were in your situation, I’d just have the mobile version of AA.com ready to go with the policy, which clearly allows you access as OWE when you’re flying AA.

If that doesn’t work, you could always ask for them to check with the agents inside. If that -still- doesn’t work, you’re probably out of luck unless you really want to create a scene — I’d simply take the employee/contractor’s name and submit feedback.

While Flagship check-in can feel exclusive, it’s not such a big deal that it’s worth worrying about any more than that, in my opinion, but I still understand your frustration.

FlyingEgghead

General99 can and should still provide feedback now, even without the name (specifying the date and time of the incident is a good substitute). This is a recurring problem and AA needs to keep hearing that the FFCI dragons are not properly allowing all who are eligible.

happiest_at_40000

Its not FFCI but I just wrote an email tonight into customer service for AC (there was no customer service for FL) asking them to please inform the MIA agents that I am and sick and tired of them not understanding what a freaking 77W is and not knowing it gives access to FL, especially on arrival where they seem to be totally clueless. Of course I was nice about it despite being pretty upset.

There cant be that many employees their at FL/AC that it would be so hard to just put a darn memo out and fix this problem.

Maybe the same idea can be applied to the mess with FFCI, with some sort of an email being sent. However me personally my name was always on the list but again I am using it based on the actual flight being in F and not any status. Also, there is no customer service email link for an FFCI specific area like there is for AC.

General99

reading through this thread makes me realize how awful they are regarding access. They can make the process so much easier in so many ways. Just put the access rules on the outside of flagship first checkin. The rules are super simple. Its that easy.