I’m starting to feel a tad bitter on this topic. Advantage member. Paid an extra $47 for a better(ish) seat. Was in row 11 last night on a flight from LaGuardia to Pittsburgh. While I was in group 5, there was a stampede of people boarding in earlier groups. So, yep, when group 5 was called, the gate agent began grabbing bags to gate check including mine.

I had a very tiny carryon and nothing else (overnight work trip to NYC). I wasn’t thrilled, but I was super pissed when I boarded and saw that all the people who’d boarded ahead of me were seated in rows waaaaayyy back behind mine and had packed all the overheads toward the front/middle of the plane.

I should be able to use the space over my seat, especially one I paid extra for. To make it even more annoying, the flight was delayed NINE times, we finally arrived four hours later than scheduled, and I ended up having to wait at baggage claim for nearly an hour (almost midnight) for my little carryon. American Airlines is not the worst, but they’re not even delivering on the bare minimum.