[lewis5935]

On 29 August 2010, I flew to Japan on flight 167. When the AA personnel opened the gate up in preparation for boarding; I waited in line to request a bassinet since I was traveling with an infant. I was told by the AA agent that she doesn't take bassinet requests, when I get on the plane I can see if one is available. Then she continued to say that AA is getting "out of the business" of having bassinets. This ticket agent had an attitude to add to her none helpful demeanor. Now, I have flown a lot and this is the first time a ticket agent refused to take a bassinet request. Also, I did mention to the ticket agent when I checked in that I wanted the bassinet she informed me the request had to be done at the gate. So which is it? To add insult to injury the ticket agents refused to let me pre board with my infant. I was told I had to board with my group. No exceptions! This was news to me according to ticket agents there is no pre boarding for passengers with infants. She continued to board the first and business class, along with the other priority boarders. Then when she called military, I was able to board since I am a member of the armed forces. When I showed her my ID the ticket agent tried to get her coworker to make some kind of annotation on my boarding pass. The other AA agent stated "no, that she (meaning me) already has an empty seat next to her". I must say this is the absolute WORST service I have seen from an airline! This ticket was not given to me, I paid for it and this is the kind of service I receive?

[The_Judge]

A bassinet should typically be requested when the reservations are made. Not after check-in and when you're about ready to board. There are very few bassinet seats on aircraft and they are normally the bulkhead seats which are generally the first to be requested/reserved. The agent could have been more polite about it but you must understand there are very very few of these types of seats and they are not available at boarding time more often than not.

[lewis5935]

The_Judge ...
I attempted to request the bassinet when I made my reservations and I was told by the agent making my reservations that I had to request it upon checking in at the airport. Every agent seems to be pointing at the other one. I also ensured that I was in a bulkhead seat since I had an infant, so getting the bassinet shouldn't have been a problem.

[The_Judge]

Wow. It sounds like a game of pass the buck. I can't imagine what a gate agent is supposed to do or a flight attendant when those seats aren't available.

You did everything right from what you've written but AA failed every step of the way. Make sure you follow through with a written complaint to them and see what their response is. I would be interested to see what they say their policy is about who is responsible for taking the request, the res agent or the gate agent. I'm 99.9% sure they'll say it's the res agent.