Well, on Friday I was trying to jumpseat out of D/FW, and I finally did on the 3rd attempt. This question is this: what can I do to increase my odds of getting the agent to let me on the jumpseat? I haven't had this sort of problem anywhere else in the American network. I work for a CASS airline, my info was input via CASS, yet twice I was "rolled over" to the next flight. Both times I asked if the jumpseat was taken already, and the agent one time said no but it was too late to let me on -I had been patiently waiting in the boarding area for over an hour- , and the other agent on the next flight said that the jumpseat wasn't "authorized" on that flight. Can anyone tell me what that means? I was starting to get really frustrated, but didn't want to show it with respect to the free valuable benefit jumpseating is.

Bottom line from RockBottom is that the first 2 flights I tried to jumpseat on left with an open jumpseat. Short of pounding on the counter to remind them I'm there and am jumpseat qualified, any suggestions for helping myself get on these flights next time?

This may or may not help much, but in my personal experience, avoiding AA is the best way to get where you're going. They seem to have a high attitude-to-helpfulness ratio, at least compared to other airlines.

You would probably have better luck at an outstation vice DFW.

Rockbottom, I work for Allegiant Air in Orlando and live in Dallas. I always use American to get here :-( I have had the exact same issues as you have recently on AA. One agent just "didn't" want to put me in the cockpit even though we are CASS. On the next I was able to get a ride up front, but after some difficulty. Even though we are CASS, one agent showed me on her screen where it said "must have seat in cabin." After a while of messing with it, she got me the 1W. I can honestly say she was helpful getting this to work. My experience with AA jumpseating has shown that most will not even try to figure out the issues with the obsolete Sabre system. Our VP of Flt Ops wanted to know of any problems we may have with CASS, so wrote him and asked to talk to the AA people. Hopefully they will get something done.

rickair777 is right, try jumpseating on someone else if it works in your itinerary. The DFW counter attitudes have stranded me one time too many.

Try being "Married" to one of those DFW agents :-D
One of my buddies is. Poor guy.

As my pen name might suggest, I "feel your pain"

DFW Gate agents are the industry WORST. I have to commute out of
DFW 4 to 5 times a month. They absolutely are horrid. They need to
get off their "my airplane" attitude and get with the program.
Remember , these people were the crossing guards when we were
all 6 year olds. Their excitement is telling you NO. Its the same mentality
of the of the spoiled brat. They say "NO" to you playing with "their toys"

I guess maybe try to win them over with kindness.
Thats what I do. I always ask them if they would like a coke or some coffee.
That seems to take the edge off and they will listen a little better.
Good luck
Its going to be a long and hot summer.

If you were trying to get on an Eagle EMJ there's a good chance the flight was weight restricted.

AMR management is horrible wrt pressuring their agents to be on time, and they're often doing DBs or processing standbys and in a rush. If you can be there early enough, look for the flight crew waiting on the airplane and make sure they know you're hoping for the jumpseat. Other than that, try watching the standby processing closely and then (somewhere in the 10 min prior timeframe) just politely approach and apologetically ask if it looks like the cockpit JS will be available for you (a late reminder to them that you're still here).

Good luck

Yeah, that's the ticket. I found that candy works like a charm. For best results, carry a bag and distribute when you are just passing by and don't need an immediate favor. They'll remember. Also useful for mellowing out hostile F/As.

Showed up at the gate at 6:05 am for the AA 6:30 am departure from DTW-DFW. All the pax were onboard already (around 40). Asked the gate agent if I could use the jumpseat....His response....."Ive already closed the flight out, and it's too late". I thought Ok....then ask to be listed on the 08:30 am flight to DFW. The guy gave a huge, loud sigh, then took off down the jetway. 30 secs later, he came back and in his "uppity" tone, said that "the captain will allow you on this time, but be here earlier next time".

I went down the jetway, introduced myself to the captain, and the captain appologized for the agents actions. He said that he even had trouble with the agent. Needless to say, the AA flight crews have always been fantastic. It's the problem of getting past the gate agents and "their jumpseats"!

I really appreciate the tips, fella's. It's the nature of the beast almost. Next time I'll be there over 1 hour early and look for the captain to introduce myself to. He sounds like the missing link in all of this.

I like the idea of offering coffee to the agent, I'm sure that'd stop them dead in their tracks, as in "Did somebody really just offer ME something?"

Cheers all, and again the AMR crews are always, 100% terrific.

RockBottom