There are two issues going on here. First is a celebrity named Iggy Azalea who may have twisted the truth concerning an American Airlines flight. Second is the red carpet treatment celebrities receive that even passengers with elite status do not enjoy.
Iggy Azalea Attacks American Airlines…For Showing Up Late To Her Own Flight?
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was allowed to check baggage just a half hour before her American Airlines flight, but when a hold-up in security caused her to miss her flight in Miami she blamed American Airlines for giving up her seat.
First, it should be noted here that American Airlines has a 45-minute cutoff for checked baggage in Miami.
The most interesting facet of this story is that American Airlines bent its rules for her in a big way, according to an informant TMZ described as an airline worker at the airport. Her flight was departing at 6:00pm and she showed up to the counter at 5:30pm with checked bags. Amazingly, her bags were allowed through, despite missing the cutoff by 15 minutes. American Airlines check-in superiors do have some discretion in whether to check a bag or not, but I’ve never seen more than a 5-7 minute grace period.
But the rules seem different when you are a celebrity with tens of millions of social media followers (though I must admit, I had never heard of this rapper before today, but I’m just so not hip and with it). Azalea used a “VIP greeting service” which American Airlines offers in the form of Five Star Service.
That issue aside, security checkpoints at Miami International can be a mess and someone in her entourage was got stopped for secondary screening. By the time Azalea made it to her gate, it was less than 15 minutes before takeoff. Boarding closes technically ends 15 minutes prior to scheduled pushback and their seats had been given up.
Azalea claims that boarding was still occurring when they reached the gate, but their seats had already been given up. Typically, passengers who are not present 10-15 minutes before boarding find their seats given away to standbys at the gate. I suspect this occurred here.
Despite protests, the flight took off without them and had their checked bags on it.
Azalea reached out to American Airlines in a professional way:
But also offered a profanity-filled warning on Twitter (click through for the full conversation…I won’t embed the foul language here):
I wanted to tell any families booking travel be careful flying with young kids on @AmericanAir
I was flying with my son & they sold our seats while the gate was still open then refused to take our bags off the plane although every other flight was sold out for that night. 1/2— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) April 18, 2022
American Airlines did respond, and Azalea further took AA to task:
No need to dig into anything 😹
Me & other families have shared our apparently VERY common experiences of your airline selling kids seats after check in, leaving families stranded, refusing to give back luggage etc. just peep the thread – it’s very on brand for you apparently! 🤷♀️ https://t.co/8gGGNaG0Ca— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) April 20, 2022
Another Twitter user suggested she fly Delta, and she agreed:
Delta is the superior choice. I agree.
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) April 20, 2022
But if the “airline worker” who provided the backstory to TMZ is true, Azalea really unfairly attacked American Airlines. If she was already granted a huge exception to check her baggage late (a good reason not to make such exceptions…) but could not make it to the gate on time, how is that AA’s problem?
Even if you think the 15-minute boarding cutoff is too early, it’s very well advertised and I am not amused when anyone, celebrities or otherwise, is the beneficiary of an airline bending rules only to turn it back on the airline due to their own poor planning. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished.
CONCLUSION
I recently missed a flight too due to an unexpected issue…it stinks (and really messed up my day). The solution is to arrive at the airport earlier, because there are number of delays that can happen between pulling up to the curb and stepping onboard your flight.
image: Iggy Azalea / Instagram
I guess she thought she was in the fast lane, but that was only from LA to Tokyo.
If I could upvote this, I would
+1
Her stepfather works for Qantas and she spent most of her early career traveling back and forth between the US and Australia on his staff travel benefits. She should know better.
That’s an interesting additional angle!
who is this person?
Look at all the interesting stuff to which Mathew introduces on his blog.
@anthony, the same thing happened to me on @AmericanAirlines and I had my 20 month old niece and paid for a first class ticket. I received notice about a flight conflict, I called and they set me up for a different one. Get to TSA Pre-check at Reagan Natl, to find they didn’t add my niece back on the new ticket. So I had to go to the counter to find only ONE ATTENDANT for a line of four customers. Although, everyone in the line allowed me to get in front of them, she clearly she was taking her time or wasn’t properly trained. I requested a mgr/sup, and seven minutes later ten folks come from the back. Took them 11 minutes to resolve what shouldn’t have been an issue, needless to say I missed my flight. All the rest of the flights’ first class sections were booked; so now myself and the baby whom both of us have sinus issues have to sit behind the wing. Which turned into a horrible experience that other passengers on the plane attempted to assist with this 20 month olds ears popping. That was the absolute last time I even looked at traveling with @americanairlines. Oh btw, they are still fighting me about my first class ticket refund
One day we were having a conversation with some colleagues and the word celebrity came on the conversation. Then someone asked: “What makes people celebrities?” And a guy came with the most amazing answer: “The only thing that makes a person a celebrity is the number of stupid people that follow that person on social media.”
I mean, she was the first musical artist since the Beatles to have both the #1 and #2 song in the US at the same time. Not saying she’s good or deserved it, but I think she would qualify as a celebrity even without a social media account.
Well, that says a lot about the generation we have now. Compare Beatles with her is simply sad. I personally never heard of her and I am glad I haven’t.
I have seen airlines fudge the baggage check deadline a bit for a person in F. But then you better have pre-check and run to the gate!
This is why I always try to leave lots of time. Worst case scenario is you spend a few more minutes in the lounge.
I’ll take the other side here. If AA checked her bag, and was escorting her through security, and they were in fact still boarding, she could reasonably expect someone would have called ahead to the gate and held her seat.
I think you misunderstand words in America. It is common to use words to mean something different. Like Five Star Service.
A few other examples: ‘unlimited data’ on cell phone does not mean that.
’99 cent store’ 99cents has nothing to do with the price of items in the store but is a historic relic
Both are probably in the wrong here – she should have been on time *and* you as an airline shouldn’t take a bag late if it’s pretty clear that there’s a risk of the passenger missing the flight
And it’s also a security violation by the airline if the flight was cleared for takeoff without offloading the passenger’s checked luggage!
Not for domestic US flights. Since 100% bag screening was required after 911, US domestic flights no longer require positive bag matching. You can even voluntarily separate (same day change). Due to international rules/laws, bag matching still happens on all international flights.
Who on earth is this woman. When she arrives in Australia….and hopefully that’s where she’s eventually heading, let this twat sing her rap songs in Australia and never grace our shores again.
Yeah she was a celebrity when she actually got airplay years ago. I actually liked the one song of hers I heard a decade ago. Trust me, nobody’s heard of her recently.
I point to one fact to make my point- she’s flying American. A real celebrity does not. This is probably her last gasp at getting some media attention.
First things first, she was running late, but AA should have never checked her bag and sent her on her way. If they would have told her she was too late to make the flight, she would have never had to drop a Twitter tirade and let the whole world feel it. If AA is going to sell that Five Star Business on what appears to be a domestic flight, then nobody should be expected to be held down like they’re getting a lesson in physics. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some special treatment. Expectations were poorly managed. Also, I really like Iggy Azalea.
Act like a child, get treated like a child.
I’m not sure if I’m talking about Iggy Azalea or American Airlines here, but I don’t think it matters.
The best thing is to always be on time that’s the rules for everyone in life best solution by doing so we avoid these unnecessary problems
So Tired of People thinking they are so special that rules do not apply to them, Boo Hoo, Follow the same rules as everyone else. Pull your head out of your phone.