fpc552

I have a booked F award trip for AUS-LAX-HKG-BKK and am in Y for the domestic segment. If I was on UA, I'd be able to be placed on the PR-1 list for an F seat on that segment ahead of any upgrades. Does AA have a similar policy for premium award ticketholders seated in Y? Do I need to do anything? The flight still has F seats for sale, but currently no saver F space.

Col Ronson

There aren't any upgrades on award flights on AA. Once the award is ticketed, you get what you booked. And i'm pretty sure its the same thing at UA as well, no upgrades on award flights.

aves17

While no upgrades on award tickets is the policy with AA, I have heard stories of people being successful with upgrading a domestic Y award ticket if they asked in the Admirals Club AND had Platinum/EXP status.

OP - Do you have any status with AA and/or access to the Admirals Club?

jafrelin

If it is a single award and you have F on the Lax to Hkg segment you can ask to be wait listed for the domestic leg. Last year I did that flying Tus to Ord to Fco and in the end got upgraded.

869

The language AA uses is "voluntary downgrade" in this situation, which you took on the domestic leg. You are able to switch back to F if saver inventory becomes available, though I would avoid using the term "upgrade" when dealing with non-EXP agents.

mikew99

Just to be clear, the question is specifically not about upgrades on an award ticket. It's about getting a seat in the class of service in which the ticket is booked.

For example: You buy an F ticket, but there are only seats available in Y. UA used to treat such passengers as displaced F passengers and gave them the highest priority for any F seats. I don't know how AA treats such cases, but hopefully someone knows for sure.

JDiver

Thread retitled per Rules; very few AA flyers likely to know what United Airlines "FFCC" or "PR-1" is.

/Moderator

satman40

I have booked J Award, and paid upgrade to FC on AA.,

SeeBuyFly

No. It's important to use technical terms correctly in this instance. If 'voluntarily' downgraded to economy for any segment of a business class award, the "class of service in which the ticket is booked" is economy class (e.g. fare code T) for that segment.

The OP is actually asking about "getting a seat in the class of service associated with the award level booked (award miles paid)".

However, things aren't done (at least at AA) by how much you paid (either dollars or miles)---it is done by booking class. No, AA doesn't have a system in place to prioritize those with so-called "voluntary" downgrades (they are never voluntary, but are forced by lack of availability). Indeed, AA should do it, but it doesn't. The only way to get what you paid for is to (a) monitor availability of the correct fare code (b) if something becomes available, call and have your ticket changed for free.

Expertflyer, AwardNexus and wandr.me will automate the process of watching for availability.

Specific current case: I am booking ORD-MIA-LIM in J. I found that J awards MIA-LIM opened up at the 331-day mark on LAN, and I held that segment. Two days later, economy awards became available on ORD-MIA nonstops, while first became available only via CLT or some such. So what I did is ask for an economy seat on a nonstop ORD-MIA. Reasons:

(a) I'd rather fly economy nonstop than first via somewhere else, especially as I have an international flight to catch at the other end;

(b) looking at award availability on AA.com showed me that first tends to open up on ORD-MIA nonstops 7-10 days before the flight date. No guarantees, of course, but if something does open up, I will be notified automatically.

Exec_Plat

Agree....some responders here seem to be mixed up.

OP needs to request change to proper cabin, or standby for proper inventory. Should have been done at time of ticketing.

With a paid ticket they would be 'standby first class confirmed in economy'..DSR# from the PALL list wiki:

http://flyerguide.com/index.php?titl...A)&redirect=no

Not sure how they order awards.