oysterhead43

Curious, how do you get access as a Plat? You fly F?

oysterhead43

My impression from reading: AA's 77W is one of the nicest birds in the sky. But service on QF is more reliable to be good.

See this thread:

AA72-73 thread

Side note: I think these two threads should be combined.

WiscAZ

There are two QF lounges - the QF first lounge which is the nice one and the QF business lounge (may just be the OW lounge now). Perhaps he/she is speaking about the other QF lounge?

WiscAZ

FYI - my upgrade from J to F went through just now. I noticed my trip details weren't being displayed so I called in and that was the reason.

oysterhead43

Congrats. Report back, I'd love to fly F on the 77W.

crcashwe

I just signed up for a copay+miles upgrade on AA73 for 5/4 with Gold status from economy to business. Any idea on my chances of clearing?

oysterhead43

I'd say you're looking great. Over 15 J seats open and Main Cabin Extra is open too (meaning not many elites on the plane).

Recommend you get a trial to Expert Flyer and set up an alert for C inventory. The day before, around 36 hours prior to flight, start checking the screen Awards and Upgrades for C availability. As soon as it shows C1 or more, call AA and ask if they can clear it for you.

WiscAZ

Just a data point - I was not successful today on AA72 using an SWU from J to F. The app showed me as 5th on the upgrade list with 3 others ahead of me being cleared. Unsure if that was an upgrade to J or F.

I always questioned whether it was worth it to use an SWU for J to F but after spending a few minutes in J I think it certainly is. Not complaining as I'm lucky to be in J but there are some pretty noticeable differences with both the amount of space and quality of the seat.

Longboater

I can't imagine what this forum will turn into after AA replaces the 77W with the 789. While the performance of the route will likely improve immediately after this move, getting an upgrade will be next to impossible. At least the 789 has W.

oysterhead43

how far in advance did you request SWU? how many open F seats did the seat map show leading up to the flight?

I'm almost scared to fly F because I'll think less of J after that. I'm completely happy with J on the 77W.

That being said, I say any SWU upgrade is worth it when traveling to/from SYD. Epic flight.

WiscAZ

I booked about 2 months out and requested then. I'm not sure how many seats were open or if the upgrades were to J. I did see 3 J seats open during seat selection and there were 3 upgrades so could have been those. It was a Saturday flight which I assume is an elite heavy flight being at the end of the work week.

To to be honest though, I was pretty impressed with J. Outside of the seat and the overall space the service was better (not saying F was bad) and food seemed the same. They only had he S/M pajamas so I wasn't able to grab anything that fit. No big deal as I just put on some pj shorts I had in my bag. Maybe I should request some miles! Haha absolutely kidding.

Overall I will still try and use an SWU onto August flight just because of the pure length of the flight but it's nice to know if it doesn't clear I'm in a good spot.

Looks like next year won't be an option for me to use an SWU on this route so I'll use it elsewhere.

Rumples

Hello All,

I mainly fly UA, but happened to have made Exec. Plat for this year - I just received 4 SWUs that I am planning on applying to LAX - SYD - LAX for 2 Roundtrip tickets on Oct. 1 - 12th

Question is - is this the same as applying a Global Premiere Upgrade on united? where if the space is available during booking, I automatically clear?

Also - do I clear one level up? From economy to business? or does this clear me from Economy to first?

Thank you in advance!

Ross0

You can clear a SWU at any time, so long as the space is open. You can clear before, at or after ticketing. The tricky part will be finding open upgrade inventory/space.

You clear up to the next class of service. If you bought economy, you would upgrade to business.

AA recently opened up some business class upgrade seats for later this year, so you might have some luck. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be upgrade space LAX-SYD on 10/1 or SYD-LAX on 10/12. You will have to waitlist for those upgrades and they could clear (or not clear) at anytime before the flights. (If you're flexible you can upgrade two people on the SYD-LAX flight on 10/11 as the inventory is available).

sholmes149

What type of meals are served in Premium Economy? Coach fare or business class fare? The website says Premium Beverage.

oysterhead43

The PE menu is between the two - an upgrade from coach.