FlyEveryWeek

I wanted to report back regarding my SWU upgrades from the most recent trip. I had a flight from DFW to ICN on 12/21 and another flight from PEK to DFW on 1/3.. I guess there weren't many business travelers during the holidays so there were seats available.. I was cleared exactly 24 hours before the flights on both.. I guess they really try to sell the tickets to the last minute and don't clear people earlier than that anymore..

IWontRegretThis

Cleared this about an hour ago, right about t-26. Strange thing is still showing C6.... guess no one is flying to Beijing in J

jongesander

I will fly LHR-JFK on the 22'th of januari. It's AA101 on 10.15. Ticketed on 12.12.15, and at that time there were 4 or 5 seats taken in MCE. J Cabin is filling up fast now, only 14 seats left.

What do you think abouts my chances? I'm EXPLAT How many of the MCE people are EXPLAT on this route? 75% or less?

MCOSWAFlyer

Hello all! looking for thoughts. Last week purchased ORD - NRT on new AA 787, flight 153 on 1/27 and 154 on 1/31. Had to waitlist SWU.

Expert Flyer shows 28 J seats, about 5 each way 'occupied'; J7, C0 and MCE about 9 seats each. Doing the math 28 - 5 - 9 = 14 maybe available. What to the experts think of my chances to clear SWU? From threads looks like will not confirm until T-26.

Thanks!!

tugboatkirby

Hi, I know this thread talks a lot about int'l flights and SWUs but I'm flying to San Juan, PR (SJU) next week on the 2pm from DFW and was wondering if anyone thought I had a shot with my 500-mile upgrade stickers?

I applied to use them a few months ago, and I'm not sure it's a heavy EXP load (although leaving from DFW when is it light, amirite?)

Anyone with thoughts or info on this topic would be appreciated!

metallo

By booking so early, you're essentially giving yourself the best shot you can, although an upgrade on this route on a Sunday evening is far from a guarantee, as there are likely to be several paid F passengers.

I would absolutely want the upgrade on this route, though. It's a four hour flight going westbound, and you're always at risk of delays on the ground flying out of ORD this time of year (or flying into SFO at any time of year).

I would wait until closer to the date of the flight to decide whether to burn miles+copay or a SWU, though. You can always get an EF subscription and set an alert so you can be notified when 'F' is down to a certain number of seats. If 'A' class is still available (which it generally will be when F>=2 or even when F>=1 within a few hours of the flight on most routes), you can pull the trigger on the upgrade then.

WiscAZ

Looking for a little clarity -

I'm an exp with 125k eqms last year of which approximately 100k of those were on AA metal. This week I flew PHX to MKE on Monday and MKE to PHX Thursday. Both times I checked in and got added to the first class upgrade list at exactly T-24 and both times I ended up 4th on this list. On the flight departing to PHX I chalked it up to potential connecting flights checking in earlier than me but on MKE to PHX I find it hard to believe anyone wasn't starting their journey at MKE.

How is the upgrade list determined? As an exp I thought it was based on check in time. Is it based on miles? Just trying to figure out how I was 4th both times. I fly this route at least monthly and rarely miss an upgrade.

Edit - I actually got bumped to 5th on the list 2 min before boarding.

metallo

The upgrade list is first ordered by status (EXP>PLT>GLD), then by fare class (Y/B > all other paid fares), then by timestamp (date/time you originally requested the upgrade). Since upgrades are now automatically requested for EXPs, your timestamp should be approximately the same date/time that you originally purchased your ticket.

You seem to be thinking about old policies for determining upgrade list priority (LUS used to use total miles flown and LAA previously prioritized connecting passengers). Those rules no longer apply.

Check-in time also doesn't matter. You were most likely fourth because three other EXPs either bought their tickets earlier or were flying full-fare (Y/B). There are a few other much less likely possibilities also (pax who paid for F standing by without a seat assignment, for example), but you most likely just bought your ticket after the three passengers ahead of you.

WiscAZ

Thank you. That clears it up. I typically by my flights pretty close to departure.

no1cub17

On our most recent int'l upgrades I noticed a few differences - no C space opened up on EF prior to our upgrades clearing. In fact I got no notification from AA at all - no email or anything. Just logged in to check on our rez at t-23 or so and noticed that our seats had changed to the J cabin. Seems as though maybe the loophole of setting an EF alert and potentially jumping the queue has closed? Fine by me that our upgrades cleared, but would've been nice to pre-select a meal. Thankfully it worked out.

I did get an EF alert about C space a few hours later, presumably after everyone on the waitlist had cleared. Last year I swear I'd get the EF alert first before noticing that our rez was pulled to process the upgrade.

taxicabnumber

Flying LAX-SYD on 1/28. SWU (Y --> J) cleared today. Shocked to have it happen this early! My return on 2/3 hasn't cleared yet.

CocoPops

I'm a BA Silver (1W Sapphire I guess?) travelling AA Business on Saturday

What are the chances of upgrade to First as a BA Silver?
16th Jan
AA57 & AA929
As I understand it, only AA929 has First Cabin.
22nd Jan
AA234 & AA38
As I understand it, only AA234 has First Cabin.

So, chances of upgrade from Business to First on the applicable flights? Slim? Possible? Not a hope in hell? Should I ask at check-in?

Thanks,
Lee.

jfinsocal

Compared to prior years, I'm seeing more upgrade availability on LUS routes such as SAN-CLT or even PHX-CLT which used to be tough even for Chairman. My theory is that US had instant upgrades on Y/B fares - many of which were not full fare Y but government or prior sector employees flying on Y contracts. I could be wrong but I don't think that AA does instant upgrades, thus fewer seats taken in F weeks out. A positive benefit to the merger, not so easy on LAA flights although out of SAN it's not too difficult to connect in PHX, CLT, PHL.

metallo

Interesting... I've found several LUS routes to be more difficult to clear since the merger. Actually, they generally do still clear, but often not until day of departure or even at the gate. STL-PHX comes to mind -- that was an extremely easy upgrade during the merger transition period but now seems to be less of a guarantee. CLT-SAN likely wouldn't have cleared for me last month without miles/copay. PHX-SEA and LAS-PHX were close calls also.

discoverCSG

When I did my Trial CP runs a year ago, I got upgraded (among other routes) SEA-CLT, SJU-CLT, and CLT-LAX as a SILVER, amond some shorter ones.

On Veterans' Day, I missed CLT-SAN as an EXP.

So it's a mixed bag, for sure.