jeelele

Me, my wife and our 1-Yr old were recently returning from our FL vacation back to ORD. Both me and my wife are PLTs but did not have any stickers remaining in our AAdvantage account. While making the reservation, we didn't realize this and had opted to upgrade. While away in FL, we could not check the status of our upgrade and found that our upgrade was confirmed while checking in at the airport for our return flight.

As it turns out, our upgrades were confirmed but we could not check-in as the stickers were unavailable. We decided not to purchase the stickers and just downgrade back to coach but the TA at the counter could no longer do that as the coach cabin was full and all the seats were taken.

After checking with the supervisor as well as making a phone call, the TA told us that we have to either purchase the stickers or just not travel and forfeit the tickets. We were left with no other choice but to purchase the stickers (I wanted to do that anyways but my wife insisted not to, after the significant cost already incurred for the vacation).

Has anybody else been in a similar situation before? I am wondering if I really had no other choice other than the two listed above.

elitetraveler

I would have asked if there were other folks on the waitlist for upgrades. On a fully booked flight usually there would be. The logical thing would have been to upgrade the next two people and let you and your wife downgrade into their seats (possibly not together). I have seen situations where people downgraded at the gate because their companion didn't get an upgrade. The upgrade went to the next person on the list.

sellouts

This is what I did when I was a similar situation. They cleared my upgrade and then cancelled a flight and put a lot of those pax on my flight. I wanted my coach seat back but they wanted to charge me a change fee + sticking me in a middle seat in the back of the plane -- needless to say I just purchased the stickers.

Dave Noble

What happened seems quite correct to me; in order to downgrade there must be availability to do so ( same as for upgrading ); by choosing to request the upgrade you took the risk of the upgrade clearing and having to use upgrade credits to pay for it

Dave

jeelele

I actually suggested that but was told that there is nobody on the upgrade waitlist. It turned to be true as the F cabin had 7 empty seat which was rather strange. They had an overbooked Y cabin but relatively empty F cabin.

jeelele

Thanks for pointing this. I would agree with you on this point.

mvoight

When you request the upgrade, you are giving up your seating in economy, in exchange for agreeing to pay (with stickers) for the upgrade when/if granted.
Since you agreed to give up the seats, then AA is right in reselling them.
If this eliminates your ability to get them back, that isn't really AA's fault.
Since the seats are no longer yours, then AA has a right to force you to pay for the upgrade you or to not fly you.
I agree with AA's position on this.
I don't understand why you were unable to check how many stickers you had or upgrade status. You can do this with a phone call.
One thing to do when making a reseration at aa.com is to go to the account section and check the number of stickers remaining.
This is a good thing to do to avoid the issue you faced, plus it is cheaper to buy them in advance
I guess most of us on FT track our upgrades more closely..which is even better since AA has put the SWU balances online.

jeelele

Honestly, no complains here. I think in the end, it worked out for better as all of us were seated together in rather comfortable F seats as compared to be stuck on seperate seats, perhaps in the middle at the back on Mad-Dogs. My wife agreed that in retrospect, it was worth it to take the upgrade for the cost of the 3 x 2 upgrade stickers.

My son was developing a fever while in air which was way easier to manage in the spacious F seats than it would have been in Y.

Just curious about the options available in this situation.

jeelele

I agree with you 100%. I am not complaining at all. Just trying to understand the process.

JDiver

A lot of coach / lower priced cruise passengers returning home?

AA was merely honoring your upgrade request - sounds a lot like buyer's remorse. I suspect you might have brokered a deal - wait for the next two available coach seats in the same fare class, which might have required an overnight or two; maybe not such a great deal.

metzby

I understand AA sees it that way. But aren't contracts between airlines and passengers pretty regulated? To the point that they have obligations to get you somewhere, once you have the ticket? In which fine print does it say you give up your seat in economy, and where is this fine print allowed?

I wouldn't be surprised if, legally, you still had your economy seat, and if you didn't want to spend the stickers, they were required to get you there, either by asking for volunteers to take the later flight, or OP-UPing you.

JDiver

No, they are not, IMO, pretty well regulated - certainly not in the US, compared to, say, the EU.

The "contract" is as solid as a melting Swiss cheese, and includes the detailed fare rules for the specific fare (e.g. are changes allowed, and are they allowing a change free of charge for those requesting upgrades?) as well as the Conditions of Carriage (in which they have gobs of gobbledygook stating why they actually don't have much responsibility for much of anything) and the various AAdvantage and upgrade use Terms and Conditions.

My view (I could always be wrong): The OP requested upgraded seats after purchasing the ticket; the OP got those seats, with no change fees, in return for proffering the needed upgrade instruments. The OP did not have the instruments, and should not have requested the upgrades if there was no intent to acquire them. The pax showed up and asked to be accommodated contrary to their request, the airline did not have seats to do so. Options: wait for seats to become available, cancel the flights or hew to their agreement, as requested with positive actions taken to request upgrades.

I am empathetic to the OP's dilemma, but not very sympathetic - as I see it, it was entirely of his own making.

farrish11

Not sure if you have a smartphone, but if so, the AA.com mobile site is pretty fantastic - you can check your seats (to see if they've moved up to first) and also buy 500-mile upgrades as well.

jeelele

I didn't mean to invite any criticism as never complaint about the inability to downgrade. All that I wanted to do is understand the system. Didn't mean to have any finger pointing.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this discussion. I now understand things better. Unfortunately, my circumstances this year that resulted in the professional travel being almost nil this year. Hope this new year proves better for everybody, travel industry and fellow FTers.

mvoight

Huh?? Why would they be obligated to give you back a seat in Y, by asking for volunteers or Op_Uping? By requesting the upgrade, he voluntarily gave up his Y seat. It sounds like you are suggesting that AA undersell economy, or compensate someone, to handle upgraders who change their minds. The problem should belong to the person who requested the upgrade, not to AA.