Originally Posted by
jbcarioca
GregL has experience much like mine. I have never used domestic US stickers so I don't know about them. The eVIP's used to clear typically at booking (2-3 weeks in advance for me). Now they're clearing 2-3 days out, or as in yesterday, about eight hours before flight time. The seat availability has not been too different, in the case today there were 5 open seats in various fare classes just before mine cleared, but they'd waited until the last minute. Even so, mine have cleared 100%.
I'm experiencing this as well.
I'm Gold and a good friend who's EXP is giving me 2 system wide upgrades that he won't be able to use before end of Feb. So I decided that a trip to Paris in Biz Class would be a perfect way to treat myself to some miles. I've done this the past two February's, and never had a problem getting a seat at time of booking. I'm now having a problem getting a confirmed Biz Class seat, even though the dates I'm looking at all show 10+ empty seats in Business cabin. It's frustrating because the upgrade is the reason for this little mileage run I'm doing. It's not like I need to be in Paris on any particular date. The work I'll do there can be done at any time.