I tried to read all the old upgrade posts but I couldn't find the answer. I'm using my earned e-upgrades for the first time for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip MLI-ORD-SJC, the ORD/SJC segments. I purchased the tickets online back in September and placed the upgrade request for me (Platinum) and spouse (non-elite) at the time of booking. Since a bit before 2pm today (the 72 hours mark started a bit after 2:10 pm) I started monitoring (1) my online confirmation page to check whether my seats have changed and (2) the "check available seats" page to see if the 7 previously available (as late as this morning) first class seats on the outbound (flight 1383 on 11/26) or the 14 available seats on the return (flight 182 on 11/29) have been taken. I figured if I see any seat available changes on the "check available seats" maps for my flights then that means someone ahead of me in line or status have cleared their upgrades. But up to this time nothing has changed. I thought for certain someone would have obtained an upgrade by now if our requests are not clearing.

I called AA and talked to an agent and she said that probably means the seats are being held for sale still and won't be released until 4 hours before flight time. Is this normal? I assume not since many folks here have reported clearing upgrade requests at the earliest available time mark or at least some time more than 4 hours in advance of the flight. Is this because of the Thanksgiving holidays?

[This message has been edited by Scotch (edited Nov 23, 2003).]