Not sure if there are any MP Elites out there who have some experience traveling on government fares on AS flights. If so, perhaps you could shed some light on AS’s handling of these fares with regard to elite benefits.

My wife and I will likely be flying SEA-DCA on 20-FEB on the government unrestricted YCA fare. The fare is $239 OW, so $360 less than the full flex fare and it's even cheaper than the lowest available published fare. The full flex fare is showing an upgrade at the time of booking for MVP and MVPG. I am a platinum on Delta and my wife is a gold. I’m just curious whether MVP elites on government Y fares are able to upgrade at the time of booking when an immediate upgrade is available like this. I’m not 100% sure DL elites can upgrade at ticketing on full flex fares, so I might be out of luck. I had an exchange with an AS res agent recently because my wife’s gold status isn’t reflecting in a few reservations, while mine is. She mentioned that we could show her card at check-in, saying that it would only be an issue if an advance upgrade were available on a fare at the time of ticketing, so that leads me to believe that there is hope. It might mean a trip to the airport to show the card though.

From my experience, airlines treat their unrestricted government fares differently with regard to elite benefits and upgrading. On the negative end of the spectrum, I’ve known United elites who have tried to upgrade on international flights booked on a ‘Y’ government fare who were treated like they were on a restricted fare with regard to copays and mileage. On the positive end, I I’ve flown on government Y fares on DL a couple times and I’ve gotten my upgrades at the time of booking plus all of the bonus miles one would normally get when flying on a full ‘Y’ fare.