Originally Posted by rikramer

I was sitting in my LGA-ORD X seat the other day and the man beside me told me how he got to sit in first. He told me that he doesn't have status, he purchased a cheap (~$200) fare in economy, and then when he went to check in online he was offered the ability to move into first for only $90. Can someone please explain to me how this works? The upgrade list was over 20 people long for this flight. How exactly does AA determine how many of X inventory to sell as upgrades vs. providing for "free" to those with status?

Thanks.