It is my understanding that, depending on the pilots' union contract, they may be entitled or required to fly in F under some circumstances. For a completely fabricated example: if they are being shuttled on a long flight to replace a pilot who called in sick or a a crew that timed out, and then are expected to turn around immediately and pilot a flight to Asia, there may be comfort/safety reasons why they are not forced to sit in coach for several hours immediately before they are expected to pilot a TPAC flight.
Originally Posted by
Time traveller
Since OP is relatively new to AA (by status match), this may sound like simple question, but did you request an upgrade?
Excellent point - the systems are very different and people have been confused about this before.