MARINFLL

I've read through all the forums and have seen many comments about the use of expiring SWUs for travel after February. Many report that AA agents are being more vocal about the prior year ones not being applied to post-February 2013 travel.

Like many others, I've always strategically booked flights in the past years after February but made sure there was inventory for the SWU to clear at the time of booking, so it came from the old SWU allotment.

Yesterday I booked a round trip flight MIA-MAD-MIA in March and there was availability for all segments so I asked to apply SWUs. Today I see my reservation, and my seats are booked in Business, but my account has no SWUs deducted (from 2012 balances or the new 2013 ones). This makes me a bit nervous about having 2 old SWUs go to waste if they don't come from the old year. AA's policy clearly states that SWUs will be deducted once the seats are booked/confirmed, but the computer does not seem to be doing it (it has been about 19 hours since I booked the flights). Here is the wording from the AA website:

Q: Why does my Systemwide Upgrade Summary show upgrades under the "Used" column even though my trip is for a future date?
A: Systemwide upgrades are deducted from your account at the time your upgrade is confirmed and are, at that time, considered as "used".

I am thinking that maybe it takes their computer a day or two to deduct the SWUs after upgrades have cleared for future travel?

Here is the central question that will tell me how to proceed....

Has anyone had SWUs deducted from their 2012 SWU balances for travel AFTER Feb 28, 2013?

If so, I am ok as these will clear once the computer processes them. If not, I may have a couple of 2012 SWUs to give away to friends.

Marc