I used Yapta to alert me when my booked ticket dropped, so I went on the AS website to claim the difference. The following warning startled me a bit:
"I acknowledge that my requested or confirmed First Class upgrade will be lost due to changing to a lower fare. (If you are waitlisted for an upgrade, your current place in the waitlist will be lost.)"
Are they referring to the fare class or just the cost of the fare? The ticket is an "R" fare and I'm on the upgrade list, so it's not like they are going to drop me into a lower fare bucket that is not upgradable, right? As far as losing my place in the waitlist, the flight is several months out, so I don't consider that to be a big deal.
Beyond the above, is there any other downside? Will AS get mad if you "abuse" this feature?