OP, others have pointed out the timing issue in terms of potentially getting your 2016 credits in to help get you over the threshold, but I would also suggest you consider it in the context of these credits being valid two months longer than you might have thought, so if you upgrade to a higher Flex fare (as suggested by others), you won't necessarily strand the remaining 7 credits, you may be able to use them in January/February 2016.
Agreed with the others on not paying for high Flex until you know whether the upgrade will clear though. Depending on the timing of your flight, you might still qualify for the current upgrade promo, which has doubled the upgrade window (i.e. you can upgrade earlier than usual) on the high Flex fares.
Originally Posted by
flyquiet
Those who know about booking classes would have checked the eUp requirements and if we only had 14 credits and wanted to upgrade this flight, would have booked H to start with. It is almost unfair to expect people to have the ESP to know this is something they should check. Most non FT people think Flex = Flex = Flex. When people receive their Elite kits for the first time, they really should get some briefing on this, instead of vague language that tells them they can look up upgrade credit requirements on the internet.
I sort of agree that AC doesn't go to great lengths to explain this, but it's not exactly hidden either. The eUp page clearly shows different levels for different Flex fares. I don't mind that, in this case, if one does a bit more digging, one can potentially get greater value out of the program than someone who doesn't pay attention.