LetsGoToo

I've had a recent frustrating experience in trying to use a SWU on a non-elite companion.

I made two calls to the Executive Platinum line and was told that since we weren't in the same record locator, that I'm not able to use a SWU on a companion.

It was third third call before someone would process the SWU. However, one of the segments no-longer had SWU availablity.

I was told that my companion was put on SWU waitlist for the itinerary. I know of no way to verify this, but I assume it occurred.

Within 24 hours of the trip, I call the Executive Platinum line again to verify the SWU standby. I'm told it is good. However, once my companion checked in, it didn't show an upgrade request. So, I called back and was told that this could only be done at the airport.

At the airport ticket counter, the agent refused to do anything since my companion didn't have any upgrades in HIS account.

I go to the Admirals Club and, while very nice, the agent there tells me that there is no availablity in first, so she can't waitlist the SWU. She also tells me that a SWU doesn't apply to the entire itinerary (this one had two segments).

She also says that SWUs can only be done over the phone.

She finally attempts to waitlist the SWU on the one segment. Once she is done, my companion is dead last (33) on the upgrade list, even though SWU is supposed to be priority.

I posted this to vent some frustration but to point out the absolute ineptness of the new AA. These folks generally haven't been trained well and, unfortunately, this isn't the first time things that used to be handled quickly and easily by AA have become an ordeal with a generally unfavorable result.

Any suggestions on what else I could've done?