Originally Posted by Jeffw5555

I am a long-time UA flyer, mostly domestic short hops, occasional trans cons, once or twice a year to Europe. I have been hitting about 80K per year the last couple years. I've been a million miler on UA for several years so I have lifetime gold for the wife and me. Last year I flew more on AA to try it out, and decided to go for platinum in order to make a good comparison between the two carriers to compare aspects. I made Platinum in September, so now I am making my comparison. In general, I am not liking AA over UA, only see one advantage with AA so far, a minor one at that.

But I am just looking for advice as I am a bit confused with AA's upgrades. I am used to UA, where I automatically get put on the complimentary list on every flight, their communication is top notch so I know where I stand at all times. If I get upgraded, it is a pleasant surprise, I don't have to do anything. I have been on a few AA flights recently where first is basically empty, mainly on non-major hub routes. Why not gives these empty seats to elites? Some (mostly regional) flights have been complimentary upgrades. How do they determine what flights use the 500 mile upgrades versus complimentary?

So what strategy should I use for my pool of 500 mile upgrades? Is there any advantage to this system over UA's method? They are basically useless for Platinum flyers in and out of DFW. What do you guys do?