2017 and the Devaluation of SWU (nee eVIP, VIPOW) Upgrades
As a longtime EXP I have been able to use my EVIP upgrades quite well. In 2016, as C inventory is basically never available, I really struggled and all I tried to use them for was Biz to First on flights to and from LHR mostly. AA summarily blocks A inventory which is awful for both EVIPs and round the world first tickets.
As I started looking for tickets in 2017 I do not even see systemwide upgrade availability on banal domestic flights at many differing times of year.
Routes I checked.
PBI-SMF
SMF-FLL
SMF-PBI
PBI-SFO
SFO-MIA
SFO-FLL
MIA-SFO
PBI-LAS
LAS-FLL
Is this final straw in AA basically making the utility of EVIPs a thing of the past. Since AA started coding domestic First as Biz this is a chronic problem. What have others experienced?