Yes, it was. I was surprised by her frankness and thanked her for her honesty.
I am actually surprised that posters on this thread seem to disagree with her advice. What she said was pretty consistent with the general gutting of benefits at AA. It just seemed weird having an AA employee saying it.
I used to be able to use these upgrade instruments quite easily.
Now I am thinking I should call back tomorrow and wait list my certificates. Better than having them expire worthless (which they probably will anyhow).