In my recent searches for award and upgrade space, I've been noticing several international routes where advance (>1 week out) U availability is greater than C availability (in most cases U1 C0 or U2 C1, but up to U7 C4 in some instances), instead of the usual behavior where U and C are equal or there's more C than U.

I'd not thought too much about it until I fell victim to this seemingly new RM practice today--I bought an AA Vacations ticket and then called to apply SWUs for a route that was showing U2 C1 at the time of purchase, but alas, by the time I called, it was down to U1 C0. I chose this flight with the confirmable C in mind, and even though I have 24 hours to cancel and refund the flight, I'm still out the cost of the hotel, per the AA Vacations terms. Unfortunately, with AA Vacations you cannot hold the Y booking then call to upgrade and ticket at once, as I normally do with instrument upgrades, which would have avoided this issue altogether.

Am I the only one noticing this new trend? I must say, I'm more than a little miffed that AA has effectively started to prioritize anyone and everyone who can sign up for an AA credit card with its 50k bonus, over their elites who are buying revenue Y tickets and trying to use our hard-earned instruments. Not a good trend.