Originally Posted by
Jonesdds
What European destinations would give me the best chance? Or what about Asia? We will probably go in Oct, maybe Nov, assume the latter gives us a better chance. I'd love to pick a destination that gives us the best chance for success.
My home airport is SBA(Santa Barbara, CA) I see seasonal flights are planned on AA metal PHX to LHR in addition to the BA flight. Real easy for me to go SBA to PHX so and SBA-PHX-LHR is a good route for me. But, being London, very popular I'd assume. And, they probably has more saver availability on BA than their own flights I'd bet. If I did focus on this what's a good strategy like month and day to leave?
It's less about the destination and more about the season/month and day of week you can travel. If you can travel midweek (especially Tues and Wed) then your chances increase greatly for both Europe and Asia flights. LHR isn't any more difficult to clear than other European destinations.
If you want to go to London, you shouldn't have any trouble clearing the upgrade if you can fly on a Tues or Wed in Oct or Nov.
Just keep in mind that AA releases very little upgrade space in advance. Most of the time they don't clear upgrades off the waitlist until about a week before the flight, many times not till 24 hrs or so before.