OP, this is how AA works, and has before Duggie came in to wreck it even. Should coach have have been oversold you may have gotten an upgrade for free, depending on how many other Golds and Platinum's on the flight with higher priority . But since it wasn't they do not do that for Gold or Platinum's. As others have posted, it is next to impossible on long flights to get upgraded as a Gold using your upgrades. You should of used them if you had them.