Originally Posted by
flyingeph12
2. Personally, I think it's debatable that it should be a simple process, especially when you combine the fact of separate PNRs with the fact that the sponsoring account did not have the requisite number of stickers at the time of the upgrade. To me, the latter fact is relevant in determining fault; others can disagree.
Yes, they will disagree. It has NEVER been a pre-requisite to have stickers in the account when the upgrade clears in advance. As others have mentioned, the stickers are only deducted at check-in, and that’s when they need to be in the account. Now certain purchase methods require advance timing before the stickers show in the account (IIRC it’s just online purchases and it takes 2 hours), but I don’t think that was the issue here.
You *do* have to have stickers to get on the airport
standby upgrade list, because those clear between T-30 and T-10m and the GA is not going to process sticker purchases at that point.
Now, is there some type of BUG in AA’s system that screws the process up under the conditions here? Maybe. But I doubt it and there’s no evidence.