Originally Posted by
Tintin
When I was added in the SWU waitlist, the EXP agent told me (assuming I understood her correctly) that there is no need to call when the waitlist clears. My credit card will be charged automatically for the Luxury tax and the upgrade will work similarly like the domestic EXP automatic upgrades. Clearly, it was a misinformation.
Well, I suppose what the agent said was technically correct but not helpful. You don't
need to call after your upgrade clears, but as I explained it is to your benefit to do so. If you don't call, then it is similar to a segment upgrade, since those do not cause a ticket reissue. With a segment upgrade, you remain ticketed in coach and hence usually can't be protected in first when there's a cancellation, delay, or schedule change.
Originally Posted by
Tintin
Anyway, here is my strange experience today: I have another trip JFK-CDG-JFK coming-up in August. SWU waitlist cleared for this trip (both legs) as well. So I called the EXP desk to reissue the tickets for both (1) next week's LHR-JFK leg (use 1 SWU), and (2) August's JFK-CDG-JFK trip (use 2 SWU). I felt the EXP agent wasn't well-experienced on the SWU upgrade process (!!!). She put me on hold for about 50+ minutes before charging me $119.20 as the Luxury tax for LHR-JFK leg and $45.40 for the CDG-JFK. She told me that the ticketing department insisted her to charge $119.20 for the CDG-JFK leg as well, but she remembered that Luxury tax of France is much less than UK, and it took about 50 minutes for them to figure out the correct amount, that is, $45.40. I was speechless! I am not sure if either of these amounts are correct.
It is normal for the EXP agent to put the caller on hold when processing an SWU upgrade, as the agent needs to call the tariff department to have them update the fare quote so ticketing can proceed. It's a very manual process that can take a long time. However, it sounds like your agent reached some inexperienced tariff agents. I haven't flown out of CDG in decades, but my understanding is that there is a luxury tax of about $45 that would apply. A far cry from the UK one (which is based on the distance from London to the capital of the country of destination or stop-off).
Originally Posted by
Tintin
Anyway, here is the next strange part. My reservations (both) went to the "Ticket Pending" cycle. After a while the tickets were issued. But I have not received the e-ticket e-mail. I see in aa.com (and in AA app) that the upgrades are confirmed, and the trips are ticketed. But, since I haven't received the e-ticket e-mail, I don't have the ticket numbers. I cannot download the receipt with ticket number from the aa.com. That link always disappear from the reservation webpage whenever a SWU is used to re-ticket an upgrade. In fact, that link is replaced by another link which just prints the reservation webpage without the ticket number. I am not sure why I haven't received the e-tickets via e-mail (never happened before). Now I am wondering if the agent made any mistake in upgrade process. Is there a place to find the ticket number in aa.com or in the AA app? Any other feedback on this?
I would call in and verify that the tickets have been issued, and have the agent read you the ticket numbers. Unfortunately, AA has removed TripCase access, which used to provide visibility to the underlying PNR and the e-tickets themselves. You can still access TripCase for itineraries created by an agency, even if AA takes them over and reissues the ticket. But you can't for itineraries created by AA.
Originally Posted by
bl393
Always been curious. Do SWUs automatically clear if you're already waitlisted (by status/EQDs pecking order) or is possible for someone to grab it once AA releases award inventory for upgrade?
It depends. The upgrade waitlist process is an old mechanism built long before there was any such thing as upgrades. It was designed for situations where a passenger desired a flight or cabin that was sold out. They'd be added to the waitlist, and if anyone cancelled their flight, the system would return the cancelled space to inventory and process the waitlist. For classic sold out flights, inventory becomes available when someone cancels. But with upgrades (and discount booking inventory), inventory can also become available when revenue management algorithms decide to release some. The waitlist isn't processed when space "magically" becomes available. SWU inventory (C and A) can become available when someone cancels a paid booking (e.g., in D, I, J, F, or A), and the waitlist will get automatically processed when this happens. But it can also become available based on how the flight is selling at specific points, and the waitlist will not get processed in those events. So, there are times when C (or A) space is sitting there for the taking and people are on the waitlist. I've seen instances of flights sitting with C space and seen that the waitlist wasn't processed for over 24 hours.