FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - ARCHIVE: Chances of Upgrade Clearing and Availability (2019 master thread)
Old Jul 22, 2019, 5:13 am
  #731  
JJeffrey
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Originally Posted by Mikkey12601
Need some help as I have never flown AA. Going to BCN, and I was going to use miles/points on United/Lufthansa. But colleague has offered me a SWU to fly American. I looked on Expert flyer non of the routes have a C upgrade currently. He is Concierge Key flies 1 million + miles a year. My question is if there is no SWU available now, does the priority list (CK, exec platinum, etc, etc) apply to him (the one giving the SWU) or me the one flying (with no status). I am fairly flexible on where to fly out of, I was thinking about ORD or Charlotte, any idea how often these clear for a Monday to Friday Flight in Sept? Thanks in advance for any advice.
You will be waitlisted according to your status, not the status of the person giving you the SWU.

The good news is that Europe traffic as a whole really tanks in September, so without knowing more I'd say your chances are decent. Generally speaking going over on a Monday should be ok odds, while flying back on a Friday will be a bit tougher.

And these upgrades clear all the time, however AA typically doesn't release space until 24-48 hrs before the flight. Connecting via CLT or ORD will likely not matter, I would just look at ExpertFlyer and pick the routing that's most open in business class.
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