hey y'all!
I feel like I often start with this preface: after years of being a good FTer, I've kinda checked out on following all of AA's regs and rules. So I apologize as I suspect (although I searched and didn't see much) if this has been asked 100 times.
I'm headed to CDG on a whim for a long weekend (I know, right?) in a few weeks. My routing is SFO-CLT-CDG on AA786. It looks like I'm in a Q fare (not quite sure what that means?). I booked about 5 weeks ago which makes the booking about 7 weeks out from the trip.
I called AA EP today and they said there wasn't any inventory at all. It was unclear if that meant biz is full, or just unopened for upgrades - regardless, she didn't think my prospects were good.
My questions are:
1. are there any good tips/methods for increasing one's odds for a SWU? (at least at this stage, post-booking). I know sometimes a flight schedule change can allow us to find another routing, but that's not the case for me on this trip.
2. I understand a lot of people use Expert Flyer to some advantage - what's the trick there? Is that all about booking the right flight in the first place? Or does EF provide some added benefit with SWUs post-booking?
Thanks for the patience - I know its kind of a noobie question for a multi-year EP.
