Originally Posted by mwhitted
"Oh, this exact thing happens ALL THE TIME!". Granted, it's not like every 3rd or 4th customer an agent sees has this situation, but it's also not always a "messup". AA has two different computer systems evolved in a transaction like this and they don't talk to each other. And not only do they not talk to each other, the ticket agents, reservations, and gate agents don't even have ACCESS to the AAdvantage system that tracks mileage and awards.
Speaking from some experience with this subject, it really does happen a lot. And mwhitted is right on with what it's gonna take to fix it.
I once got yelled at by a Customer whom absolutely refused to believe that I could not tell her if her last flight had posted to her AAdvantage account. All an airport person can see is an AAdvantage number, your address and your total miles. They have to look in another place to see if you have any electronic upgrades. And still another to see your reservation. And on and on. It would be a vast improvement for the Customer (and for AA) if an airport agent could access your AAdvantage account, deduct the miles for you and then process the upgrade. Saves phone calls, headcount and aggravation.
As it stands now, while mileage based upgrades are reported to be electronic, they really aren't. The same paper "process" is still there. You request the upgrade, AAdvantage has to pull the miles from your account and place a certificate number in your reservation, and then somebody has to process the upgrade based on that certificate number. The transaction hasn't changed at all other than the Customer not having a piece of paper in hand.