My flight tomorrow still has 6 seats open in First (ERJ 175) and Sabre shows all RBD's open. My AA app still says "Upgrade requested" - so apparently the 72 hour clearance is NOT working yet.
From Sabre: C5 J6 R6 D6 I6 Y5
Check-in begins in about 15 minutes, and if I'm not cleared into First Class, then we know that we are definitely not being treated on polarity with ANY AA status, and that would explain why almost everyone is clearing at the airport right at boarding.