I was AA Executive Platinum for about 9 years (and on the cusp of Concierge Key several of those years) when I lived in AA territory. I would fly to Europe, South America, Australia and Asia about every 6 weeks (always on American to Europe and South America, usually on QANTAS or Cathay going east), and my company didn't allow business class. Even though the tickets were often non-discounted economy, the only times I was ever upgraded on AA was when I happened to have a system-wide upgrade. I did get upgraded on QANTAS a few times.

Sorry -- I have no doubt you'll be in coach.