You missed the sarcasm in my post. One should not have to try every departure city on the west coast and check four different cities in Europe and two in South America over a four month period, only to call AA and get an agent who barely understands the process and tells you that there is no confirmed upgrade even though EF shows C fares available or that there is space available and charges your card only to come back after they try to process the upgrade to tell you that she was wrong and there is no confirmed upgrade. It is an antiquated system that makes you complete an actual reservation before you know if there is confirmed space available. Glad you were able to use your certificate. I basically think they are useless.