Originally Posted by
snackyx
I'm new to this topic, so bear with me:
I'm currently AA Platinum, will be Platinum Pro in November. I'm looking to purchase an economy (not basic economy) ticket from GRR-EZE and would like to upgrade to Business using cash+miles. How far out can this request be made? I won't be making this trip until November--should I hold off to buy the economy ticket and watch the Business class availability? Am I correct that this can only be booked by speaking with an AA agent on the phone?
Any advice from the pros on the best strategy to accomplish this much appreciated.
You can request the upgrade as soon as you book the ticket. If there's no availability (likely) then you'll just be put on the waitlist. Yes you have to call AA to do this.
While sometimes it can happen sooner, AA typically doesn't open up much upgrade space until a few days before the flight.
The benefit to booking the ticket now is that if AA happened to release upgrade space in advance you would grab it. Does happen from time to time.
The benefit to waiting to book is that if you're deciding between several flight options, like connecting in DFW vs. MIA, you can wait to see what flight looks more empty in business (and thus have higher upgrade chances). This would really only apply if you could wait to book it until 2-4 weeks before or so.