Originally Posted by
JJeffrey
AA typically never releases upgrade space in advance on any of those routes you mention. France in the summer, during the Olympics, haha. Doha and Tokyo are equally as tough now regardless of timing. And Sydney at Christmas time, come on. If you want to hope to grab anything in advance you're going to have to be more flexible than just shooting for peak routes and peak peak times. AA actually has some semi-decent one-way fares to Europe at the moment, so if it were me, I would just book a one-way sometime next winter to confirm the SWU so it doesn't go to waste. Then just change your ticket at a later date once availability opens up in the later summer and fall time. For example, not sure where you're starting from, but you can book LGA-CLT-FRA for $561 in mid-January 2025, with confirmable SWU space on CLT-FRA. LGA-PHL-AMS is $460 with upgrade space open on PHL-AMS. Just park it somewhere.
Heh yea, I know, though last year I cleared to Sydney around Christmas, by Christmas I mean December 11th lol. But yea, I realize these routes aren't where it's at. Though I did manage to clear my father and his new wife in advance from ORD-PHL-DOH last week so it CAN happen, with a bit of luck.
Originally Posted by
enviroian
Agreed. Those J cabins can be 100% empty and it will be C0 cast in stone.
Your best bet is to use JFK as a launch pad to LHR as that is your best chance to get any advance C availability but you will still need to be flexible. From LHR you can use that SWU to anywhere on BA CE and the SWU will cover that leg that as long as it's available for saver award redemption.
Both of you guys mention parking it somewhere and changing later. Does that mean if I do a ticket / flight change but NOT a full fledged cancellation, I can still use it, even if after it expires? Can I even add in the 2nd or 3rd legs later on (if there are any, and likely on AA since BA doesn't clear in advance).
So JFK-LHR has good availability, PHL-AMS, and CLT-FRA? If you know of any other routes that are often open, holler
I'll look at trying one of these if I must. Frankfurt not too far from Paris...