Thank you for your reply. As a non-status AA member I didn't have much history with using miles/co pay for upgrades. I have flown several business/first international trips using my own miles to book awards on partners over the years, but this was new to me trying to upgrade a domestic AA flight. I was able to get a free 5 day expert flyer trial and was able to look over all the options for C availability. After several days I finally found a confirmable route from ALB-ORD-LAX that worked for me (I now realize how tough confirmable space is to find from CLT/DFW/ORD direct to places like LAX). I booked the economy ticket with my corporate card and then called AA to confirm the upgrade for 15,000 miles + $75 on my personal card. I opted for the call back since it was a 1h48m estimated hold time haha. Customer Service was top quality, although I did have to wait almost 20 minutes for them to actually confirm everything and for me to be able to see it on my screen, after payment went through. I wasn't hanging up until I had email confirmation. Anyway, all is confirmed and seats are selected, and for that price to fly almost 8 hours I'll take it any day.

This was booked and upgrade confirmed for a flight that is 9 days out, fyi.