Interest.....

1. Kiosk and on-line are NOT valid for International checkin .. it MUST be a ticket counter. So that is put to rest.

2. I wonder what American would think about checking your luggage ALL THE WAY THRU .. and THAT by itself would give you a check-in position (I think). I know I did ORD-SFO (overnight) - HKG (overnight) - BKK (yea final) .. and I checked my luggage ALL THE WAY thru (with premium tags and yes it arrived with my flight). They also issued boarding passes. That said .. with your upgrade request ... boarding passes may be in economy but .. again .. .. but the thru luggage 'trick' might help.

Any other FT'ers tried this??? Does it work/help?

3. Since you did not provide your travel date in checking ExpertFlyer for seats (a little more accurate than AA.com in some opinions) .. I noted Flight 146 on the following days has the following open business seats:

5/10 12
5/11 5
5/12 5
5/13 5
5/14 7
5/15 6

SOOO I guess we can say that FIVE is the magic number that are always kept until day of flight. On three days, they may release a couple of seats early .. then leave 5 for gate control.

That help??

4. Also, you mention non-status pax (how many pax)? And are you willing to upgrade 1 or 2 and not all 3 or 4?? That will also impact your position on the list. If you have 3 pax (you and 2 more) trying to upgrade and there are only two seats open (and you say all or none) .. it will be none! That is part of the 'issue' with upgrades .. you need to be aware and consider this all/none rule!

Good luck!