Originally Posted by saimike
venk, just playing devil's advocate here ... it did say NOT VALID WITH ANY
MARKETING PROGRAMS/CERTIFICATES COUPONS ... is the vip officially known as any of these?
Yes, this is the exact phrase I was referring to as being AA's basis for maintaining the fare is ineligible for upgrade. Technically, a VIP upgrade is a marketing coupon. However, I don't think this is the intent of that phrase to include VIP upgrades in the restriction, but rather possibly other marketing upgrade certificates or discounts (e.g. incentive space available upgrade certs, or other similar coupons).
The discounts fare rule category is not just used for $ off or % discount coupons, but also for other marketing offers. It's just called discounts because that's what they decide to name the category. There is no fare rule category that deals specifically with upgrades.