olouie

Even AA elites have to use an instrument to upgrade - SWU or Cash and miles. There are no complementary upgrades to F on the transcon routes with both J and F.

chrisl137

I think I misunderstood the first reply.

Yes, AS elites can’t get upgraded to F on a three class AA plane, but there were 4 empty F seats and 10 people on standby for a full plane. F went out full. If they filled it from J it would clear J seats that AS elites (me in this case) could upgrade into.

Flying for Fun

Unless an op-up, they wouldn't fill F from J. If there were non-revs on the standby, they would be seated in F, otherwise, the F seats go out empty. For a move from J to F, AA Elites need to use a SWU or use miles + co-pay as there are no complimentary upgrades from J to F on 3 or 4 cabin aircraft. Only if instruments were used would a J seat be freed up. That doesn't necessarily mean that the seat would go to the first pax on the waitlist. It could go to a revenue J pax on the standby list who has requested a SDC.

James

chrisl137

yes- I was hoping for op ups to clear the standbys, and then clear a J seat, but no luck for me today.

A slightly odd thing about the flights today is that all the AA flights appear to be selling out Y, but there were plenty of seats on every other airline this morning. And it was just AA metal - there were seats on B6 codeshares.

olouie

UA is flying larger planes on some routes. They fly widebodies on the LAX/SFO-NYC routes vs AA just doing the A321T. So there is lot more capacity. AA's A321T dont have a large Y cabin either so its really easy for it to fill up now. I've seen Y go out full many times while J and F are maybe half full. Its also a favourite route for AA employees since F is not booked that much so they are usually guaranteed a spot in F on a midweek flight.

985X

Feb 27th, 2022 (Sunday)
AA1379 BOS-LAX A321T Upgraded at T-28
TIcker price $124, used travel certificate to bring down taxes, actual total price $105, minus $75 travel certificate, so only paid $30 out of pocket. Earns 2600*0.5*2.5=3250 miles, so basically flying for free

lonelygod

Fairly new to this upgrade game… for the 72-hour upgrade window, does this upgrade = upgrade C availability on expert flyer?

VegasGambler

No. C is for instrument or miles + copay upgrades. Sticker / comp upgrades come out of a different bucket that you can't see anywhere (I asked basically the same question on the AA forum last week)

lonelygod

thanks!!

UtilityGuy

Date: March 19, 2022
Route: JFK-MIA
Fare class: L
Flight number: 1032
Aircraft: 777-300
Status: 100K
Upgraded at gate to 3A

Date: March 19, 2022
Route: MIA-LAX
Fare class: Q
Flight number: 1536
Aircraft: 777-300
Status: 100K
Stranded at #5 on the list.



3A in Flagship Business

Main Cabin Extra. Row 17

This was my first time on AA’s 777-300. I was pretty excited to actually be upgraded on one of my legs and experience business. I gotta say I was pretty happy with my MCE experience as well… very comfortable seats with plenty of legroom. And a lav I could actually stand up fully in!

atcanobbio

Date: March 27, 2022
Route: SEA-DFW
Fare class: V
Flight number: 2748
Aircraft: A321
Status: 100K
Upgraded at T-67-ish (me + companion)

on my way to MEX, DFW-MEX was sold out in F as of this last sunday, so not expecting an upgrade.. will update if a miracle happens

SeaLuggageLover

Date 3/22/2022
Route SEA-DFW
Fare Class Q
Flight Number 2748
Status 75k
Number 7 on the waiting list at the time of take-off

Date 3/22/2022
Route DFW-LIT
Fare Class Q
Flight Number 4242
Status 75K
Upgraded to F at the gate

3/25/2022
Route Lit-DFW
Fare Class V
Flight Number 4242
Status 75K
Upgraded to F at the gate

3/25/2022
Route DFW-SEA
Fare Class V
Flight Number 2009
Status 75K
Number 6 on the waiting list at the time of take-off

I was pleasantly surprised with my upgrade experience. The flight in between DFW and LIT is barely over an hour so I wasn't expecting much from the upgrade other than a more comfortable seat but I was offered a PDB both directions as well as the chance to order more drinks and a snack basket in the air.

lattegirl13

3/26
PHX-SEA
2781
upgraded to F 72 hrs
100K
I was upgraded but SDC and was happy to give up DC to get home earlier. AA honored upgrade and gave me FC for new flight.

simonsuo

3/25 LAX-DFW 6/23, only no.1 got upgraded. Volunteer list available during check-in.
3/26 DFW-ORD T-72
3/28 ORD-LAX, I canceled, but no one on the upgrade list got upgraded. Volunteer list available during check-in.

chrisl137

I have a trip on AA that just got booked through my travel office at work and the app let me put in my AS number, both the App and the website want to charge me for MCE seats. In the past it's recognized my AS status (75K) immediately and let me pick MCE, but no luck today. Has anybody else had issues with a delay between when they put in their AS number and when the status gets recognized?

(eta: possible factor in the IT being weird - the outbound flight is on an AA flight number but B6 metal so I'm wondering if there's a flag set that makes the return, which is AA/AA, not have MCE selectable)

(edit again: I think I found the problem. Somewhere in the process my middle initial got added to the firstname field so it's in as firstname="chrisl137 M" middle="M" last= "lastname", where "M" is my middle initial. Our afterhours travel person thinks it's right in their system, so it could turn out to be a pain to get right and get onto the upgrade list).

And one final edit: I finally got the callback from AA and it does indeed seem to have been because the outbound was on B6 metal. The agent fixed the record and now it does seem to properly recognize my AS status and not want to charge me for an MCE seat (and presumably will put me on the upgrade list, too)

And a follow up, since I'm still the last post:
Upgraded at exactly T-72, BOS-LAX. Flying with a colleague who is PlatPro and we were upgraded at the same time (and probably now knows my FT handle).