ual744777sta

Cleared 4 days out for LAX-LHR into C.

Erasmus

As we've been over upthread, James, these are the rules for AA-issued SWUs. Why are you continuing to mislead folks on these forums regarding what they should expect? The rules for the AS certs are publish on the AS website:

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/le...es-upgrader-tc

AA has (inexplicably, IMHO) very clearly laid out special rules for these AS-issued SWUs that say they CANNOT be used on BA--that new benefit is intended only for SWUs issued to AA's own fliers. Yes, I believe you got your tickets issued (have you yet flown them?). We all know what a crap shoot agents are, and YMMV, but the rules say you cannot use these on BA. If anyone managed to do so, congrats--but know you're slipping through the cracks, not following the letter of the law.

I've tried several times to use mine for BA flights, both transatlantic and intra-Europe. Some agents seem to want to allow it, others not. I even managed to get the ticket issued once as I shared up thread, but an auditor rolled it back. I will certainly continue to try to use mine on BA segments as opportunity allows, but I don't expect to succeed--or, if I do, know that I may be booted to the back until the flight actually takes off. How likely is that to happen to others? No idea. Just be aware you're on the wrong side of policy if it comes up.

Flying for Fun

Alrighty then!

Erasmus

Now that I am comfortably ensconced in my happy place in Heathrow T3 (the CX First Lounge for those new to the Emerald options at LHR), I can declare success in using an AS VIP to upgrade a BA-operated flight, contra the rules AS publishes and AA (unevenly) enforces. FWIW I requested the upgrade ~36 hours before departure and had the ticket reissued while I was on the phone due to the impeding departure (as opposed to being queued for ticketing as is usually the case), which may have contributed to the lack of any further "auditing".

Incidentally, I also discovered that AA internally marks the fare code with /ASVIP (as opposed to /VIP for AA SWUs) when the upgraded ticket is reissued, which makes it easy for anyone looking at the record to determine whether it was a regular or Alaska-issued SWU. I remain stunned that AA went through the trouble of adding this additional IT infrastructure to support (potentially) enforcing different rules between the two instruments. We'll see what the 2023 T&Cs look like shortly, I suppose...

(As a post script, the upgraded BA flight has not yet posted to my MP account, unlike the others in the record. I suspect this is due to the fact that the flight was 1) reissued to BA prime and 2) rebooked in U class, which is also an award class on BA. Due to the differences in earnings rates between AA and BA for my originally ticketed fare class, this may end up costing me a few EQMs--so, in the end, the whole exercise is probably not worth it given that I find the exit row superior to Club Europe anyway, but it was an interesting experiment...)

tobikosan

Brand new to this and ExpertFlyer. So... I have an AA LAX-LHR-DUB (the LHR -DUB on Aer Lingus but marketed AA) There is C award space on the LAX-LHR leg, can I use one of my AS SWUs? Thx

Flying for Fun

If there is C space available, you can use your SWU to upgrade into J. Did you use EF to search Awards & Upgrades for AA on the single LAX-LHR segment to confirm availability? If you are searching LAX-DUB, the results won't be accurate and the C inventory you are seeing is a revenue C bucket, not a C upgrade.

James

tobikosan

Yes, thank you for the clarity and help. I individually searched LAX-LHR on EF and saw in close C availability.

tobikosan

On 10/29 for example on EF there are listed as 7 C upgrade seats available on AA flight 134 LAX-LHR and zero on AA 136, though both show in the seat maps to have plenty of open business class seats. So the flight with no C space listed will likely go out with lots of open seats? Or they will open up 24 hours out? Thx

tobikosan

A good J fare LAX-LHR-IST round trip just came up and might check enough boxes to pay cash for it. I would buy marketed BA to use the AARP discount and the return of LHR-LAX would be on AA metal. Would I be able to apply a AS SWU if there was A bucket availability?

Also as an aside that might interest some, upon checkout instead of using the BA10% code which would have been $310, I was offered a $500 immediate statement credit to and 32K Avios for signing up for the BA Signature Visa. That sounds like a pretty good deal. Makes total around $2600 while racking up a lot of AS miles also

Flying for Fun

If the AA metal flight is BA marketed (the carrier code preceeding the flight number is BA) which I think it would need to be for the AARP discount, you will not be able to use a SWU to upgrade from J to F. The flight must be marketed and operated by AA to apply the SWU. If it is an AA flight number then you could apply the SWU and either clear at request if there is A space availability or be waitlisted if not.
...

About systemwide upgrades

On American Airlines

Enjoy a confirmed upgrade from most Business fares to First and most Economy or Premium Economy fares to the next class of service (Business or domestic First) anywhere American flies.

Systemwide upgrades can be used for one-way travel for up to 3 flight segments on American Airlines marketed and operated flights.
James

Erasmus

As I feared, flight finally posted--as BA prime. I'm not going to waste my time trying to track down the few additional EQMs I'm due based on my purchased AA marketed flight (rather focus my energy on getting my DE flights from months ago posted!), but something to keep in mind for those who are inclined to try to make this work. For my part I think I'll be sticking to exit row seats on AA marketed codeshares going forward.

simonsuo

I called and applied the AS SWU for my SFO-JFK leg of my LAX-SFO-JFK trip, and it shows System Wide Upgrade on my JFK leg, and LAX leg still shows complimentary. Nice that the agent can apply SWU to one leg, so I won't waste it if I got cleared for the shorter leg but not the longer one.
But, I refreshed today and both legs showed complimentary again in the app, and I called, and the agent did confirm my SWU still applied to the JFK leg. Anyone have the same issue?

Erasmus

AA's app is pretty buggy on this point--I almost always see domestic segments listed as complimentary even when a SWU has been applied (correctly). AA.com is slightly better about reflecting the true upgrade waitlist mechanism, but it is spotty on actually showing the upgrade portion of the page. The most reliable way of which I am aware is to email yourself a copy of the itinerary from AA.com. If a SWU has been waitlisted you should see a duplicate booking for the relevant segment(s) listed in C class.

Noodlesz

Little confused how this works. I thought if there's a business class seat it'll clear right away, is that not the case? AS 75K here.

I tried applying the SWU to HND - LAX for Jan and the AAgent said I am waitlisted even though there's over 10 open seats in business....

He also said the cert expires Dec 31 so if I don't get the upgrade before then basically I won't get it. Can anyone help clarify here?

the only reason why I am going is cuz I thought I could get business class.

Robert

Upgrade space is capacity controlled. These certs can only be confirmed at time of booking if AA inventory management has released upgradable “C” space if trying to upgrade from economy > business.

I suggest subscribing to ExpertFlyer and setting an alert for C space to open on the flight you desire. Only then will you be able to confirm the upgrade.

As a datapoint, I was able to confirm an upgrade on LAX > HND with one of these certs for next June, but EF was showing C4 for my desired flight so I was able to confirm the upgrade at time of booking.