pj2

I don't recall ever seeing oklAAhoma make such an absolute statement. In fact, a quick consultation with your friend resulted in these two recent posts:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13781454-post97.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13716266-post28.html

LTRS

I'd recommend a class in statistics.

sukn

Keep searching.

pj2

At the risk of being lumped in with the evil AApologists in this thread, I must admit I still don't follow what you are saying. The only numbers I saw being used were direct quotes from your posts. If there is a problem with the numbers, isn't that on you?


Actually, I think for the sake of the accuracy of information provided here, it's important that misleading or confusing claims be questioned. I don't think that makes anyone an AApologist and I don't think it should be seen as a blanket dismissal of any particular point of view.

In fact, if I may say so, you have actually seemed to be the one who is dismissing the views of others. I don't find the experiences of the 20 or so members who posted about 100-hour upgrades to be irrelevant.

No single person's experience represents the whole, so I think it's important that we need to consider all the posts before reaching conclusions.

dstan

I'm trying hard to figure out what the last couple pages teach me about the "Impact of AA clearing upgrades later than in the past". If someone would like to enlighten me and the other AA Moderators, please contact us by PM.

Use this thread to discuss the topic at hand or lose it.

/Moderator

sukn

Ok, I will try to get this thread back on topic. Here is a recent peculiar experience of mine. I was on a Monday 9:30 pm DFW-LAX flight on a 757. Inside the 100-hr mark the F cabin was wide open, the EXP desk confirmed that less than a 1/3 of the seats were occupied.

The morning of the flight, the upgrade still had not cleared. Went to check in at the kiosk in Miami, and clicked on the "change seat" icon. It displayed the F seat map even though the upgrade had not cleared. Chose a seat in F and of course it brought up an error message and would not let me continue unless I chose another seat (presumably in Y), even though it was showing me the F seat map. Canceled the check-in process, tried twice more at different machines, the same problem.

Spoke to two different TAs and both said the flight was oversold in Y but the X inventory had not been released even though the F cabin was still less than 1/3 occupied (which on a 757 is 14 seats or more). This lead me to believe that no X inventory had been released thus far.

Now I don't know when this particular upgrade cleared because I went stand-by on the non-stop and would up first on the upgrade list because the GA put me in as a "thru" passenger. Only one upgrade seat became available and thankfully I got it.

Getting back to the DFW-LAX route, I flew the same flight segment a week later but on a Tuesday night. Again the F cabin was pretty wide open, and this time the upgrade cleared a few hours inside the 100-hr window. This time the flight was not oversold, and the load in Y was actually pretty light.

This may be pure speculation, but these two experiences go me thinking whether there is some correlation between Y being oversold and X inventory being held back until much closer to departure.

Thoughts???

LTRS

I don't think there is a problem with "my" numbers. In fact, of the examples used, I was the only one that provided any. Quoting random posters that said "my upgrade cleared at 100 hrs" is not all that relevant given that we don't know how many cleared out of how many flights they took. Hence, my remark about statistics, and why I am not clear that it was apparently important to OklAAhoma to dimiss my experiences.

Now for some more relevancy: since posting this morning, the 100 hour mark on all 8 segments I have booked this week has passed. I have been upgraded on ONE segment thus far.

The point is, for people reading this thread, no -- it's not just happening to you. I would say based on MY EXPERIENCES and the presence of this thread, it HAS become a recognizable trend. The good news is, I think, most of us still have a high upgrade precentage, even though they are clearing much later than in the past.

JDiver

To add on, FlyerTalk requires members to adhere to TOS (the Rules) - and that includes staying on topic, refraining from attacks (including the use of ad hominem), engaging in personal exchanges and discussing moderator actions. Given the current issues with this thread, it has closed down for a much-needed temporary rest. As it reopens, keep it open by staying on topic and refraining from ad hominem, etc.

JDiver, Moderator

zsciaeount

I booked a flight from ORD-CDG over three months ago, and was placed on the waitlist to use a systemwide upgrade. Here we are, less than 24 hours before the flight, with 1/3 of business still unassigned, and I have yet to receive my upgrade.

Another EXP on the same route who left 2 days ago didn't get his upgrade until 20 hours before the flight, though, again, business was fairly open.

Is this becoming standard practice for AA now? Used to be you'd get upgraded days in advance.

demkr

I don't feel ignored per se...but I do feel that they've gotten stingy in this (and many other) departments as of late compared to their competitors

brp

With reduced capacity and, consequently, increased loads it seems that they're holding the premium seats longer in the hopes of actually selling them, odd as that strategy may seem.

We're still clearing at 100% SWU and over 90% sticker (and that's for two people). It's just taking longer, but I certainly don't feel "ignored."

FYI, this is an old rant:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...than-past.html

This thread is locked for some reason, but there's a lot of ranting going on on the same topic there.

Cheers.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Is it just for the outbound? I've been getting cleared on the returns fairly quickly.

sukn

Since your flight is less than 24-hours away, have you done on-line check-in? Check in time matters if your upgrades does not clear until the gate.

Secondly, have you call the EXP desk and asked them to see if the Day of Departure desk or the automated system will clear you at this point? If not, give it a try.

vitacura

A few months ago I booked tickets for october for my spouse and myself from mia-cdg and returning a week later via cdg-dfw. I called to upgrade via SWU and we were upgraded on the spot for all our flights. I was expecting to be put on the waitlist, but was pleasantly surprised.

brp

We got ORD-PEK and back for December/January a month or so ago. I was pleasantly surprised and also expected a waitlist. I would have expected clearing, but not at the time of booking.

Then our flight went away (they changed the days that they fly) and we were still confirmed on the new date.

Cheers.