stu52

I just flew IAH-DFW-LAX yesterday and the first leg IAH-DFW cleared at 100 hrs out. The second leg cleared after I was seated in Y just prior to the door closing and I was in the last open seat in F for that flight. Talk about last-minute!!

Redhead

I'm flying on Sunday LAX-SFO-BOS and then returning on Tuesday BOS-LAX

The LAX-SFO flight upgrade cleared at 100 hours and I just got the BOS-LAX upgrade at the 100 hour mark. Still no news on SFO-BOS. Keeping my fingers crossed!

ttusqrl

I agree but unfortunately it happens as it has in a couple of instances. It's one thing to be in Y and request to switch with someone where they have to trade a window/aisle for a center, but when you're trading a seat with the same characteristics, I don't understand the issue.

demkr

I think the bottom line is that the largest impacts are:

-much less flexibility in seat selection (EXPs, PLTs, GLDs clearing all at once when X inventory finally opens up)
-the nailbiting and seat watching on aa.com up thru departure
-the "What the heck" frustration ?LOL

I'm on Flt. 493 DFW-BUR on 2/28. We're now less than 48 hours prior to departure, 8 seats unaccounted for up front and still no upgrade cleared as an EXP who booked 3 weeks out.

LAX-SFO on 3/2 is wide open but hasn't cleared at the 100 hour mark. I think this one frustrates me even more, since these are not elite-heavy routes.

Why even bother having windows anymore? Just upgrade everybody at the gate w/ seat selection priority according to the list..since thats where the trend is obviously going...

This is something that I seem to have noticed just in the past month ... looks to me like someone in revenue management made changes

aktchi

I wish I had discovered/remembered this thread a little sooner as it is a better fit for the following post: Evips clearing slower than ever? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13470962-post610.html).

Very similar experiences to those being discussed here.

I wonder if we are seeing a fluctuation in service, which happens, or the beginning of a new trend of diluting the evip benefit?

ghfatw

I've done 24 paid segments so far on AA in 2010 and auto-upgrades are clearing a lot more slowly than in the past. I have two domestic segments tomorrow, none of which has cleared, as well as two segments Sunday and Monday and none of these has cleared either. On domestic/Caribbean routes this year, I have not had any upgrades fail to clear but it definitely is slower.

musicbeater

This is something that I seem to have noticed just in the past month ... looks to me like someone in revenue management made changes[/QUOTE]


Yes, I'm one week out on LAX/LHR
there are 5 seats left in the center section of Business

I asked the agent if I should re-route via Bos Ord Jfk or even DFW or MIA
to get the EVIP or even fly one day earlier....many more seats available.

He said that I would do worse because I'm likely at the top of the list
because I booked so long ago and exec plat. No guaranteed upgrades on any other route. I'm perfectly willing
to pay the extra money for the route change or an extra night in a hotel in London. I have almost always been able to make this change with a stopover.

Truly, my reason for booking early is to get the EVIP with an aisle seat.
I'm getting older and need to get up more frequently.

FYI
I have taken DFW/BUR 493 many times and that usually clears early, while the later flight is usually at the gate or morning of.

There is clearly a policy change. I totally understand that we are all in business to make money and clearly too, they are selling the seats.

Likely too, that flying midweek it's all more likely to happen.

billgrates3

I have two eVIP upgrades for JFK-FCO on request for next week, and even though the flight is J7 and there are 13 unassigned seats in J.... still waiting.
waiting .. waiting.

Even stranger is the return flight later in March has almost 20 unassigned seats in J with Y virtually full. I would have thought RM would release some C inventory so as to sell more seats in econ... but nope!

brp

This is one of the weird ones- I've seen it on both domestic and international. Full, or overbooked Y and seats in the forward cabin. They hold the seats in the premium cabin against the oversell. When I've been told this I've suggested (half jokingly) that they should just upgrade us, freeing the seats. The EXP agent usually laughs and agrees, and we both wonder about why they do what they do.

On several occasions, premium inventory has been zeroed with seats available against a Y oversell. This works well if one is top on the upgrade list as no one can buy the seats. Still, doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Cheers.

docr775

So far I am still 100% on upgrades, although 4 of them have cleared on the departure day, after doing OLCI the day before and getting on the list. My monthly routes are DFW-ONT, LAX-DFW, DFW-ORD, IND-DFW. My DFW-ORD leg on 2/28 cleared on the 100h mark with me being the second person in F. The return trip IND-DFW for 3/3 cleared on 2/27 at the 100 hour mark as well.

nldogbert

hmm.. am seeing the same over here compared to last year. I thought it was just bad timing.. but guess not with what is happening so far..

Just reserved a few days ago some flights and was going to use my eVIP travelling in a party of 2,
DFW-LHR -> only 1 success, waiting for the second to clear
JFK-LHR -> still waiting.

Checking the seatmap in J, it was near empty.

Wonder what is happening this year

This really makes planning difficult and of course the waiting game is no fun..

Kinsale

I used my last 2 expiring evips for SEA-LHR last weekend. ORD-LHR cleared 4 days out showing 9 seats in J open. LHR-DFW didn't clear before I left, was showing 11 open seats. My return cleared just 48 hours before departure, seat map showing 8 open seats. Flight left LHR with at least 4 open J seats on the 763.

Waited far longer than before for these to clear, and we still went out with open seats. I was holding my breath on these, and ended up calling the EXP desk just about every day for that last week. That felt really strange as I'm not used to bugging them on a daily basis. Didn't know what the normal protocol was for this situation so decided better to be a pest than miss out.

supergrandslam

Sorry for a little off topic.
For my understanding,doing OLCI early is no benefit for UG.
UG Order(UG waitlist at the gate) is preserved based on elite status and time of original upgrade request,not check-in time.
Does anyone think doing OLCI early is increasing odds for UG?

oklAAhoma

It no longer does.

billgrates3

...just to help calibrate the Upcheck(tm) machine....

Mrs.G3 and I are flying SFO-JFK-FCO this Friday, so I called the EXP line this AM (again) to see if the aagent could ping the RM gnomes to confirm our eVIP upgrade request that was waitlisted back in mid-Jan. EF has never shown any C or U inventory for the JFK-FCO segments in either direction. The aagent said there was nothing she could do, it was up to RM...
so, following the time-tested FT maxim, I hung up and called again. The 2nd aagent was willing to ping RM, and voila!, about an hour later, our upgrades came thru, and the magic AA upgrade computer even assigned us seats together to my surprise.
About an hour later, EF sent me an alert that there was now C2, and in fact, looking at the EF website later, there was still C2 availability after our two upgrades were confirmed.

Conclusion - TATL C upgrades available about 100hrs ahead of departure... hmmm that number sounds familiar.
[must be a coincidence, mustn't it?]