PaulInTheSky

Good morning,

New here, but I got a couple of questions regarding the upgrades.

1. As a non-elite member, can I request an upgrade before 24 hours in advance of the departure?

2. I heard people saying it's not worth going from Business to First in 767-200, but how about economy to Business? I got my 500-mile upgrade packages ready. The distance for the flight is about 2586 miles. Does the 51-mile grace still apply for the upgrade packs, or it's already changed?

3. If I get the ticket as an economy, which I did, and if I get upgrades confirmed, would I get 150% miles for the entire trip?

4. I heard that there's a deal of triple miles upon the check-in time for the flight. Good deal so far, if I am flying 2500-2600 miles from SFO to JFK?

I might have been able to get some of the answers from the forum, but it's tough to search for all. You guys may have the answer straight up from your head so I am giving it a try. Let me know. Greatly appreciated.

videomaker

How are you planning to upgrade? You say you're on an economy ticket. If it's not a Y or B fare, you won't be upgrading unless you are able to get a LFBU upgrade at the kiosk. (See the FAQ at the top of the page, where it says "Please check here first!" The section on ugprades is here.)

Not really difficult to search. Check the FAQ and then search if your questions are not answered there. Mileage promotions are already discussed extensively in the AA forum.

And welcome to FT!

brp

Cheers.

PaulInTheSky

-- Will definitely take a look.

marksskram

Like the videomaker said, there isn't a way to upgrade unless you are a Y or B fare unless you're going to just up-fare which will probably require a change fee and a good several hundred dollars at the very least.

If you wait and chance it at the airport and are able to get a discount upgrade from a kiosk, you will not earn bonus miles (I dont think bonus miles are EQM anyways) because you get mileage and points for your originally ticketed booking code.

PaulInTheSky

Tried to reply the messages but didn't manage to get them posted.

I actually have AAdvantage, and I did an upgrade before from SFO to LAX back in March confirmed. I just didn't get a chance to reach the AA Gold yet. May I am confused about the definitions of the 'Elite'!??!

ijgordon

I'm not really sure what you mean. "Elite" means AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum or AAdvantage Executive Platinum levels. Your online account will show you your current status.

If you are not any of these levels, you can only use your 500-miles upgrades to upgrade to Business from a Y or B fare. Details available on AA.com

For reference, on JFK-SFO, there are no B fares published currently, and full Y fares are over $3,000 round-trip. With 7+ days advance purchase you can purchase a restricted business class ticket for about $2,500-$2,700 r/t.

If you are not any of these levels, you can also request a mileage upgrade -- it would cost 15,000 miles + $75 co-pay each way.

PaulInTheSky

I think I got it guys after I read through the FAQ and upgrades page. Thanks a lot for the info though!

PaulInTheSky

Hey ijgordan, thanks a lot for your reply. I am sure I haven't reached 25k miles yet, so I am definitely not in AA Gold yet. However, I just checked the E-Ticket for my flight from SFO to LAX two minutes ago and the class was definitely Q class. If I need Y or B to upgrade, why could I upgrade my SFO-LAX flight last time from Q?

Carrier Flight Number Departing Arriving Booking
Code
City Date & Time City Time

American Airlines 1931 SAN FRANCISCO TUE 02MAR
2:10 PM LOS ANGELES 3:35 PM Q
2 Economy Seat 12D

BarkinJ

Yup. You're clearly confused.

You receive Gold status (basically) if you fly 25,000 miles or 30 segments in a calendar year. Either you have it, or you don't. Having "AAdvantage" just means that you've signed up to receive frequent flyer miles. If you're just a plain-old AAdvantage member, you do not receive elite benefits and perks.

If you have one of the two lower levels of elite status (Gold or Platinum), you can use those 500-mile upgrades to upgrade flights. If you do not have either of those levels of elite status, there are four ways to upgrade:

1. You can use those 500-mile upgrades if you buy an expensive "full-fare" economy class ticket. (That's what everyone means when they talk about Y and B tickets.)

2. Once in a while the kiosk at the airport will offer you the chance to pay some sum to upgrade. This will almost definitely NOT happen on the flight in question.

3. Some gate agent can randomly decide to move you up to business class because they like you, because they think you're dressed well, or because moving you up to business/first makes room in coach for someone else. This is called an "OP-up" and it is very rare on a route like this, even for passengers with elite status. Despite travel articles that suggest that you can sweet talk your way up front by dressing snazzily or saying it's your honeymoon, the airline has pretty strict procedures for upgrades. You're better off buying lottery tickets than hoping this is going to happen.

4. You can buy a business class ticket.

BarkinJ

As a non-elite member with a Q ticket, it's fair to say that you will almost definitely not be sitting in business class on this flight. Without knowing more information, none of us can guess why you were able to upgrade last time.

Also, thanks for sharing all your personal information. Can I have your AA.com password, please?

JDiver

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

As a new member, whose post included a URL link (in the post replied to, ironically,) your post was suppressed for moderation - requiring a moderator to look at the post and examine it for spam links, prior to approving it. Your post has now been approved and is visible to all.

/Moderator

Members have made some recommendations about the FAQ (and the Wiki is pretty nice as well) and you may want to look at the Challenge "sticky" thread as well, if you are doing a fair amount of flying. Depending on the fare class, you could earn Gold on a "shortcut" flying as many as 10,000 miles or as few as 3,334 miles, or Platinum for twice that.

That will enable you to use 500 mile upgrades on other than B and Y fares, give your Priority Access privileges, increase your priority in line for upgrades, etc.

When purchasing fares, use the Matrix and look at the "instant upgrade" fares - they are usually significantly cheaper than unrestricted coach fares, earn more miles and points, and guarantee you seats up front (though you could find yourself in coach during significant irregular operations when you chose to go out on the next flight with an available seat, rather than wait for a flight with an available seat up front). (For a Challenge, they earn 1.5 points per mile - do read the sticky and FAQ about what this means - and a faster way to Challenge Gold or Platinum status.)

Ah, BarkinJ is barkin' up the wrong tree, I see.

bdemaria

Were you offered the option to upgrade when you checked in at a kiosk at the airport for a set fee? If so, that's a specific sort of last minute upgrade offered once the various elite upgrade requests (those that use the 500 mile stickers) these happen a LOT on the SFO-LAX flights as many people don't want to 'waste' a sticker on such a short flight. If not offered at the kiosk, then how was the upgrade processed - at the gate? Online?


I would not expect a kiosk upgrade to be offered on a Tuesday nonstop from SFO-JFK for it is precisely the type of flight elites hope to upgrade.

gemac

This was almost certainly a load-factor based upgrade (LFBU), commonly called a kiosk upgrade here because it is offered at kiosks upon check-in. If all passengers who have requested sticker-based upgrades have been accommodated and there are still available premium seats, AA will offer LFBU. A lot of passengers won't spend a sticker on SFO-LAX, since there is no meal service. For further information on LFBU, see the stickies.

SFO-JFK is very hard to upgrade on stickers. Chances of getting a LFBU upgrade are extremely remote.

PaulInTheSky

Phew...Stupid copy and paste, but thanks a lot for the reminder.