FlyingGambler

near the end of last year(2009), I concentrated all of my flying on AA in order to get EXP status for 2010. I just barely made it and thought that my EXP status would mean upgrade heaven. Well, 2010 is almost over and I'm pretty sure that I can say my EXP status is nearly useless.

Since I became EXP, I have been on 26 AA flights. All except two were booked 4 months ahead of time and upgrades were all requested at time of booking.

Only 3 upgrades were cleared. (two at 100-hour and one at the gate)

I guess there really wasn't anything AA could have done, since all of those non-upgraded flights had full first class... but I just don't understand... do those people book and request upgrades 10 month ahead or something? or is their another level of AA elite higher than EXP?

When I wrote to AA about this issue, they quickly dealt with my by offering me 5000 "good-will-gesture" miles.

demkr

What airport do you fly out of? What flights do you take? Are there schedule changes in between your upgrade requests?

FlyingGambler

most of my travels connect in ORD... yes, I know, I know...

the only three that cleared were nonstops on JFK-LAX, LAX-JFK(redeye), and DFW-JFK...

sandiego-flyer

Your success rates may vary depending on where you are flying from, and if that city is a AA EXP strong hold.

Ironically, I have flown 26 AA domestic flights as well this year and have been upgraded 23 out of 26 times (88% success rate). Of the 3 flights I did not clear, 2 were from DFW and one was from ORD, both AA EXP strong holds.

I am also a UA 1K with 20 domestic flights this year and a 90% success rate with their UDU (comparable success rate to AA).

San Diego Flyer
AA EXP - UA 1K - MR PP

demkr

Well you said that they connect in ORD, so you are getting connecting priority. The hardest flights to clear from ORD imho are SFO and LAS.

edwards183

Did you mean LAX instead fo LAS. I have found that ORD-LAS is by far one of the easiest upgrades to get.

I am 31 of 32 domestic (97% - only miss was DFW-SFO on fathers day) this year with all but one clearing before the gate. And 4 out of 5 on my international swu's. I almost always connect through ORD and been having great luck.

Something must be up with the OP's routes to have that bad of percentage upgrades especially if a connnecting pax.

ESpen36

Frankly, I think it was an extraordinarily gracious gesture of AA to give you 5,000 "goodwill" bonus miles, just because you complained about something they never promised would happen. Nowhere in the EXP membership booklet does it say that e-upgrades are guaranteed, only that they are complimentary if and when upgrade inventory is available within 100 hours of departure time.

If you are truly desperate for upgrades to clear, use your eVIPs or miles+copay to secure upgrades farther out. The way I look at the stickerless upgrades is that, hey, they are FREE, so if they happen, great! If not, no use crying. If I really care that much (like Hawaii, some transcons, etc) then I use miles+copay or eVIPs. I don't fly much purely domestic these days, so I'm almost always connecting to/from international where I've used miles+copays or eVIPs. So, I don't have to play much of the last-minute upgrade games at the gate.

Furthermore, remember that upgrades have a very ephemeral value....once your flight arrives at the gate, the value of the upgrade becomes zero from both monetary and experiential angles. The value lasts only as long as the flight itself. Upgrades are NOT like miles, where you have a lasting value.

Blumie

Given that most of us who are EXP report a very high upgrade success rate -- typically over 90% -- something doesn't add up here, beyond just the routes the OP happens to fly.

OP, can you tell us more about how you book your tickets? Do you do it yourself on aa.com? Do you use a travel agent?

ESpen36

Agreed. Perhaps a lot of full-fare (Y/B) EXPs on these flights? Y/B fares requesting upgrades clear before other fares, within status level and thru/O-D priority.

4 months seems like a reasonable amount of time to book flights in advance in order to get a good spot on the upgrade list, especially as EXP. Something must be up.

(I have no sympathy, however, for EXPs who book and request upgrades 2 weeks in advance and complain that their upgrades never clear. The system is designed to reward those who plan ahead!)

ty97

OP, you must have shockingly bad luck. I reside in Chicago and clear my upgrades in/out of ORD 97%+ of the time.

And I never book 4 months out. More like 3-6 weeks.

Blumie

Interesting logic.

The principal value of miles is to redeem them for travel, usually upgrades or free tickets. In either case, as soon as your flight arrives at the gate, the value of the miles becomes zero.

demkr

I think it's most likely due to schedule changes. This is actually more likely to happen with a flight booked months in advance if anything. Any time a schedule changes (like I had this morning) you need to call EXP desk and have them resubmit your upg request even if it still says "requested"-as some of us including me have learned the hard way, the actual system designation is a different story when there's so much as a flight # change, a time change for departure.

Since AA does not notify us of schedule changes, it's best to check your reservations once a week or so to make sure-there will be a notice in red that there had been a schedule change. At that time, call the EXP desk, work out your new schedule if need be, and have them re-request upgrades.

GadgetFreak

I dont think I have missed an upgrade this year. Im stunned by this. I do use ExpertFlyer for long flights though to maximize my chances.

ESpen36

True, but miles are something that you earn and can hold in your account for an unlimited period of time (assuming periodic account activity). E-upgrades never change hands for EXPs because they are unlimited. So, technically, we EXPs never hold any "value" in the upgrades. We could have 100 or 0 in our account and it wouldn't matter because we don't earn or burn them.

What I was suggesting here is that the OP complained about not receiving upgrades (which have no quantifiable monetary value for EXPs) and received something of REAL value (5,000 RDMs) in return. Very generous of AA, IMHO.

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

Wow, kinda shocked to hear that in all honesty. My brother-in-law is EXP based out of DFW & has a 100% clearance rate.

Being 1K with UA (on par w/AA EXP) my upgrade clearance rate this year is 99% (yes, even on A319's)! Since purchasing UA Pass Plus (same as AA's AirPass Program) in Septmeber, my UG rate is 100%.