dclocation

My wife and I will take the ORD-BOS flight on Thursday and our upgrades were both cleared. Then my cousin decided to join us this. She served in the military and just returned from IRAQ. We want to give her a surprise and get her upgraded as well. When I call the EXP desk, I was told that since I upgraded my wife already (she has no status), I am not able to upgrade my cousin by using the stickers. She said I can use my EVIP but I think it's just a waste for an EVIP upgrade on ORD-BOS.

So my question is, is there a cost effective way to do this? Does it worth a try to talk to the AAngels or gate agents? I know AA is very nice to military personnel. Now what I am thinking is just to give my seat to my cousin so that she can sit with my wife in the F class. Do I need to inform anyone doing this?

Thanks a lot for your responses.

brp

Yes, I would suggest doing this. It's been known to happen if space is available. And this has applied to folks of any chosen profession.

Cheer.

JDiver

You can only have one traveling companion for upgrade purposes; those are the T&Cs. You can indeed change seats - it is advisable to say you will do so; when they consult the manifest and discover someone in F who is not manifested, there won't be trouble if you let them know. (Otherwise, you might leave your cousin between - Iraq and a hard place.)

JJeffrey

It's definitely possible to sticker upgrade more than one companion, I've done it 2-3 times over the years. But several things need to fall into place (IME):

1) space available in F (duh)
2) all other elite sticker upgrades have cleared
3) no one left on waiting list
4) good AAngel in the AC

gemac

Never hurts to talk to the AC or the GA. As I understand it, AA's policy of upgrading military covers those in uniform traveling between the U.S. and Iraq/Afghanistan on orders, not those recently returned from those places. As stated by others, you should have no problem switching places, just tell the flight attendants what you are doing and why. There is no switching during the flight, you have to switch for the entire flight.

clacko

if she is still in the military, ask her to forget mufti & wear her uniform even if not on travel orders.....

i assume a mi + $ ug isn't a cost effective alternative.....plus it would lower your chances w/stickers...

RogerD408

Yes, this can be done, but only by the good graces of the agent. I was on a business trip to FL with a co-worker and I upgraded our return with stickers. His wife decided to join us and fly back together. I explained the situation to the GA and that I didn't want to give up my seat and I did not want to be responsible for separating them. Fortunately her supervisor was next to her and he heard the story and gave her a nod to go ahead. Not only were they upgraded to DFW where we parted ways, but all the way to their destination (it was a direct flight for them)!

This cemented my belief in the theory you get more with honey than vinegar.

Good luck and I hope it works for you!

mingw

although there's hope I would remind OP that it's christmas travel, if you can't get the request in now chance get the upgrade at gate may not be high even GA is nice enough to add her.

aamilesslave

If it were my cousin that I cared about as it sounds like you care about yours, I would use a SWU (yes, really, based on the number I have left at the moment) or miles to upgrade her.

dclocation

Thank you all for your suggestions. I guess I will try to ask the AAngels first. There are still 6 F seats available.

swag

You could also try for a LFBU upgrade at the kiosk. For ORD_BOS, that should be pretty affordable.

gemac

For ORD-BOS nonstop, it should be $90.

JNB280

Miles + copay (15K miles + $75) seems like the best alternative IMO.

dclocation

The gate agent was nice to put my cousin on the upgrade list. But she was at the bottom of the list so didn't make it. I gave my seat to her and got an exit row window seat for myself - which is not bad for a 2 hour flight.

gemac

The important thing for your cousin is that she is back, is safe, and is with family for the holidays. Glad you gave her your upgrade, that was nice.