sk3

I'm wondering what you all think due to recent threads advising early check-ins.

I'm flying out on a 5:12 PM Friday LAX-HNL flight and AA says to check in 2 hours prior to flight time for travel to Hawaii.

I'm not checking bags, I'm a Plat, in coach and haven't requested upgrade. I read here it's best to check in online but I'm under the impression (probably faulty) that I'd stand a better chance for an op-upgrade if I checked in at the First Class line. (Presently Coach still shows 30 available seats on AA.com, so would dreams of an op-upgrade be delusional anyway?)

What would you all do? And from past experiences, how crowded do you think LAX will be Friday afternoon? (before a 3 day weekend).

Thanks in advance.

freeupgrade

LAX will be a ZOO at 3 p.m. that day - you can count on it. Yes, I agree with AA on this one - I would get there 2 hrs. early that day.

Yes, I agree - with 30 open seats in Y - you can just keep dreaming of that op-upgrade..)).

Aloha and have a good trip.

IADtoLAX

Should I expect LAX to be a zoo early Sunday morning that weekend? I have a 7:00am flight to DFW (with a connection to MSY). I'm Platinum and will be able to use the First Class check-in, but will security be a mess in Terminal 4? I normally don't fly out on such early departures, so I'm curious what might be in store for me.

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YVR Cockroach

Doubt it. AA appears to be fairly egalitarian (or classist?) about selecting for opups. It appears to go primarily along lines of status and not how you checked in. Opups are done at the gate anyway (by computer?) You usually find out when your BP is rejected.

sk3

Thanks freeupgrade.

Have to share this - just went back to AA.com and decided to go ahead and request the upgrade - I pressed "Submit Reguest' and that was brought to an error screen. So I went back in the reservation - and presto - the upgrade was confirmed! Wow.

Problem is I only have 8 stickers in my account and I had already requested an upgrade for the return (each way takes 6). Being that I plan on flying mainly int'l (and I'm cheap!) I've been hesitant to purchase stickers. So new question: can I unrequest the upgrade for the return without jeopardizing my preferred exit row seat in coach?

ajacpril

Yes, you cannot do it online afaik. You need to call AA to do it. If I were you, I would do it asap so that someone else does not grab the exit seat in the meantime.

Enjoy Hawaii.

IADtoLAX, based on my recent experiences T4 at the day/time you mentioned should be a breeze. However, the self-serve check-in kiosks will probably be quicker than the FC check-in. Printing your BP at home will be quicker.