2015 Chances of Upgrade Clearing and Upgrade Availability Discussion (consolidated)
#751
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LA
Programs: AA, DL, UA
Posts: 543
Just kidding, found the answer to my own question by scrolling up a couple of posts.
Also accidentally made a new reply instead of editing the old one...
Also accidentally made a new reply instead of editing the old one...
#752
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,573
Hi all, on flights marketed by Alaska but operated by AA, can AA elites request any upgrades (stickers or automatic for EXP), and when?
#753
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 947
J full to MXP on 9-1
I'm flying DCA-JFK-MXP on 9-1 and MXP-MIA-DCA on 9-8 and I have SWU's waitlisted for both longhaul segments from near the date of purchase (5-21)
Tonight I decided to check the seatmaps to see how upgrade odds were looking, and to my great shock, J has no available seats on JFK-MXP on 9-1; J is also showing full on that day's MIA-MXP.
Is it really true that J is full and no upgrades will clear JFK-MXP? I guess I should get ready to drop the change fee to get on better flights. LHR or MAD, anyone?
Tonight I decided to check the seatmaps to see how upgrade odds were looking, and to my great shock, J has no available seats on JFK-MXP on 9-1; J is also showing full on that day's MIA-MXP.
Is it really true that J is full and no upgrades will clear JFK-MXP? I guess I should get ready to drop the change fee to get on better flights. LHR or MAD, anyone?
#754
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP...couple hotels and cars too
Posts: 4,548
something going on in mxp? def odd for j0 two weeks out
#756
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 947
The kicker is that my only reason for flying to MXP is now flying straight to FCO and I'm supposed to go by train from Milan to Rome that day to get there - doable and not horridly expensive, but a little cumbersome. Perhaps it's time to do some EF research, then try to pay one change fee that gets me both the better destination and the better cabin.
Does anybody have any other thoughts?
#757
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 947
JFK-FCO is showing 7J and 11 open seats in Business on September 1 (Tuesday).
Does that seem like a good SWU bet if I pay the change fee?
Does that seem like a good SWU bet if I pay the change fee?
#758
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Well, it's certainly better than zero. The only thing is, I don't think you will retain your upgrade timestamp if you do that. What does the MCE cabin look like? If it's empty, then yeah, you'll probably have a decent shot. If it's full, then you might have a problem.
#759
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: AAdvantage, Hilton
Posts: 3,191
Anytime you change flights, SWU time-stamp re-sets. Sticker upgrades do retain the original time-stamp as long as changes are done in the same pnr.
#760
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 947
But since I need to be in Rome anyway, I'll take
1. The flight to Rome with the possibility of an upgrade, as opposed to
2. The flight to Milan with virtually no chance of an upgrade, followed by five hours in the train system getting to Rome.
The MCE cabin looks fairly full, but that would also include Plat (behind me), OAL OneWorld elites, full Y tickets, and people who purchased MCE. Plus not all ExPlats will be attempting to use an SWU. Plus there are eleven unassigned seats in J - more than I could find on many tatl flights that day.
At least that's what I'm telling myself as I fork over $800+ in change fee and fare difference.
#761
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP...couple hotels and cars too
Posts: 4,548
Time to call the EXP desk and get a sympathetic agent to give an opinion. Definitely see if you change will you keep a timestamp. You might luck out and one will take the extra 5 minutes tolook at your actual position on the list
#762
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 947
I won't use the word "Sympathetic", but the EXP desk agent I got didn't challenge my assumption that I wasn't going to get upgraded on that JFK-MXP leg. She said it looked "good" on the JFK-FCO leg I switched to, and that's good enough for me, I guess.
#763
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: AUS
Programs: AA Exec Platinum/MM, DL Gold/MM, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,939
A full JFK-MXP J cabin is not unusual. My wife and I flew JFK-MXP in June and were waitlisted for upgrades. Ultimately no one was upgraded. 21 J seats were open when I booked 5 months prior, all were filled 10 days out. At the time I checked other days and very few, if any, J seats were open on that flight.
It was the first time I missed an international upgrade.
It was the first time I missed an international upgrade.
#764
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LA
Programs: AA, DL, UA
Posts: 543
That was my next question.
But since I need to be in Rome anyway, I'll take
1. The flight to Rome with the possibility of an upgrade, as opposed to
2. The flight to Milan with virtually no chance of an upgrade, followed by five hours in the train system getting to Rome.
The MCE cabin looks fairly full, but that would also include Plat (behind me), OAL OneWorld elites, full Y tickets, and people who purchased MCE. Plus not all ExPlats will be attempting to use an SWU. Plus there are eleven unassigned seats in J - more than I could find on many tatl flights that day.
At least that's what I'm telling myself as I fork over $800+ in change fee and fare difference.
But since I need to be in Rome anyway, I'll take
1. The flight to Rome with the possibility of an upgrade, as opposed to
2. The flight to Milan with virtually no chance of an upgrade, followed by five hours in the train system getting to Rome.
The MCE cabin looks fairly full, but that would also include Plat (behind me), OAL OneWorld elites, full Y tickets, and people who purchased MCE. Plus not all ExPlats will be attempting to use an SWU. Plus there are eleven unassigned seats in J - more than I could find on many tatl flights that day.
At least that's what I'm telling myself as I fork over $800+ in change fee and fare difference.
Would love to hear how it turned out -- planning to do JFK-MXP next summer but from the looks of things guess will have to settle for Rome.
#765
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: STL/ORD/MCI/SAN
Programs: AA CK MM, AC SE100K, UA 1K, DL Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,985
Can anyone give me an idea of how tough an upgrade SFO-DFW is on a Saturday morning (6:45a)? Still well outside the EXP window, and EF is already showing only F4A1 (for a 738 with 16 F). To me, that seems like a lot of paid F for a Saturday morning, even out of SFO.
I'm tempted to use an instrument to upgrade now, primarily because my last few ex-SFO flights have all been significantly delayed, and 1) sitting on the tarmac is always better in F than Y and 2) having an 'A' rather than 'X' class fare is always better for flight changes in IRROPS (usually allows upgrade preservation).
I'm tempted to use an instrument to upgrade now, primarily because my last few ex-SFO flights have all been significantly delayed, and 1) sitting on the tarmac is always better in F than Y and 2) having an 'A' rather than 'X' class fare is always better for flight changes in IRROPS (usually allows upgrade preservation).