Joe Butch

the amount of stickers have/used. Thought it be less confusing than writing just 3 500 mile upgrades

Joe Butch

Yes we were both on the same record booked under my plat account and requested under my plat account at the time of booking on aa.com

RogerD408

AA does not have an effective way to re-educate their staff. I traveled a lot with an EXP when I was PLAT and we always linked our records so I would get EXP status for upgrades. A few years ago it was the rule that 500 mile upgrades would come out of the EXP account. Then we were told to request the ADC code(?) to be removed after the upgrade cleared to have the upgrades from each account. Today's rules now state upgrades will come from each account, unless there are not enough in one of the accounts but enough in the other. Not all agents are aware of these changes and insist older rules apply.

A word of caution. If you flew in F and no upgrades were deducted from your account, you may have a negative SWU balance in your account! I was gifted a SWU for a flight a few years back and once I hit EXP my account only showed 7 available. I was never notified this happened and it took several calls to get it fixed. AA.com never showed this negative balance and I was told it does happen. You can call AA and ask what your SWU balance is (although some agents still call them eVIPs). Or just wait and see what happens when/if you hit EXP.

brp

The bolded part is true on so many levels. With regard to this new policy, it works well in the automated system. That system knows what to do. mrs. brp and I (both EXP) have not had a problem, or had to deal with an ADC code, in quite a while. It (properly) looks at each account.

At the airport, it seems that they agents can do either/or. In the past we've just requested one behavior over the other. They've not always done it (because of the prevailing rule) but it was clear that they could. In this case it could well be the flexibility that is causing the issue.

Cheers.

bniu

just a wild guess here but it could be possible that the agent just gave you an op-up for the LAX-LIH leg? Sometimes when they're in a hurry, it's much easier to just op-up rather than deduct stickers. I experienced this once when I decided to try to standby and upgrade on a flight about 45 seconds before the door was closing. The agent in a hurry just printed out a F boarding pass and told me to run with him down the jetway. The next week, I found my e500s still there in my account.

needmomile

Booked an F award ticket to HKG from DFW via SFO(downgraded voluntarily). On the day of travel I was put on the upgrade list ahead everyone else by AC agent. About 45 minutes before departure I learned that GA was clearing people who are behind me on the list. Went to the gate and informed the GA about my situation. The GA apologized, told me I was on a separate list which he forgot to look, and upgraded me. After the trip, I learned 3 stickers were taken from my account. I sent an email to customer service about 10 days ago and still haven't received any reply.

So can stickers be used in my situation?

Microwave

Short answer to the last part: stickers cannot be used to upgrade award tickets.

Longer answer: you were probably put into the wrong inventory by the GA. I bet you were put into X rather than Z. I would ask AA to give you the stickers back--if they aren't replying to your online request, a quick call to AAdvantage Customer Service should help get the ball rolling. Good luck!

Northshore Bob

Quick question: I have a flight from BOS-SFO with a stop in DFW (its a single flight number). Requested the sticker upgrades and am wondering if you can get cleared for one leg of the flight but not the other. I'm guessing no, but can someone please confirm.
Thanks.

sukn

No, X inventory will have to be available simultaneously on both segments for the upgrade to clear. You can always call and the agent will manually clear one segment if X is available.

clacko

i would call & try to get the record split using the stickers as the reason....it would also get you more mi's [3-400] & a shot at the ug's....good luck

years ago, dfw-mia-eze, it was a direct flight connection w/a change of grade, and no prob on the split...

Microwave

To expand on what sukn said, if it doesn't clear by the time you check in you can also ask to be placed on the airport waitlist, and at that point each segment would clear or not clear on its own. Not a great plan A, but at least it's a decent plan B.

Northshore Bob

Thanks for the advice all.

phatozzy

I am having a hard time understanding AA upgrade rules and policies. I normally fly mostly Delta and United and based on my status, I get complimentary upgrades when available. These are automatically done.

I recently did an Elite Challenge on AA and flew the required points/miles to get Gold Status. Now I have a flight from LAX > OMA via DFW and on all 4 sectors I requested an upgrade. Today I received a confirmed upgrade on 1 sector, however when I try to check in online, I get an error that I do not have any 500 mile upgrades available and so now I have to check in at the airport counter.

So this is where I am confused - as a Gold should I not receive complimentary upgrades if inventory is available? With Delta and United I do not have to even request an upgrade - if inventory is available I get an automatic upgrade.

My apologies if this is a repost - I checked all the postings and could not find anything related to Status challenge and upgrades.

Thank you.

emma dog

Only EXP get complimentary upgrades. GLD and PLT need e500s. You get 4 every 10k miles flown and you also can buy them for $30 each online or $35 each from an AAgent.

JY1024

I'd suggest giving the wiki article a read: http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...ic.22_Upgrades

Basic gist: Unlike other UDU programs, AA's Gold and Platinum levels do not have true UDUs. You have to earn 500-mile upgrades (earn 4 per 10,000 miles flown) that you can then use to upgrade flights.