circuslights

As a Gold, you earn 4 stickers for every 10000 miles you fly. You need to be Exec Platinum to get free upgrades.

jaimelannister

I am confident that all your questions are answered in the stickies, but I'll try to shed some light for you here because I am bored. =)

Only Executive Platinums get upgrades for "free" with AA. Gold and platinum elites must use 500 mile upgrade "stickers" to upgrade, each one good for up to 500 miles of flight (so if your flight is 1250 miles, you would need 3 stickers to upgrade). Stickers are earned at the rate of 4 per 10,000 EQM flown, or you can puchase them for $30 each or with miles.

Keep in mind that even with the requisite stickers in your account, you still have to go through to queue to get a shot at the upgrade; the stickers are not used if you don't get upgraded, though.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

As others have pointed out, you need stickers. Remember, AA is not UA or DL. Just because the other two airlines have complimentary upgrades for lower tier members, doesn't imply that AA has it, too. It wasn't too long ago that UA also required "stickers." UDU (unlimited domestic upgrades) for all status members is a new phenomenon.

The good thing is, if a PLT decides not to waste stickers on upgrading a flight, you as a GLD could have a better chance than if everything were complimentary, because the PLT would beat you out every time.

Snoopy

But Plat and Golds don't need the stickers if they are travelling on full Y tickets, right? Or am I confused?

"AAdvantage Platinum® and AAdvantage Gold® members receive complimentary upgrades for themselves and one companion, provided both are traveling on a full-fare* Economy Class ticket."

I'm also new to the game. I (plat) am travelling full Y from RDU to MIA and requested an upgrade and it said 0 stickers required, so I figured that it met the above criteria. Or am I wrong?

phatozzy

So I understand the 500 mile upgrade rule now - thanks everyone that has posted so far. Also, since I flew 14k miles on my Gold challenge, should I not then have at least 4 500 mile upgrades in my account? I have none currently.

Snoopy - I read the same thing and thats why I finally decide to post here and ask the question - these airlines make me feel stupid since I can never understand their legalize.

Thank you.

_kurt

The counter doesn't start until you earn status. So may be just short of 10k miles. You can check the "Miles Towards Elite Upgrades" counter on your AAdvantage summary page.

JY1024

Yes - you are correct. http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...ic.22_Upgrades




As the wiki (http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...ic.22_Upgrades) states:

(emphasis mine)

So as a hypothetical, let's someone started from scratch and flew 25K miles to attain Gold status. The member would not start stickers until after crossing the 25K mile mark. In your case, you would start accruing "miles towards elite upgrades" starting with the flight that caused you to complete your challenge.

Hope that helps!

swag

The single flight number may be to your benefit, and one reason not to split: BOS-SFO on one flight number is 6 stickers. Split it, and it will cost you 7 (4 for BOS-DFW, 3 for DFW-SFO).

mingw

specifically, when you get cleared at 100,72,24, when you have to airport waitlisted? I've only asked for 3 upgrades so far on my TUS-DFW trip all as gold, one was cleared at 24 hours, one got at airport, and one didn't get upgrade.

on tonight trip, I requested 3 weeks ago, and see 9 open seats in F now, 3 seats in coach (strangely, all are exit row aisle/window, both middle ones are not available). I didn't get cleared at 24 hours.

anyone has some idea what's going on? my 12 years old daughter is in F and I surely want to seat with her!

JDiver

Your question has been merged into the currently active and very informative thread; this is why FT TOS recommend Searching before starting a new thread on an existing topic (many members may have asked very similar questions, and more may have responded with useful information). Please be sure to follow the recommendations in the first thread post:

Quote:

Please see the FAQ and wiki for information on upgrade protocols...

JDiver, Senior Moderator / Moderator American AAdvantage and iDine/Rewards Network fora

Good luck with your flights.

mingw

thanks mod. I've read the FAQ and wiki and still very confused as "may be allocated at xxx hour but may clear as just before boarding".

so if the seat map shows 9 open seats in F now, could they have already been allocated, we just don't know to whom?

Microwave

Just because a seat is unoccupied doesn't mean it is available for upgraders. If AA feel there's a chance to sell the seat, they will hold it back. Also, and this is probably more likely, if AA have overbooked economy, AA will hold back first inventory (preventing upgrades, as the system would seem to work) to make room for the overbooked condition in economy. In this situation, your changes of upgrade improve, but it generally happens at the airport. Bottom line: there are a myriad of possible reasons, and your best bet is to request the upgrade and lay on a thick coat of patience.

VickiSoCal

I'm sick of being Gold and flying with Mr. VickiSoCal who is EXP. When I was nothing, we had no problems. Now they jack up my upgrades about half the time. Today flying GCM to MIA, husband was upgraded at 100 hours out. We had called in weeks ago and made sure I was attached to his account, not mine and verifed it on the outbound as well. About a day after his upgrade cleared, mine still hadn't (flight looked to have a lot of open seats in both cabins) so I called the Carribean 1-800 number from our hotel and verified that I was hooked to him and should be next, oh yes, no problem. Last night we do online checkin, see that seats available are dropping in business and magically exit row seats are openning up in back. So I spend another 2 bucks to use the hotel phone and call again, yes I am first on the list, I should be next, no problem. Then we get to the airport this morning. The AA agent (contractor) insisted that no, I was at the bottom of the list, many people higher than me who had all been upgraded and now there was nothing available. Not a huge deal- it is a short flight, but to have this guy point to my status on my boarding pass and explain to me that I am only Gold like I'm a five year old pissed me off. He had no understanding at all of the companion upgrade process. I fly quite a bit to stay between Gold and Plat, all on our dime, no business travel and my husband flys upwards of 150K miles every year business and leisure.

mingw

okay, thanks. I'll just keep my fingers crossed. less than 8 hours now and still 9 open in F and 3 in main (all exits). I'll make sure they tag me as through passenger though when I get to gate.

Microwave

Mrs. Microwave (currently Platinum, previously Gold and Tin before that) and I (EXP) have that problem every now and then. It's extraordinarily frustrating. Last time it happened, one of the (many) highly capable GAs here in Seattle recognised the problem and actually jumped the upgrade queue to seat us together in F, since I was at the top of the list and the Mrs. was several below me (although we were on the same PNR). I can only hope that the new Vaporware 9000 Jetstream reservation system will fix all of these issues.