ARCHIVE: Sticker / 500-mile Electronic Upgrades Protocols / Questions (2009-2014)
 

i apologize in advance if my quesitons sound lame, but I've never requested upgrades before and kind of confused reading this thread:

- It says that 500-mile upgrades (which I have 4 of) can only be used for North America and South America flights. I flown once to the west coast in business and really don't see much difference from economy... I was hoping to use my upgraded for transatlantic flight, but I guess it is not possible?
- Do upgrades work for award travel - in particular - I am planning award trip to french polinesya - can I request upgrades for those flights me being Gold and husband being Plat?

Please go back and reread that section. It most definitely does NOT say 500-mile upgrades (stickers) can be used for flights to South America.


Correct. It is not possible to upgrade TATL with stickers. One must use miles and co-pay or SWUs for those flights.

No, upgrades do not work for award travel.

I encourage you to consult the AA wiki. I believe it contains the answers to all your questions, plus it has lots more information - stuff that you don't yet realize you want to know.

stupid question, bu still...
 

how do you request upgrades? What is the procedure? I am Gold and hubby is Plat - we never requested upgrades... Are you talking sticker upgrades or mile?
hubby's next travel is lga-dfw-psp-dfw-lga - is it worth requesting upgrades?

You should review on aa.com your applicable benefits. Basically, once you become GLD (and same once you hit PLT) you will earn 4 500 mile domestic upgrade segments (at one time called stickers) for each 10,000 actual miles flown. You can also purchase the segments on line or at the kiosk for $30 per 500 miles. When you make your reservation there is a section to request upgrades. You do not need to have the stickers in your account at the time of request or even for the upgrade to clear but will need to have them upon checking in for the flight.

AA considers locations in Central America (except maybe Mexico City IIRC), the Caribbean, and Canada as domestic so you can use stickers for these destinations.

When you go onto your account it will show you the number of stickers that you have. As a little funny side story, about a year ago a GA at the gate next to me was asking a pax that had 68 stickers why he was not using them. The pax appeared to have no idea what they were all about

That pax could very well be me! :)

It shows 4 stickers on both of our accounts. So for this route:
lga-dfw-psp-dfw-lga how many stickers I need? Thank you very much for your answer - I did visit aa.com and the sticky on this forum, but When I read threads and see that people get upgraded here and there for all kinds of flights - international, domestic, etc. I got confused... Seems like ther are different ways to do that. I thought that once you hit Plat all you need to do is ask for an upgrade at the check in... :)

You will need three each for the LGA/DFW leg and I assuming another three for the DFW/PSP leg. This would be for one way. Therefore, you would need to buy two each if you want to upgrade for one of the trips. You can log onto your reservations and request the upgrades. If they clear, then you can go back onto aa.com and purchase the stickers ($120 for the two of you).

When you log into AA.com, you can go to "My Reservations" to see your flight and you can request upgrades there, and it will tell you how many you need for each segment.

I had been a gold for six or so months before I found out about the upgrades, LOL. It was only after I got an ir ops upgrade due to being gold and wanting to fly in F more often and got to researching here that voila I found out about these handy dandy stickers. And FT then REALLY created a monster. So much so I've MRed the past two years to maintain my F/no luggage fees/early boarding ways. If not for an involuntary transition opportunity this year, I had fully planned to become PLAT this year. Now if I could figure out a new profession that calls for regular paid AA travel.....

1. They can not be used for South America flights.
2. They can not be used TATL
3. THey can not be used to go to Polynesia, because they can only be used on AA operated flights and AA doesn't go there
4. They can not be used for award travel

I'm platinum traveling with wife (no status), currently have exit row 20 A/B reserved for all segments. What happens if there is only 1 seat available in 1st class or if there are 2 seats available but are not together?

Greetings, isle-hawg! :) I've moved your post over from the FAQ thread (which is only for discussing the FAQ itself) to this more salient thread, which can be found in the User's Guide Sticky.

/Moderator
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By default, your upgrade will only clear if 2 upgrade inventory slots open up. (It's possible to remove that default, but I don't recall the details of the implications for doing so when traveling with a non-elite companion - a search may turn up the answer.) The exception is 'battlefield' upgrades at the gate or on the plane - in that case, if there is only 1 seat, the gate agent may offer it to you and you can duke it out amongst yourselves ;)

You get whatever seats the system or gate agent assigns you, regardless of whether or not they are together, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on your reservation inside your upgrade window, so that if it clears, you can see if there are different seats available online. If there are no paired seats available, you may be able to convince someone to trade during boarding if you ask nicely - your odds are best when you can trade aisle-for-aisle or window-for-window in non-bulkhead rows.

Will I lose 2 stickers??
 

Hi.....

I had a quick r/t planned for tomorrow, Tuesday. I had requested upgrades. This morning I received an email saying that I got the upgrades. A few hours later, it turns out that the trip must be canceled. I know what my options are about the fare ($150.00 fee for changing); my question is, will I still lose the two upgrade stickers from my account?

Thanks!

No, you will not.

No. Stickers are only deducted from your account once you've taken the flight.

If you cancel your flight, those stickers will still be in your account.