Does Platinum Have Priority for Waitlist for FF International Awards
 

I am Platinum and am trying to buy a coach ticket to London at the end of September and use FF miles and $250 to upgrade to business. Right now there is no availability from any gateway city to London to do this. I was told that I could buy coach and be put on a wait list for the upgrade. As Platinum, would I be "priority waitlisted" or is it just a matter of "first come first serve"?

You would have priority over any waitlisted AA Gold's and any AA Plats that you are waitlisted ahead of. However EXPs will have priority over you no matter when they get waitlisted.

Don't forget the $250 fee is gone, even if you fail to get the upgrade. No refund if you fail to be upgraded.

Its a price of admission to the Lottery of getting an international upgrade.

Sorry, but that is the AA FF rules.

When I spoke to Platinum customer service, the rep told me that they take a credit card number to charge the $250 if the upgrade goes through. I inferred there was no charge if there was no upgrade available.

I don't believe that's true. From AA.com:

Q: If I pay the co-pay will I have a better chance of confirming the upgrade? Are you making more upgrade seats available?
A: The co-pay is not collected unless the upgrade is confirmed, at which time miles are deducted from your account. Our Revenue Management analysts constantly monitor our seating inventories to ensure that the maximum possible number of seats are available for upgrade, given our primary goal of selling our Premium services at full Business, First and Premium Class fares. The addition of a co-pay does not alter this procedure.

Stop injecting facts into a good anti-AA rant :)


Cheers.

lol! AA would *wish* that were true...

Er, are we talking about the same AA here?

That's not how it works.

"Trust me, I know."
™American AAdvantage Flyertalkers ;)

Do you have dates? Are you flexible in those dates? Are you particular about what airport?

The wait list will depend on the seats sold that day (weekends and Fridays are worse,) the number of elites on that route and flight (some flights are laden with precious metal toting AAdvantage members,) and you rposition on the list. As others have mentioned, you will be right behind EXPs who requested on any date, and any Plats who requested before you, but ahead of Golds, and any Plats who requested after you.

Connecting to the Continent, I sometimes opt for MAN (another secondary AA UK destination woudl do) - which aslo puts me in a better Business Class than a 777 has, as it is a 767-323ER.

Did'ya get that from the same sources as this?
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549790

Another newbie post?

Depending on your reference...

Actually, the "winkie" and phony TM refer to that phrase as one that has been used A LOT around here lately. But Brandy isn't so much a newbie as maybe someone who enjoys fanning the sparks, IMO, and has been known to be 'way off in the accuracy department.

I think we may have to wait a while for the apology.

What's particularly grating about Brandy's post is that it is not just unconfirmed hogwash rumors, but clearly incorrect, false information, as described in Post #5. FWIW, that info comes from this page

FYI-- The thread title is a little misleading since it implies a waitlist exists for international awards. There isn't one. You are really on a paid waitlist like everyone else, award or not.

I'm on a business award to Europe and stuck in coach on 1 transatlantic segment due to availability. Not allowed to be waitlisted for this.