PlatinumScum

I used a VIP to upgrade SFO-DFW yesterday. I know that most readers will consider this the height of folly, but read on and see if there's a flaw in my logic.

I'm booked on AA 1210 this Friday (6/22) afternoon/evening; I requested a complimentary upgrade when I purchased the ticket last Tuesday (6/12). I've found that upgrades out of the Bay Area on a Friday are tough, so I've been watching this one closely via seatcounter.com. (I'm not an ExpertFlyer subscriber.)

From what I can tell, no upgrades cleared at 100 hours. (Neither of the seat maps changed, nor did F, A, or P availability.) By late yesterday seatcounter was showing F6 A6 P5 Y7 B7 H7 K6; all other classes were zeroed out. I used AA.com to try booking the least expensive seat available on this flight; sure enough, it came up as a KUP.

This fact convinced me that the complimentary upgrade had almost no chance of clearing (pre-airport). If 5 or 6 people wanted seats on that flight between Monday evening and Friday (which hardly seems unlikely), I was probably going to be out of luck. I know that 3.5 hours doesn't seem like a long flight to those of you who regularly travel internationally, but it's actually somewhat long compared to most of my short hops around TX, OK, AR, LA, etc. (If it's not obvious, I'm a segment qualifier.) Plus it's Friday evening.

So I figured I had to do something if I didn't want to be sweating this one out. The options I came up with were: (1) use 15,000 miles to upgrade, (2) use one of my 7 remaining VIPs, or (3) try to switch to AA 566, which leaves 1:20 later and looks a little more open up front.

I ruled out option #3 for a few reasons. First, I'm booked in G, and that fare class wasn't available on 566 yesterday afternoon (per seatcounter), although it is showing G1 now. Second, I didn't want to spend the $100 change fee (plus possibly a fare difference). Third, I didn't want to get back to Dallas any later than my currently scheduled 9:25 pm arrival. All of this assumes that X was even available on 566.

So it was down to miles or the VIP. I'm in a fairly odd position with regard to VIPs; all of my business travel is domestic, and my personal international travel all involves a visit to my wife's family in Peru (or bringing them here for a visit). Flights to LIM can be upgraded for 12,500 miles, with no co-pay. (That's right; DFW-MIA-LIM can be upgraded for fewer miles than DFW-MIA.) With this travel pattern, I've concluded that miles which don't expire are worth more to me than VIPs which do expire.

So, what do you think? Did I miss something?

pushback

If it made you feel good it makes me feel good.

JonNYC

Define "this".

PlatinumScum

Using a VIP to upgrade a 3.5 hour domestic flight on an MD-80.

hedoman

You get to do whatever you want with your VIP upgrades. At least they did not expire. I would have skipped the entry on FT.

JonNYC

I meant what hedoman meant.

Spiff

You would have almost certainly received more than 15,000 miles per eVIP, had you gone to the Coupon Connection.

Enjoy your flight.

(Is there still time to switch to a mileage upgrade?)

nomore1k

You missed option 4: Sit in back.

Sorry, that was silly. I don't know what I was thinking. Please don't take away my FT account.

braddev

I'm curious why you don't think you'll get upgraded? F6 with 3 days to go and you're explat? I'd feel pretty good about my odds, especially with a late flight that will no doubt have some seats open up due to stand bys on earlier flights.

blasta34

They are your VIPs, do what you want with them. Personally I would have sat in back.

kef0913

Heaven Forbid!

PlatinumScum

The main thing was the limited availibility of coach seats. Once it gets to the point that the least expensive ticket is a KUP, I figure that those up-front seats are going to go fairly fast. Add in my previous experiences trying to upgrade on Friday afternoon flights out of the Bay Area, the fact that I didn't purchase my ticket particularly early, and the probability that I won't have Internet access to OLCI at 24 hours.

PlatinumScum

I did think about that. I've pretty much decided that I personally don't want to get into that gray area. (Like I said, a personal decision, and I have nothing against those that do choose to participate.) There's also the fact that it costs $375 to transfer 15,000 miles.

PETEFLYS

Well this is something! I feel sad but hey they are not my evip's so upgrade sfo-lax for all i care more avaliability for me on the international flights. I know it is summer and I would not be to happy in coach but as a exp with a upgrade in the system I think it would clear,then again i don't fly to much domestic. I would have upgraded with miles if you wanted it that bad and I know alot of people here who whould have just gave you the miles for a x-mas present of a vip.

pkerr

I would have skipped that reply...