925

I am upgrading a Gold member as my companion (split if needed) on six flights requiring 20 stickers total. Do the 20 stickers need to be in the EXP's account or the Gold's account?

mach92

They can take them out of either account. I have found some agents do not know this.

vrbaba

If I remember correctly, other people on the board have mentioned that the stickers DO need to be in GLD member's account (for the immediate flight), however, they can take them out from the EXP account - yea, i know, it confused me too. So maybe you just need enough stickers for the longest flight in the GLD acct but keep taking them out of EXP.

bdemaria

This is not correct (or perhaps I do not understand the "immediate flight" reference). I traveled a couple of weeks ago w/my sister-in-law, GLD w/no stickers on LAX-JFK. I linked her PNR to mine so that she could piggyback on my status. Both our upgrades cleared and when we checked in, they took the stickers from my account. If she had had stickers, they would have taken them from either. The key is that there have to be enough stickers in a given account for a given flight. In other words, for a 5 sticker flight, you can't take 3 from 1 account and 2 from another.

jurisdr

Exactly. I tried to do this a few years ago and was advised all stickers must come from one account.

925

Question clarification: I understand that an agent can likely pull upgrades from either account. But I want to know which account gets used by default - that is without any agent interaction.

vasantn

It appears from anecdotal evidence here that the stickers come out of the primary account by default.

925

Umm... sorry to be a might stupid... but which one is "primary"?

vasantn

Usually the higher-status person, but if of equal status, I would guess it's the first person on the PNR.

Sprite

When I travel with Sprite (Mrs. Sprite answering) they usually take them from his (exp) account but sometimes I am surprised to see them taken from mine. More often it is from his. My status is usually gold or nothing.

I *think* the rule is: when we ask for 2 or none they come out of Sprites account. When we ask for 1+1 my stickers are taken for my (golds) account. Guessing from experiences.

As suggested by vrbaba, I would have enough for the longest flight in the golds account. If taken you can replenish before next flight.

The Mileage Millionaire

By default, they come from the EXP's account. You might get an agent to change this if the upgrade clears in advance.

The GLD CANNOT be added to the airport upgrade list with the EXP's status unless the EXP has enough stickers to cover the GLD.

brp

Yes. I was told on several occasions (before my wife was EXP) that the stickers are supposed to come from the account of the higher-status person in the case of linking for status. This is the "cost," if you will, of having the link- higher-status person provides the status and the stickers.

With equal-status people, it will come from the account of whomever made the reservation. Even though my wife's last name comes before mine (and she shows up first in the reservation), they come from my account if I make the reservation. The fact that she's EXP ad there should be no stickers removed is another issue

This can all be overridden by having a GA (or AC AAngel) remove the "ADC" code from the dependent person. Then each person will default to their own standing, and it will come from each account (or not) as necessary. Of course, if one person is lower status, don't do this until after upgrades have cleared as this will also (I believe) remove the status link.

Cheers.

The Mileage Millionaire

Correct.

LAXjoe

For what it's worth, I have an upcoming itinerary that includes an upgrade request for myself (EXP) and a companion (GLD). The "Itinerary Details" page for this reservation states the following for this upgrade (of particular refernce to this thread is the last bullet point):

- An electronic upgrade may be confirmed up to three hours prior to departure by our automated system. Once your upgrade is confirmed, your previous seat assignment(s) will be released.

- Upgrades displayed are for companion travel

- If your upgrade request cannot be confirmed prior to check-in, you will be given an opportunity to be added to the airport standby list to continue standing by. In order to be added to the airport standby list, please ensure you have the appropriate number of upgrades in your account prior to check-in.

- 500-mile Upgrades may be purchased at the airport or at a discount when purchased online

- If there are multiple passengers in your reservation and each passenger will be paying for their upgrade separately, please call AAdvantage Reservations at 1-800-433-7300 to ensure your request is handled appropriately.

vrbaba

So, as I was speculating before, do both the accounts NEED to have enough stickers for an upgrade individually for the upcoming flight? Or will it work as long as you have enough combined in both accounts?

For example, one upgrade needs 4 stickers, and a PLT and GLD are traveling together. How does each scenario work (considering PLT is the reservation originator) :
- if the PLT has 2 stickers and GLD has 6?
- if the PLT has 8 and GLD has 0/2 ?
- if the PLT has 4 and GLD has 4 ?

Now, what if GLD is the one who booked the reservation?

Did i cover all the unique possible scenarios?