ARCHIVE: Chances of upgrade clearing / upgrade availability - 2012 and prior)
#166
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
You can upgrade with 15K miles and a $50 co-pay. I'd say your odds are decent if you plan well in advance; in fact, the upgrade may clear at the time you make the request.
#167
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: LAX; AA EXP, MM; HH Gold
Posts: 31,789
I understand there is nothing similar to UA's CR-1 instrument on AA, so I would have to obtain an eVIP to upgrade in advance.
Otherwise, I would have to use miles plus a co-pay. With no status and on a transcon, does this seem possible? The flight is a 757 at 6am Wed morning and I purchased a Q fare.
Otherwise, I would have to use miles plus a co-pay. With no status and on a transcon, does this seem possible? The flight is a 757 at 6am Wed morning and I purchased a Q fare.
If there's A inventory available, then miles plus co-pay would clear right away. If not, you'll be at the bottom of the waitlist. I'd do this right now if F is important to you.
There's another way to upgrade and that is with a kiosk-offered LFBU (cash for Load Factor Based Upgrade), but that's not very likely on LAX-MIA, since they're offered only once all elite requests are satisfied. I rarely see empty F seats between here and there.
Dunno about seatcounter. Check out www.expertflyer.com (they have a free trial) to see availability.
#168
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LOS Angeles
Programs: UA 1K, AA PLT, BA Gold
Posts: 350
Well i guess I should sing up for the lottery since i recieved a conformation more than 100 hours out and im only a PLT
#169
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA EXP, 1 MM, AC, HH Diamond, Marriott Silver, Hertz 5*
Posts: 4,010
#170
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,635
Even as an EXP, on JFK-LAX...I'm not having much luck. I booked a flight 3 weeks out for JFK-LAX on July 9 (AA19)...and we're already showing 0 A availability and so I waitlisted for eVIP. Went from 11 unassigned to 6 unassigned seats (All the other flights that day have nearly full availability)-just my luck!
Sure hope I get the upgrade, that's a long flight coming back.
Sure hope I get the upgrade, that's a long flight coming back.
#171
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,337
My miles+copay upgrade to J on AA 30 7/22 (LAX-JFK redeye) just cleared, thanks to Expertflyer. It looks like they released a couple of J seats into C inventory (eVIP/miles+$) on ALL the flights going LAX-JFK that day once they went past T-21 days (a bunch of flights that were C0 are now C2).
#172
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,635
My miles+copay upgrade to J on AA 30 7/22 (LAX-JFK redeye) just cleared, thanks to Expertflyer. It looks like they released a couple of J seats into C inventory (eVIP/miles+$) on ALL the flights going LAX-JFK that day once they went past T-21 days (a bunch of flights that were C0 are now C2).
#173
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,337
Well, all hope isn't lost- there are more seats open at the pointy end of the plane than the back on that flight. And maybe they'll release a couple and upgrade you after T-7 so they can boost up the numbers of open seats at the back of the plane.
#174
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA EXP, 1 MM, AC, HH Diamond, Marriott Silver, Hertz 5*
Posts: 4,010
#175
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,635
Although, I do see about half the F cabin still unassigned. Perhaps some of these full-fare J's will get or request an upgrade to F, and thus open up their seat. We'll see! I booked this one 3 weeks in advance to the flight...so perhaps if placed on standby I'll be on the top of the list.
#176
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,337
Just curious, how did Expert Flyer help the upgrade clear?
#177
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA EXP, 1 MM, AC, HH Diamond, Marriott Silver, Hertz 5*
Posts: 4,010
#178
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: AAdvantage EXP 1MM+, Marriot Platinum, Avis First
Posts: 43
I'm flying JFK-LHR with my mom in August. I purchased the tickets back in February. She has no status. Our reservations are linked. At the time there was availability for only one eVip upgrade. For some reason, the agent could not upgrade my mom's reservation so we did mine and waitlisted mom's. Surprisingly, she got the LHR-JFK upgrade 3 months ago. I had signed up for EF alerts but I did not get an alert before her upgrade. We're still waiting for the outbound flight upgrade. I'm not sure if we have a good chance. We're traveling on Saturday, August 15 at 6:30pm. There are 2 or 3 other JFK-LHR flights on the same day. The "seat availability" map still looks good. EF says there are 7 spots open in J. It doesn't show the C bucket yet for that flight.
If she doesn't get the upgrade, I'll switch seats with her. At least we have the upgrades for the return flights but I'm more interested in upgrading the outbound flight.
If she doesn't get the upgrade, I'll switch seats with her. At least we have the upgrades for the return flights but I'm more interested in upgrading the outbound flight.
#179
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: New York, NY, USA
Programs: BAGold; AA3MMPlat; UA1MMGold; FBGold; MarriottAmb; AccorPlat; HHGold; ICPlatAmb; HyattDiscoverist
Posts: 4,378
EF DOES show C availability, but perhaps (since you refer to the J availability) you're only looking under "flight availability"? If you haven't already done so, look under "awards and upgrades."
#180
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: AAdvantage EXP 1MM+, Marriot Platinum, Avis First
Posts: 43
I just called the AAdvantage desk anyway and the agent said that my mom is still waitlisted and has a good chance of clearing. *crosses fingers*