Envoy Suite is the business class product of US Airways, and is on the A330's.

As to using stickers...when I was Plat, I always requested upgrades, but rarely got them. They gave me a boatload when my account converted from US to AA, and just to maintain Plat I've received a bunch every year since. I have 46 in my account right now, but won't need them (since I'm EXP), unless I have a traveling companion.

My point about the envoy suites is that AA has a limited number of domestic flights on internationally-equipped A330's. These have sleeper seats and in some case "premium economy" seats comparable to domestic first class. But they don't have a separate pricing structure for them, so the sleeper seats are priced as first class, and the PE are priced as MCE. So if you purchase an "F" seat on these flights you're getting a much bigger bump in product. So I'd assume many more people (myself included) will purchase these seats, where they might not otherwise buy an F ticket.

This week I had an Anytime award booked within 24hr of departure and I was offered "request 500-mile upgrade" options. Is this a new thing or some kind of system glitch? I didn't have chance to test it due to insufficient stickers.

Edit: I'm only Plat, not EXP.

Where do you request this? At the airport only or via phone?

No David, not for Plat it didn't.

Right. It's a system glitch. When Plat, I was twice offered the opportunity to request upgrades on award tickets.

Can AAgent Manually Upgrade using 500 Mile Upgrades?
 

Sorry if I missed this somewhere else.

I am traveling with my wife tomorrow. I am Plat, she is Gold. We are in the same record and cleared the first segment on 500 mile upgrades a the 48 hour window but the second did not. This morning I checked EF and saw that there was 1 seat available in C so I called AA figuring I would ask to agent to confirm availability and then split the record so I could be upgraded (read: Wife sits in F) and hopefully a second seat would open at he 24 hour mark for Golds. The agent confirmed availability and split the record as requested, then told me that she could not process the upgrade since 500 mile upgrades could only be processed "automatically by the system" so hopefully it would clear in a few minutes. I had never heard of this. Perhaps I should have HUCA, but I didn't. When I checked about an hour later, no upgrade and C availability was gone. The record was properly split and we are both on waitlisted for an upgrade).

Is the inability of the agent to process the upgrade something new or did I screw myself by not calling back? Not the end of he world, but I would like to know what is supposed to happen. As it stands now, Mrs. JeffD is no longer Plat for upgrade purposes so if I had known this was going to happen I probably would have left it alone. Did I miss something or is this the way it's supposed to work?

I have done it by phone.

Sorry. This was in reply to the question, how does one request that miles for an upgrade come from someone else's account. I have done it by phone to upgrade using my wife's miles.

I think you missed the point of my question. To me, what you have stated is the obvious. What I am inquiring about is the ability of the agent to immediately confirm a 500 mile upgrade if they show it available (which in this case, the agent confirmed it was) and the passenger is in the appropriate upgrade window. The agent told me she could not, and only the auto-upgrade system could upgrade using stickers. I had never been told that before so my question is whether or not that statement s true.

This was not a case of only one seat being available in J for sale (i.e. J1) and waiting for the gate agent to process an upgrade if the seat remained empty. The seat had already been released for upgrade (C1) within the 48 hours upgrade window If true, then there are multiple reasons why I didn't get the upgrade. If the agent was misinformed I want to know to avoid this problem in the future.

Domestic 500-mi upgrades need R space, not C. C is the inventory used for miles/copay or SWU upgrades and has nothing to do with your request for 500-mi upgrades.

It's very typical for AA to have C space but no R until right before departure. The AAgent was correct, if the flight was R1, then the system should have automatically processed your upgrade as soon as you split the PNR and went back on the upgrade list as a solo passenger. But in this case there was no R inventory to begin with, hence nothing for the system or AAgent to process.

I haven't followed what the latest update is on this, but I have a BA marketed AA operated flight. Is it possible to request to be added to the upgrade list either (1) over the phone (2) as the airport?

I do not think it has changed. Flight needs to be AA marketed and Operated to be upgrade eligible

to add, it likely was some confusion that caused this. To my knowledge AA does not release or post R inventory, only C.

so my guess is the Agent thought you were referring to instantly upgrading using SWU/miles+Copay which would have been possible as it was C1 (but likely R0).

You are correct. Miles and copay, and also for award flights. My wife flies far more than I do, and we push for her to remain EXPLAT because sometimes we both reap the benefits. So our strategy is for her to fly on paid tickets while I fly on awards with all the miles she has earned. I have been satisfied with my lifetime PLAT (2 MM), although now I might fly more on paid tickets to reach PLATPRO. Make sense?

HI there a quick question. I'm Explat this year but won't qualify for next year. When I was platinum, i would earn 500 mile upgrades to use, But as EP, I don't earn them because upgrades are free. What happens when I go back to platinum and don't have any upgrades in my account because they have expired.....

thanks

any 500 mile upgrades you earned prior to being EXP stay in your account. They do not expire.

they are available for use once you drop to PLT or lower. And you will start earning them again too

Hello,

New gold member/FT member here and I have a trip coming up with my wife and 2 other friends. None have status except myself so, I was planning on booking the tickets under one PNR for the status benefits. I understand that only one companion can be upgraded on stickers. Will I be able to use stickers just for myself and wife? Or will the system not let me do it as there is 4 people on the reservation?

Thanks

Using stickers to confirm upgrade with open C class (LAX-JFK)
 

I've given up on retaining EP status, so now I'm down to platinum and have a bunch of 500 mile "stickers" to use. I'm familiar with the EP upgrade process (and looking for flights with C class availability to be able to upgrade at time of booking) but not so familiar with the sticker process (and have tried to find a clear answer to my question but with no luck so far).

As a AA platinum, when booking a flight with C availability and upgrading using stickers, can I get my upgrade processed at time of booking, or is it left until closer to departure when they run through lists by status/booking/other factors?

I'm looking at LAX-JFK and am only considering AA if I can get the upgrade to clear now (since they're more expensive then B6 and AS).

stickers do not book into C. C is miles + copay or SWUs. C can be confirmed at booking if open although it will cost you 15k miles + 75 USD (or something to that respect)

stickers/500 mile upgrades go to R and those will clear assuming R is open 48 hours in advance.

How long for stickers to post?
 

I had some missing mileage from several weeks ago finally post to my AAdvantage account yesterday, which caused my account to cross the 12,500 mile threshold for earning 4 more stickers. The "EQMs needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" counter reset from <1,000 miles needed to >10,000 miles needed so all looks correct, but stickers have not posted to my account. Is this normal? How long after the counter resets before the stickers are present in the account and available for use? After 12 years at EXP, I haven't had to deal with this issue in a long time so I'm seeking a bit of expertise. Thanks.

edit: issue/bug managed to work itself out after posting

EQMs needed info?
 

It appears that in AA's efforts to continually screw around with their web page, they have either hidden or moved the "EQMs needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" information. anyone else notice this, or know where it can now be found, if anywhere?

The stickers themselves usually take up to several business days to show up on the website after the counter rolls over. It is my understanding from other posts that they are actually available to use immediately - it's just the website itself is behind. If others know this to be not correct, please chime in.

Yes, they made it non-obvious. It took me a few minutes to find it. When you go to "My account" There are three boxes - account summary (the default), promotions and wallet. You can find the info under wallet.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1042a88ddf.png

Where to find your remaining EQM's needed for more stickers.

Just wishful thinking, but I wish AA gave PLTs & GLDs "credit" for the first 500 miles of an UPG. They do it for sub 500 mile flights, so it kind of sucks to have to 2 stickers on a 501 mile flight. It would be great if the first 500 miles were essentially included. So a 1500 mile flight only cost 2 stickers. Again, wishful thinking.

I guess that would be nice but rarely do I or Mrs controller1 ever get upgraded except on the sub-500 mile routes. Therefore, my sticker balance is 42 and Mrs controller1's sticker balance is 27.

Ya, it's one of those things that really doesn't negatively effect anyone in any way (that I can think of) besides AA of course. Everyone in the GLD and PLT classes would get treated equally, and since EQD is in effect, the playing field is still level.

On a side note in relation to your comment, I was able able to clear DFW-MSP-DFW yesterday and today. DFW-MSP at booking, and MSP-DFW about 5 hours after booking. Currently PLT.

I'm at 82 stickers!

My niece is AA Gold and booked on a flight she won't be taking tomorrow as she changed to a later departure date by buying a cheap one way and is just going to let the ticket for tomorrow go unused (change fee plus fare difference was much higher than a one way).

She didn't cancel her sticker upgrade request for the flight she won't be taking and her sticker upgrade just cleared. She has stickers in her account and doesn't want to lose them on a flight she's not taking.

What's the best procedure here? Cancel the ticket? Ignore and do nothing? Something else?

Thanks!

What happened to the line on the AA.com your account page that told you the number of miles you needed to earn another slug of 500 mile upgrades? The new account pages are such a jumble of styles and typefaces and links to other pages that I may be easily missing it.

Never mind. I see the answer a few posts back. Obviously I'm not the only one defeated by a horrible design.

Looks like the AA website has been changed so that you can no longer see how many more miles you need to fly to get 4 E-Upgrades.

Helpful, not.