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AA "Sticker" / 500-mile & EXP "UDU" Complimentary Upgrade Policy / FAQ

Old Jan 2, 2013, 4:01 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Prospero
Glossary:

500 mile upgrades: earned by Gold and Platinum Elites, can be used to upgrade segments in 500 mile increments of North and Central America, Caribbean flights from Economy to the next class of service.. Read below.

e500: Occasional nickname used for 500 mile upgrades.

Electronic or 500 mile upgrades: non-expiring electronic instruments used for near Americas and Caribbean elite upgrades; please read below.

MTEU: Miles Toward Electronic Upgrades. The MTEU earning year zeroes February 28.

Stickers: Holdover name from when 500 mile upgrades were actual stickers applied to tickets when upgraded.

UDU: Unlimited Domestic Upgrades granted EXP and PRO members in lieu of earning or using 500 mile upgrades. (Consequently, they do not earn stickers.)

Related thread: End of Feb insufficient miles for 4 500 mile upgrade stickers (2017). (Requesting "stickers" for incremental MTEU threshold accomplishment.)

NOTE: CHANGES in effect as of 1 January 2017:

Upgrade priority:
  • Elite tier
  • Systemwide and Mileage award upgrades
  • Business Extra and certain Agency upgrade certificates
  • 500-mile / courtesy DODU / UDU upgrades on purchased tickets
  • 500-mile upgrades on PRO, EXP award tickets
  • Last 12 month rolling EAD spend
  • Fare code
  • Date if purchase

Platinum Pro status holders join Executive Platinum members with complimentary "Unlimited Domestic Upgrades / UDU.
  • Usable to upgrade from Economy to next class of service (Not Business to First)
  • Flights 500 miles or less: Unlimited, auto-requested complimentary upgrades*
  • Flights over 500 miles: Complimentary "domestic" (North & Central America, Caribbean) upgrades
  • Upgrade one companion traveling with you on the same flight with 500-mile upgrades*

Companions:
ONE passenger traveling with you can borrow your status for upgrade purposes. They do not have to be on the same PNR. When this is done, youll not be upgraded unless sufficient upgrade seats become available to upgrade two (or more) people. This link often is broken when the flight control goes to the airport, and it can be reestablished there (e.g. at the gate). A good clue that the link has broken is if youre #1 or 2 and your companion is significantly below that on the upgrade list, such as #11. Finally, because of IT flaws, the 500 mile upgrades for your traveling companion will by necessity come from your account, even if your companion has their own stickers. This has not been true for some time, if your companion has status, the system will try to pull the stickers from the companion's account. If there are not enough stickers, you will have to check-in at the airport to have stickers pulled from your account

For questions about whether to split or consolidate PNRs for itineraries involving multiple parties, please see this thread:
Companion upgrade issues including "link" / split PNR for status etc. (master thread)

Link to aa.com 500 mile upgrades (AKA "stickers") page.

Link to aa.com to "Upgrade your experience".


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AA "Sticker" / 500-mile & EXP "UDU" Complimentary Upgrade Policy / FAQ

Old Feb 8, 2019, 12:22 pm
  #166  
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Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet
ORD-MSY cleared around 26h out.
Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet
Odd, CLT-LGA return cleared 100h out but ORD-MSY and MSY-CLT still haven't what is ops doing regarding flights in and out of NOLA. Holding space on WIDE OPEN F cabins.
Originally Posted by GetSetJetSet
Lucky me. EWR-ORD went tech, rerouted through CLT to MSY and bumped out of F and back to Y on both legs.
With all due respect, this thread is about the policies, procedures, and processes surrounding AA's domestic UDU/500-mi upgrades. It is not the thread to continuously post whether you receive an upgrade or not on each and every flight.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 1:00 pm
  #167  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Chicago
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For 500 mile "stickers", I thought those remained in your account unless the upgrade was actually confirmed? I have a pending upgrade request in and it pulled the stickers already. Maybe it's done that in the past as well, but I don't ever recall it working this way.
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 9:39 am
  #168  
 
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Do you earn stickers upon earning gold status ?
or do the EQM only start counting once you acheive status ?

Flying 25K EQM for Gold should earn 8 stickers ? Is this not correct ?
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 9:45 am
  #169  
 
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Originally Posted by Shadowfactor
Do you earn stickers upon earning gold status ?
or do the EQM only start counting once you acheive status ?

Flying 25K EQM for Gold should earn 8 stickers ? Is this not correct ?
You start earning stickers once you achieve status. Eight stickers upon earning status would be a nice gesture but this is AA.
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 12:07 pm
  #170  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Seattle, WA
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Is it common for leisure routes to have unsold FC seats held from being given to EXP flyers in the hopes of selling upgrades or paid tickets up until the last minute.

I'm flying with my husband on the LAX-SJD nonstop tomorrow, with four open seats. I'm EXP, he's Plat Pro.

Our return leg from PHX to SEA has already cleared for next Wednesday, but both the LAX-SJD, and SJD-PHX both show open seats, but both haven't cleared. I've never seen that before.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Last edited by FSUSeminole007; Feb 16, 2019 at 12:08 pm Reason: added my initials inadvertently, out of habit.
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 1:41 pm
  #171  
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Originally Posted by FSUSeminole007
Is it common for leisure routes to have unsold FC seats held from being given to EXP flyers in the hopes of selling upgrades or paid tickets up until the last minute.

I'm flying with my husband on the LAX-SJD nonstop tomorrow, with four open seats. I'm EXP, he's Plat Pro.

Our return leg from PHX to SEA has already cleared for next Wednesday, but both the LAX-SJD, and SJD-PHX both show open seats, but both haven't cleared. I've never seen that before.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, depending on the flights historical or predicted sales demand. And depending on what tool youre using to look, empty seats do not mean unsold seats - only that the seats are unassigned. For example, a flight might show four unassigned seats, yet ExpertFlyer might show J2, D2, I0 - meaning only two seats are actually for sale. Or even, at least in theory, J0 could show.
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 3:08 pm
  #172  
 
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Originally Posted by jvel
For 500 mile "stickers", I thought those remained in your account unless the upgrade was actually confirmed? I have a pending upgrade request in and it pulled the stickers already. Maybe it's done that in the past as well, but I don't ever recall it working this way.
I am 99% sure they stay in your account until you actually fly. They certainly should not be pulled when you only have an unconfirmed request.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 12:42 pm
  #173  
 
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What happens if you do not have enough stickers for the upgrade ? I need 4 only have 3 do not want to buy 4 more then not get the upgrade.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 2:48 pm
  #174  
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Originally Posted by Shadowfactor
Do you earn stickers upon earning gold status ?
or do the EQM only start counting once you acheive status ?

Flying 25K EQM for Gold should earn 8 stickers ? Is this not correct ?
No you do not earn stickers upon achieving GLD status. You would need to then fly an additional 12.5K miles to receive the first batch of 4 stickers and then 12.5K miles for the next batch and so on. You would never earn 8 stickers at one time. You could, however, purchase stickers upon achieving GLD status.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 2:51 pm
  #175  
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Originally Posted by dgparent
What happens if you do not have enough stickers for the upgrade ? I need 4 only have 3 do not want to buy 4 more then not get the upgrade.
You can request an upgrade without having the required stickers. If your upgrade clears then you would need to buy the stickers before checking in. Also, IIRC if your on the upgrade list and do not purchase the required stickers you can check in for your original coach seat but would be dropped from the upgrade list. In that case I would suggest holding off checking in until around T-1 and then checking where you stand on the list.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 3:05 pm
  #176  
 
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Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge
No you do not earn stickers upon achieving GLD status. You would need to then fly an additional 12.5K miles to receive the first batch of 4 stickers and then 12.5K miles for the next batch and so on. You would never earn 8 stickers at one time. You could, however, purchase stickers upon achieving GLD status.
thank you for explaining that.

im getting ready to do a AA platinum challenge but will hit AA platinum pro by the end of the year.

if I pay for the Platinum challenge to instantly obtain status. Will those initial EQM I fly start counting towards stickers ? Or will the same theory apply where I wouldnt start earning stickers until flying atleast 25K EQM to achieve gold status the traditional way ?

Im hoping to use them on a smaller Caribbean route two months later.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 4:31 pm
  #177  
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Originally Posted by Shadowfactor


thank you for explaining that.

im getting ready to do a AA platinum challenge but will hit AA platinum pro by the end of the year.

if I pay for the Platinum challenge to instantly obtain status. Will those initial EQM I fly start counting towards stickers ? Or will the same theory apply where I wouldnt start earning stickers until flying atleast 25K EQM to achieve gold status the traditional way ?

Im hoping to use them on a smaller Caribbean route two months later.
No those miles accrued during the Challenge will not count. You arent really purchasing PLT but paying a fee to conduct the Challenge for which you will need to meet the requirements. Obtaining achieving PLT status you can purchase stickers at $40 per 500 miles.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 4:51 pm
  #178  
 
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Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge


No those miles accrued during the Challenge will not count. You arent really purchasing PLT but paying a fee to conduct the Challenge for which you will need to meet the requirements. Obtaining achieving PLT status you can purchase stickers at $40 per 500 miles.
I would be paying for both. I was going to pay for the $300 as I have several trips in PEY on AA where lounge access would come in handy.

So I would be paying the $300 for instant platinum status
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 5:24 pm
  #179  
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Originally Posted by Shadowfactor


I would be paying for both. I was going to pay for the $300 as I have several trips in PEY on AA where lounge access would come in handy.

So I would be paying the $300 for instant platinum status
You would start running the miles odometer toward earning stickers as soon as you begin Platinum status.
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Old Feb 19, 2019, 5:58 pm
  #180  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
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On the three class transcon (specifically LAX->JFK), if I received the complimentary upgrade to business (as a PlatPro), is it possible to upgrade from there to first using miles and cash? My thinking is no, but it seems like a special situation where a domestic is three classes.
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