Mar 5, 2015, 10:12 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
A321T / 321T / Transcontinental JFK to/from LAX & SFO: Upgrade Success & Assistance
American flies the transcontinental A321T with three classes including solo First and Business pairs that fully recline horizontally. (Note the "32B" designation applies to all Airbus A321-100 and -200 - aircraft with "Sharklets" blended winglets in accord with ICAO standards, including two and three class A321s used by AA.)
It appears demand in J is high, supply less so, making this a tricky upgrade from coach to business. First sometimes looks like theres good availability until close to departure, and its common that this cabin is filled deadheading.
Upgrading is challenging, and Y to J SWU or miles + copay always trumps 500 mile or DODU / courtesy upgrades within an elite tier. (500 mile and courtesy upgrades from Business to First is not allowed).
Remember, upgrade priority for these flights is:
*Y to C/J only; C to F not allowed
Cabins will generally not be rolled forward (e.g. J to F) to accommodate upgrades.
Those confirmed in Flagship First on these (between JFK and LAX or SFO) can access Flagship Lounges as well as Flagship First Dining at JFK or LAX, or the Admirals Club at SFO (or the LAX TBIT Qantas First lounge).
Related threads:
Aircraft guide: Which Airbus A321? (including 321, 32B, A321neo)
A321 Transcon / A321T / "32B" 3 class began service Jan 2014 (consolidated)
Best Business / First seat on AA transcon Airbus A321 / A321T / "32B" (consolidated)
Best Economy / MCE seat on AA transcon Airbus A321 / A321T / 32B (consolidated)
Posts from 2014 through 2016 have been archived, and may be read here.
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
American flies the transcontinental A321T with three classes including solo First and Business pairs that fully recline horizontally. (Note the "32B" designation applies to all Airbus A321-100 and -200 - aircraft with "Sharklets" blended winglets in accord with ICAO standards, including two and three class A321s used by AA.)
It appears demand in J is high, supply less so, making this a tricky upgrade from coach to business. First sometimes looks like theres good availability until close to departure, and its common that this cabin is filled deadheading.
Upgrading is challenging, and Y to J SWU or miles + copay always trumps 500 mile or DODU / courtesy upgrades within an elite tier. (500 mile and courtesy upgrades from Business to First is not allowed).
Remember, upgrade priority for these flights is:
- Elite status tier
- SWU & miles and copay
- Business Extra and special corporate agency upgrade certificates
- 500 mile (stickers) and complimentary / DODU upgrades*
- Award upgrades (CK, EXP, PRO)*
- Last 12 months rolling EQD spend
- Etc.
*Y to C/J only; C to F not allowed
Cabins will generally not be rolled forward (e.g. J to F) to accommodate upgrades.
Those confirmed in Flagship First on these (between JFK and LAX or SFO) can access Flagship Lounges as well as Flagship First Dining at JFK or LAX, or the Admirals Club at SFO (or the LAX TBIT Qantas First lounge).
Related threads:
Aircraft guide: Which Airbus A321? (including 321, 32B, A321neo)
A321 Transcon / A321T / "32B" 3 class began service Jan 2014 (consolidated)
Best Business / First seat on AA transcon Airbus A321 / A321T / "32B" (consolidated)
Best Economy / MCE seat on AA transcon Airbus A321 / A321T / 32B (consolidated)
Posts from 2014 through 2016 have been archived, and may be read here.
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
Airbus A321T / 321T 32B Transcon JFK <--> LAX / SFO Upgrade Success / Help
Jun 6, 2021, 7:12 am
#511
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 391
I wanted to post my update - was upgraded to J as an EXP 100 hours out on LAX-JFK (for me and my travel companion) using upgrade 'stickers' for her and mine complimentary. First flight of the day (7am) on a Sat morning so that's probably why I even had a chance at it. Had been tracking the flight for weeks and the J cabin remained hopeful but I didn't think I'd get so lucky as to 100 hours out. Anyway, now I'm tracking the flights JFK-LAX home in a couple weeks and see if I can pull it off again. Will report back!
Jun 7, 2021, 6:44 pm
#512
Join Date: May 2000
Location: HH Gold, Marriott Gold, PC Plat, Emirates Silver
Posts: 2,677
Who gets priority for the F seat on flight X (JFK-LAX)?
1) an elite booked in J on flight X trying to upgrade to F
2) a non elite on a F award for flight Y later in the day but trying to get on flight X in also in F
1) an elite booked in J on flight X trying to upgrade to F
2) a non elite on a F award for flight Y later in the day but trying to get on flight X in also in F
Jun 27, 2021, 7:29 pm
#513
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA, UA, Marriott
Posts: 1,099
Does anyone have recent (last month) experience and can share what upgrade success has been like recently, both to LAX and SFO at previously tough times like Thursday evening / Friday morning / non-red eye Sunday?
I’d be at the bottom of EXP priority since I haven’t traveled much and am considering going the miles+copay route (which I think is a better deal than SWU) but not sure if that’s necessary.
J seems to be filling well but I am also guessing they are also overselling Y and opping-up. Thank you.
I’d be at the bottom of EXP priority since I haven’t traveled much and am considering going the miles+copay route (which I think is a better deal than SWU) but not sure if that’s necessary.
J seems to be filling well but I am also guessing they are also overselling Y and opping-up. Thank you.
Jun 27, 2021, 7:44 pm
#514
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AA EXP & Life Plat; AA 4MM; TWA Life Plat; HH Diamond
Posts: 1,107
Memorial Day Monday SFO-JFK Redeye...bought coach at ~105hrs til flight...cleared to J at ~100 hrs as EXP with maybe 8K BIS in the prior 12 months. Plane went out 9/10 in F and 20/20 in J.
Jun 27, 2021, 9:14 pm
#515
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,423
Jun 28, 2021, 6:37 pm
#516
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott BonVoy Titanium Elite, Marriott LT Plat.
Posts: 1,717
JFK-SFO went out full in Y and J today at 7:30 AM. Upgrade cleared right at the 100 hr mark. FA was "strongly suggesting" that everyone needs to start pre-selecting meals now too. And she was greeting some passengers as "premium customers" and then there were thanks to EXP's. Others just were greeted by name. "Premium Customer" must be CK. F only had 4 people... Didn't appear that anyone was rolled into F either.
Jul 24, 2021, 3:17 pm
#517
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: So Cal
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 2,678
Question in regard the meal service for the 8pm Jfk-Lax.. That flight always used to be 7:59pm which I always assumed was done on purpose to maybe be before 8pm and thus it was always a dinner flight. The final flight to Lax was always "Snack". Although def. nice for a snack but still not the coursed out dinner with 4 options.
At any rate, just booked a ticket in J in December for Jfk-Lax & I noticed the 7:59pm is now 8pm. Was worried if that means it will be the snack although it is listed as Dinner so I guess I will be godo. However, there is an 830 added in also due to the Holidays and it is listed as Dinner also. the 930pm last flight is still Snack.
Was there any significance to the 7:59pm that flight used to be, just noticed the 8pm change and hoping will still be full dinner service. What I dont get is on my email receipt where it says the flight info next to Meals: it is blank. Normally on the email receipt it will list the meal always. So was confused on this email why its not listed. However, it did say Dinner and I believe even showed the Pre Order option 30 days out when booking.
Meanwhile, this is on Xmas so my second question is does service differ at all on Xmas for the menu? I've never flown on Xmas before, well not a premium service oriented route. Just some quick hops around Europe with no food.
Thx
At any rate, just booked a ticket in J in December for Jfk-Lax & I noticed the 7:59pm is now 8pm. Was worried if that means it will be the snack although it is listed as Dinner so I guess I will be godo. However, there is an 830 added in also due to the Holidays and it is listed as Dinner also. the 930pm last flight is still Snack.
Was there any significance to the 7:59pm that flight used to be, just noticed the 8pm change and hoping will still be full dinner service. What I dont get is on my email receipt where it says the flight info next to Meals: it is blank. Normally on the email receipt it will list the meal always. So was confused on this email why its not listed. However, it did say Dinner and I believe even showed the Pre Order option 30 days out when booking.
Meanwhile, this is on Xmas so my second question is does service differ at all on Xmas for the menu? I've never flown on Xmas before, well not a premium service oriented route. Just some quick hops around Europe with no food.
Thx
Last edited by happiest_at_40000; Jul 24, 2021 at 3:28 pm
Dec 6, 2021, 9:03 pm
#518
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: AA PP, UA 1K/MM, WoH Globalist, HH Gold
Posts: 1,194
For the scenario where the seatmap shows business class full, but seats still available in first, and AA is still selling both business ( R ) and first ( A ), are existing business class passengers moved up to first to free up space for the business class seat? Or someone purchasing a business class seat actually end up in first?
If there are “op-up” for the business class passenger, what is it based on? Status/fare class booked?
If there are “op-up” for the business class passenger, what is it based on? Status/fare class booked?
Dec 6, 2021, 11:34 pm
#519
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA, UA, Marriott
Posts: 1,099
For the scenario where the seatmap shows business class full, but seats still available in first, and AA is still selling both business ( R ) and first ( A ), are existing business class passengers moved up to first to free up space for the business class seat? Or someone purchasing a business class seat actually end up in first?
If there are op-up for the business class passenger, what is it based on? Status/fare class booked?
If there are op-up for the business class passenger, what is it based on? Status/fare class booked?
Dec 21, 2021, 7:31 am
#520
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SFO or OAK
Programs: AA 1MM GLD, Hertz #1 Gold, bunch of other programs w/no status
Posts: 1,452
Upgrade + companion upgrade cleared at the 24 hr mark (Gold) for SFO-JFK. All seats taken in J and app says we will be assigned seats at airport. 8 seats still showing in F. I am astounded the upgrade cleared with a full J cabin. EF shows F8 J0 Y7 availability.
Update: we were assigned seats when we checked in at SFO. I'm guessing 2 pax got bumped to F, as there were at least 4 seats taken in F when we boarded. Super happy to have snagged the upgrade, and we only paid $105 for the one-way fare!
Update: we were assigned seats when we checked in at SFO. I'm guessing 2 pax got bumped to F, as there were at least 4 seats taken in F when we boarded. Super happy to have snagged the upgrade, and we only paid $105 for the one-way fare!
Last edited by mangoMan; Dec 22, 2021 at 6:57 am
Jun 27, 2022, 2:47 pm
#523
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CT/NY
Programs: UA 1K/1MM, AA EXP, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat Amb
Posts: 6,016
For my recent SFO-JFK 1pm flight, booked in coach, and applied a BXP1. I noticed that for this specific flight they stopped selling coach a couple of times, including 4 days prior to departure. Business had 4 seats available, while F has 6 seats or so, both selling at $3250/3450 respectively.
My upgrade was cleared 48 hours prior to the flight, and at that time business was booked full according to the seatmap. Did not check whether they continued to sell seats in J or F.
30 minutes prior to boarding time, the gate agent called me on my cellphone, letting me know that business was oversold by 2, so they are going to op-up me to F.
My upgrade was cleared 48 hours prior to the flight, and at that time business was booked full according to the seatmap. Did not check whether they continued to sell seats in J or F.
30 minutes prior to boarding time, the gate agent called me on my cellphone, letting me know that business was oversold by 2, so they are going to op-up me to F.
Jun 27, 2022, 4:15 pm
#524
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MM Gold, AA Ex Plat, SPG Plat,Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Gold, National Executive Elite
Posts: 992
Jun 27, 2022, 10:22 pm
#525
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton DMD, Hyatt Glob, Hertz PC
Posts: 267
AA276:
Tuesday, May 17: Flew in coach one row up from a CK, and I think there was another in Y along with loads of EXP. There were at least two CKs in J, and another was rolled to F.
Thursday, June 9th: Booked Flagship First for 35.5k miles. Flight was booked even at departure, but everyone's upgrades cleared.
Tuesday, May 17: Flew in coach one row up from a CK, and I think there was another in Y along with loads of EXP. There were at least two CKs in J, and another was rolled to F.
Thursday, June 9th: Booked Flagship First for 35.5k miles. Flight was booked even at departure, but everyone's upgrades cleared.