AAExpDFW

Agreed. If Y is not oversold they won't bump J to F just to clear Y to J upgrades (miles or otherwise).

worldiswide

Another data point. My worldiswide an exp purchased ticket a couple months ago for next Monday dfw to hkg. SWU cleared today. He had an expert flyer alert t, which did not get emailed until about noon. He had seen the space about 8 am, and called to get tick e t reissued. He is a happy camper today waiting for hopefully the same outcome on the wed return, which it seems is a little harder to come by.

tom911

I had a problem staying connected on DFW-HKG two weeks ago and didn't even buy the service coming home today. Very poor connection that kept dropping. I did get a refund from T-Mobile who provides the satellite service.

I had friends in the MCE section today flying with me. I was upgraded 24 hours out and my window seat in that section wasn't taken, allowing the person in the middle seat to move to the window. Rather surprised someone didn't get in there and take it in the intervening time.

J inventory on this flight bounced around all week: J3 to J2 to J7 (two days out) to J6 a day out. I was upgraded within hours of my last check.

worldiswide

J was not full on dfw to hkg on 8/25 but was complately full on 8/27 hkg to dfw. Checked in at airport express station with contract employees who had to ask where the AA counter was only to find out that was f his assignment for the day.
Return upgrade came through day before the flight. Really liked the dfw based crews who seem to have a lot of friends with them since they have a 2 day turn in hkg currently but they have heard murmurings that AA would like it to be a 17 hour turn which they do not like at all. Really didn't like the design where the ife screen was partially blocked if you had a laptop open. He's a multi Tasker on a long flight. Was able to standby for an earlier flight to ord at dfw and made the cut. He's got another trip in September so we will see what that brings.

no1cub17

Looks like upgrades are getting tougher and tougher. J and MCE cabins look pretty darn full this week with no C space available. All that really means is that LCC Dougie will cut this flight ASAP - after all wifi is a waste of money!

JonNYC

Dunno which flights you were specifically referring to as "pretty darn full [in J]", but as far as HKG-DFW this week goes, I don't see anything remarkable whatsoever in terms of business class loads-- quite the contrary:

Monday J7 R7 D7 I7
Tuesday J7 R7 D7 I7
Wednesday J7 R7 D7 I7
Thursday J7 R7 D7 I7

PVG-DFW:
Monday J7 R7 D7 I7
Tuesday J7 R7 D7 I7
Wednesday J7 R7 D7 I7
Thursday J7 R7 D7 I7
(and, somewhat startlingly, these are all F7 P7 as well.)

That's not good.

nachosdelux

You two are talking apples and oranges.

C is not the same as J/R/D/I

upgrades will happen if seats are unsold, although it may occur at the gate.

I was fortunate to find upgradable space (C) at booking when this route first opened up.

I bought a second ticket a couple months later (for Feb 2015) and do not expect them to open C until 0-3 days out.

JonNYC

Right, neither of us knew that

FWAAA

JonNYC was not addressing C space because he was responding to, and refuting, a nonsensical assertion that the J cabins "were pretty darn full."

Turns out that they aren't anywhere near full, and yes, as you point out, upgrades are very likely.

Ready2Go

I also don't think that a full MCE cabin is a good proxy on the HKG route for lots of EXPs and PLTs on the waitlist. I think these flights are so long that non-status pax are plumping for MCE.

I flew 137 last week and 138 this week. When I booked, MCE was already very full - only non-exit row middle seats available. A very bad sign on some routes, but phone agents told me not to worry. My SWUs ended up clearing 5 days ahead on 137 and 4 days ahead on 138. I think most of the people who were in MCE before I was stayed there.

no1cub17

I was referring to DFW-HKG this week w/r/t "full" cabins. Maybe I'm wrong - I'm kind of a n00b to this EF thing. In any case as a relatively infrequent traveler compared to y'all, I certainly wish I was flying on one of these open dates, and not the date we're booked on!

Peter_Ng

I also took the 6am flight last Fri out of SFO. Flight came in 18 min early. For the SWU, only me get the upgrade and my wife (AA no status) did not make it. I was #1 and she was like #32 . Of course, I was the one who take one for the team, and sitting almost 17hr even in the MCE with empty middle seat was a pain. Food in Y was borderline inedible
Luckily, we was both upgraded on the return but somehow the agents forgot to apply the SWU to the domestic segment DFW-SFO. This is the second time it happened, look like they waitlisted us only for the long haul but not the domestic. My complimentary upgrade came through though.

nachosdelux

I know you know this. I was really addressing my remarks to no1cub17, but I always mess up the multiple quotes.

frudd38

I had the opposite happen where my dfw-lax was waitlisted through the complimentary EXP.. but it never cleared even with 8 seats open 24 hours out.. good thing I checked and the agent processed it with the swu from hkg-dfw.

dchen2

I'm going HKG-DFW-HKG Oct 4 - Oct 11, waitlisted Y-J. The HKG-DFW J cabin looks very open but DFW-HKG Oct 11 is very iffy. More than a month out and it's J6 already.

Strange the HKG-DFW is so empty and returning leg so full since both is on a Saturday.