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FAQ: What's a Systemwide Upgrade / SWU / VIP and how to use? (Master thread)

Old Dec 12, 2015, 8:55 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Prospero
FAQ: What's a Systemwide Upgrade SWU (ex-VIP / VIPOW / "eVIP") 2017 on
Please read this wiki for important information not documented elsewhere.
NOTE: CHANGES

NOTE: SWUs are no longer automatically awarded upon achieving Platinum Pro (PP) or Executive Platinum (EXP) status. Starting in the 2021 calendar year, AA switched to Elite Choice Awards. When a member achieves PP status, the member earns one Elite Choice Award. If the member goes on to achieve EXP status, the member earns two additional elite choice awards. Each elite choice award can be redeemed until 12/31 of the following year (example: a member who reaches PP in July 2021 has until December 31, 2022 to redeem the elite choice award). A PP elite choice award can be redeemed for one SWU or other choices; each EXP elite choice award can be redeemed for two SWUs or other choices. Therefore, a member who reaches EXP can choose from one to five SWUs. When an elite choice award is redeemed for one or two SWUs, the SWU(s) are immediately deposited, and expire one year from the day they are deposited.

NOTE: SWUs awarded in 2019 expiring 31 Jan 2021 have been extended through 31 July 2021; this is now reflected in online accounts.

NOTE: Upgrade waitlist priority is 1) Status, followed by 2) type of upgrade, 3)Rolling EQD earning for last 365 days as of 20 May 2017. Link to FT thread.
  • Executive Platinum members receive an additional two SWUs (or may choose bonus miles or to gift status) when they reach 120,000, 160,000 and 200,000 EQMs in 2021 (which includes January and February 2022).
(No further SWUs are forthcoming at 250,000 EQM or after, though CK often have access to two more.)

Remember: EQM earning will vary from 0 to 3.0 EQM per base mile, based on eligible fare class and marketing airline, on EQM earning fares.

As of January 2017

"The way your upgrade request is prioritized is you'll be listed according to your elite status level followed by (the type of upgrade - SWU and Upgrade Award, aka miles + copay), the number of EQD (Elite Qualifying Dollars) earned in the (rolling) last 12 months."

Upgrades are prioritized first by the following elite status levels:

Concierge Key SM (up to 120 hours out)
Executive Platinum (up to 100 hours out)
Platinum Pro (up to 72 hours out)
Platinum (up to 48 hours out)
Gold (up to 24 hours out)

After status tier, upgrades are prioritized by the type of upgrade (SWU and miles + copay before 500 Mile e-upgrades / UDU; your last 12 months' Elite Qualifying Dollar spend on AA. See FAQ: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA and partner airlines (2017 on) (EQD will include the EQD offset one might earn from spend on their Barclaycard Aviator Red or Silver card, as announced elsewhere in this forum.)

Date of request has no bearing on upgrade priority other than after all other priorities have been met and theres a highly unlikely tie.

From AA.com... "Before you get to the airport, requests for systemwide and mileage award upgrades are processed independently from 500-mile upgrade requests.

At the airport, upgrades requested will be prioritized in this order:
  1. Status tier (CK, EXP, PPRO, PLT, GLD, no status)
  2. Upgrade type
    • Systemwide and mileage + copay upgrades
    • 500-mile upgrades on purchased tickets
    • 500-mile upgrades on award tickets for eligible status tiers
  3. Rolling last 12 month EQD spend
  4. Fare booking code (highest to lowest )
  5. Date/time of the request
  6. Load Factor Based Upgrades (after all other upgrade requests have been fulfilled)

See: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...am-updates.jsp

Systemwide Upgrade FAQ:

Q. What are Systemwide Upgrades, exactly?


Electronic Systemwide Upgrades, abbreviated SWU, also previously referred to as eVIPs or VIPs, are electronic instruments earned as stated previously. SWU generally allow the owner to upgrade up to three segments, more or less in the same direction, on any flights AA flies with their own aircraft (not valid on partners or codeshares -- flights must be marketed and operated by AA), on most paid, published fares to the next class of service. (Successful upgrades on a single SWU include EZE-MIA-JFK-LHR, NRT-LAX-DFW-LHR.)

Q. When do SWU clear?
Upgrades can clear immediately if the appropriate inventory is available (e.g., Coach to Business (and domestic First on two class aircraft) requires "C" class to be available, Business to First requires "A" class to be available). Otherwise, SWU may be waitlisted in priority of AAdvantage status, followed by last 12 months EQD spend (and within those, by fare class if they are full fare Y).

Q. Can I use SWU on codeshares operated by AA?
No. (Though 001 AA ticketing is not a requirement), the flight must be marketed and operated by AA.

Q. Are any fare classes ineligible / invalid for SWU upgrades?
Some government and consolidator fares may not be upgraded. Award flights may not be upgraded with SWU. See post #683 by JonNYC:

Invalid (for SWU upgrade)
  • Military fares*
  • Government fares*
  • Agency/industry discounts
  • Employee travel booked in E
  • AAdvantage/promotion free or companion tickets
  • Ticket designators that require a certificate (CEN20, etc.) - contact MSD to verify
  • MSD Site products (ticket designator SITE)
  • CAT25/CAT25 Group Fares for MCLA
  • Charter flights
  • Infant tickets
  • Purchased extra seats (one passenger)
  • Opaque fares
  • Award tickets

*The reason for not allowing SWU / eVIP upgrades to be used in conjunction with a military/government fare is not based on the fare level (although they are discounted), but rather it is based on the full flexibility those fares provide. Military/government fares provide a huge benefit to the customer already in that they can be booked at the last minute and canceled or changed with no advance notice and no penalties. As such, they are not allowed to be used in conjunction with a SWU.

Can I still make use of my SWU and credit the flight(s) to another airline?
You are not supposed to. If switching from AAdvantage to another scheme's FFN, please be aware: Benefitting from a privilege granted for your AAdvantage status and changing your FFN to earn on another airline is generally prohibited by AAdvantage Terms and Conditions. Doing so might risk that benefit (e.g. upgrade).

From the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions (link)

Q. Can I see SWU eligible flights on aa.com? If not, where?
aa.com will show if a flight has SWU availability, provided the member is logged in and has sufficient SWUs in their account. One can see required inventory (A or C) using ExpertFlyer Upgrade and Award query (not Flight Availability query) or other tools.

Q. What is the priority order for SWU wait list clearing?
Priority for wait listing is based first on AAdvantage status of requestor, then by rolling EQD earning during las 12 months; within those criteria, full fare (J or Y) trumps discounted fares.

NOTE: once the booking goes to airport control you may have to request your SWU request be reactivated. Those travel companions previously prioritized by the sponsor's status no longer revert to their own status at airport control.

Q. How do I know if my SWU request has been waitlisted?
The app as well as the web page shows requested and confirmed upgrades.

If my SWU clears on AA but the flights is cancelled or delayed, and I get put on another AA or partner flight, will my upgrade be preserved / honored?

On AA and Joint Business Venture partners (AY, BA, IB, JL, QF), AA will attempt to honor the upgrade. On other airline partners it is unlikely.

Q. Can I gift SWUs to others, and will my or their status apply?
You may certainly gift SWU to others. They will have to provide you their information, including PNR, and you will have to call it in. Your status can carry over to one traveling companion (on your itinerary) until the SWU passes to airport control; otherwise, SWU priority will depend on the user's AAdvantage status followed by date of upgrade request.

Q. What if I apply a SWU to a traveling companion?
They will borrow your status if they are flying as your single traveling companion on the same flights. Otherwise, their status will determine their position on the upgrade wait list. This "borrowed" status was previously lost once the flight has gone to airport control; it doesnt now, but it pays to check and see if it has been mismanaged by software - it can be restored when it has passed to airport control.

Q. Can I sell or purchase SWUs to / from others (e.g. on eBay or CraigsList)?
While SWU may be gifted to others, AAdvantage rules prohibit selling / purchasing, trading or bartering various instruments, including SWU. A sold SWU will, if caught by AA Corporate Security AAdvantage Fraud (and they actively seek these out), cause SWU / upgrade cancellation at minimum and may even include closing the seller's account with forfeiture of miles, upgrade instruments and even elite status.


Further useful details about using SWU

● Members who achieve Platinum Pro (PP) status receive one Elite Choice Award, which may be redeemed for one SWU (among other choices). Members who achieve PP between 1/1/2021 and 2/28/2022 have until 12/31/2022 to redeem the Elite Choice Award. If an SWU is chosen, the SWU is immediately deposited and expires one year from the date deposited.

● Members who achieve Executive Platinum (EXP) status receive two Elite Choice Awards, each of which may be redeemed for two SWUs (among other choices). Members who achieve EXP between 1/1/2021 and 2/28/2022 have until 12/31/2022 to redeem their Elite Choice Awards. If two SWUs are chosen for an award, the SWUs are immediately deposited and expire one year from the date deposited.

● Members who reach 120,000, 160,000 or 200,000 EQMs between 1/1/2021 and 2/28/2022 may choose two SWUs (or additional redeemable miles or a gift of status) upon reaching 120,000, 160,000 and 200,000 EQMs.

Two SWUs (more) are earned by Concierge Key members.

Four SWUs are earned by those crossing Million Miler thresholds of 2MM and every Million Miles milestone thereafter.

● SWUs may be transferred or gifted (not bargained, bartered or sold) to anyone the owner chooses - the owner must authorize the transfer and provide at minimum the designated person's name, frequent flyer #, and PNR. Note fees and taxes may be due, such as APD / Air Passenger Duty due for flights originating in the UK (or with connections exceeding 23:59).

● AA tends to protect passengers granted upgrades with SWUs if IROPS move them to other oneworld flights, particularly JBV partners (AA, AY, BA, IB, JL, preserving already granted upgrades (not waitlisted).

● N.B. A customer may use an SWU to upgrade a flight that departs after the SWU's expiration date, provided the SWU clears (the upgrade is confirmed) and the ticket is (re)issued before the SWU expires. (Previously this had been allowed only for 'high value' customers). See for example:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/americ...wide-upgrades/

● N.B. In the good old days, if there were not sufficient C space (e.g., a party of three but only two upgrades available), agents could ask Revenue Management to release an additional seat, which revenue management sometimes would. This is no longer done, even for CK.

● If you don't want to wait list your SWU so that it automatically encumbered when a domestic segment becomes available for upgrade, but only want the domestic segments to clear if the international segment clears, ask the AA EP agent to waitlist the international portion but "DSR" the domestic segments; that way, the domestic segments will only clear if the international segment clears. Note: it's possible that the domestic segment has SWU upgrade inventory initially, but by the time the international flight becomes available to upgrade, availability is gone on the domestic flight.

● SWU application can include co-terminals: JonNYC, post #601: "This is the current list of MAC airports, and, as far as I understand it, are generally recognized for revenue tickets including SWU application to same:
  • WAS (DCA, IAD)
  • DFW (DFW, DAL)
  • HOU (HOU, IAH)
  • NYC (JFK, LGA) (I think there is a separate rule that says EWR is always part of NYC for this purpose as well)
  • LON (LGW, LHR, STN)
  • SLU (UVF, SLU)
  • TYO (HND, NRT)

UK Air Passenger Duty / APD for LHR/UK departures: (Often incorrectly called "Luxury tax"): Departing from the UK (or on a layover of 24:00 or longer via the U.K.), you'll be charged the full APD (the lowest cabin class - usually economy - pays only half APD). This applies for upgrades to business only. Upgrading business to first doesn't incur this, (since your business ticket already included the full APD). This does not apply TO the U.K. or to connecting in under 24:00 in the U.K. Other airports may impose other taxes, e.g. HKG is USD $2.80.

● Through (two flights with the same flight number, or through flights with stops) flights pose challenges insofar as upgrade availability must exist on all sectors. You may have to call AA to use a SWU on through flights.


Suggested reading:

aa.com: SYSTEMWIDE UPGRADES AND FAQS

FlyerTalk: Upgrades / SWUs / eVIPs and UK APD / Air Passenger Duty questions

New *internal* changes will 90%+ eliminate post-expiration use of SWUs by JonNYC

This post in the thread entitled "Reversing Use of SWU. Is this possible?" (it is not. AA no longer allows cancelling a SWU and substituting "stickers".)


MODERATOR NOTE
Archived posts from 2017 may be read here.

Posts prior to 2016 may be read here: ARCHIVE: SWU / VIP / eVIP Systemwide Upgrade questions

NOTE: This thread is for the discussion of the mechanics of AA systemwide upgrades. For "chance of upgrade clearing" questions, please use this thread: 2015 Chances of Upgrade Clearing and Upgrade Availability Discussion (consolidated)

Please note there is a separate thread discussing lost / missing/ misappropriated SWUs:
Missing / someone else used / unauthorized use my SWU / VIP / eVIP (merged)

American AAdvantage Forum Moderator Team
FAQ: Internal IT changes eliminate 90+% of post-expiry SWU use 26 Jun 2014
Q. I've been able to encumber expiring SWU past their expiration date if I find the proper upgrade inventory available prior to that date. Is this feature still available to Executive Platinum members?

A. Not for most. The option was possible due to software limitations. New software, AAcoRN, put into place 26 June 2014, will prevent this from occurring for "unqualified" members; only "qualified" members will be allowed to encumber SWU past their expiry date in the future. (See post #1)

Q. How do I know if I am a "qualified" member?

A. You can try to call and encumber expiring SWU past their expiry. If you are not allowed to, you aren't.

Q. So, exactly who does AA consider "qualified"?

A. A very high value AAdvantage member, as measured by the internal "Helix" system, which assigns an "Eagles" ranking from 1 to 5 (the more, the better).

Q. I've never heard of this. When did it start?

A. AA's rating system was originally based on three colors, green, yellow and red, which changed to 1-3 Eagles and was later expanded to 1-5 Eagles.

Q. How are Eagles scores assigned? Are they static, or do they change?

A. It has been said spend and fare classes (think lots of annual travel in fare classes of D and above) may affect your Eagles score, as well as OSO and negative incidents you have experienced that might result in your moving your custom to another airline. It is also said your Helix score is updated periodically, perhaps even nightly.

Q. How can I find out my Helix score / how many Eagles I have?

A. You can't. AA employees are not empowered to discuss the Helix system with customers. If you normally get extra SWU once you've made EP, are allowed to extend SWU use and find EP desk agents are willing to bend rules for you often, speculative, you might have 4-5 Eagles rating.

Q. So, this is a hidden tier higher than Executive Platinum?

A. No, because it doesn't give you privileges beyond EP beyond those mentioned, e.g. courtesy Club membership or additional priority for boarding or upgrades, like Concierge Key may.

Q. Do others than Executive Platinum have Helix / Eagles scores?

A. It can be safely assumed all AAdvantage members have such scores.
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FAQ: What's a Systemwide Upgrade / SWU / VIP and how to use? (Master thread)

Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:18 pm
  #1801  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
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Originally Posted by meechyathere
Same here, the use of that as an excuse is simply ludicrous.
Yup. Marriott did the same thing earlier this year; expired the certs early and then took hours to reply.

Originally Posted by olouie
The gate agents and agents at customer assistance desk didn't know what an SWU was either. Shocked, but not shocked. FAs seemed to be very new and reading off a script focused mainly on pushing the CCs.
Same with the Singapore agents. Why bother having so many international desks if the quality of service is going to be a joke.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:20 pm
  #1802  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Programs: American Airlines (Executive Platinum), Hyatt (Globalist), Hilton (Diamond), IHG (Diamond)
Posts: 2,917
Originally Posted by Alex_I
- I had a busy business trip returning in the evening of July 30, when I realized that between myself and my wife we do have 4 expiring SWUs. My naive hope was that AA would extend those again but without any hope we have decided to book a last moments trip. By 5 pm I have put an itinerary on hold with an outbound transatlantic sector showing 2 SWU availability. My wife called EXP line was told that the waiting time was between 2 and 2.5 h. I thought it was ridiculous and that the seats would disappear. Thus, I did a quick run to an airport (only 20 min for me) but the agent at check in told me that "they cannot process SWUs". At that time (around 6 pm or so) I called EXP desk from my phone and was told to expect a call in about 5 h (!). AA actually called back my wife at 9 pm (not 7:30 pm as promised) and the agent was able to attach SWUs and even make use of trip credits. I guess we got lucky?
You sure did. Judging from above comments, you contacted AA much later than many others but somehow got serviced hours sooner.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:22 pm
  #1803  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Posts: 2,917
Originally Posted by Antarius
Same with the Singapore agents. Why bother having so many international desks if the quality of service is going to be a joke.
How about the Singapore agents telling people they couldn't help because it was already Aug. 1 in Singapore. How does that make any sense? Customers had valid SWUs in their accounts. Why would the agent's time zone matter at all?
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:29 pm
  #1804  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Posts: 8
Yes, sounds like you got lucky. We received a call back at 9:30 on one of our accounts (we had submitted call requests at 5 PM for each of our accounts) which was one of the agents who "could not process" the SWU. Next call back, same problem, last call back was after midnight. We even tried the Spanish line 5 times, Spanish line was "having technical problems" and dis-connected us each time. Flights were already purchased, seats were available, we had done our homework...just needed a live person who knew what they were doing.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:34 pm
  #1805  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
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Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Something-ist, Bombay Sapphire
Posts: 69
Originally Posted by js1993
This has "class action lawsuit" written all over it, if only because the lawyers always make a killing regardless of what the plaintiffs receive.

Interestingly, none of the bloggers who often make a big deal out of minor stories have written anything about it. Maybe the timing of Gary's new CK status wasn't a coincidence.
The sharks smell blood already. I shared my frustration on Twitter and a "law group" DM'd me asking questions.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:49 pm
  #1806  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Originally Posted by PHX_Flyer
The sharks smell blood already. I shared my frustration on Twitter and a "law group" DM'd me asking questions.
Thats good. AA would deserve it here. AAs shamelessness alone should be a crime.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 4:54 pm
  #1807  
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SWU's being able to be processed M-F only....

Agents that never heard of SWU's......

Did AA acquire NK's customer service recently?
enviroian is offline  
Old Aug 1, 2022, 9:22 pm
  #1808  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Boston, MA
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Originally Posted by enviroian
SWU's being able to be processed M-F only....

Agents that never heard of SWU's......

Did AA acquire NK's customer service recently?
Agents can play games with saying they dont know what an SWU is (which is shady), but saying something that is factually inaccurate (to my knowledge / experience) to purposely not apply the SWU is next level, if true.

Someone did some math in a prior post on perceived value, but it would be interesting to know the size of the liability booked for the SWUs in general and what was released off the balance sheet on 8/1.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 10:03 pm
  #1809  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
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Originally Posted by js1993
Interestingly, none of the bloggers who often make a big deal out of minor stories have written anything about it. Maybe the timing of Gary's new CK status wasn't a coincidence.
I've been wondering about this all day.

Not specific to Gary's new CK status. But that none of the usual blogger suspects have touched it.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 10:15 pm
  #1810  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Originally Posted by cmtlatitudes
I've been wondering about this all day.

Not specific to Gary's new CK status. But that none of the usual blogger suspects have touched it.
The only blogger I've seen mention it is this guy, whom I had never heard of before:

https://www.johnnyjet.com/pro-tip-do...wide-upgrades/

AA took good care of him, though. He waited until 9:02 pm to try to use SWUs and AA's Twitter team processed his request ... 5 minutes later, while others were left waiting 10+ hours and then told to pound sand.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 11:17 pm
  #1811  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
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This won't be popular, but I'm sympathetic but not at the same time. I wouldn't believe any 'verbal' extension and would plan accordingly. On one of the other SWU threads I was told, by some in this group, it was 'unrealistic' to ask them to pull ond SWU forward, when I have 20 segments and 175k loyalty points and and at least 120k of that is from flying.

No one hear batted an eye, when I was told that they couldn't bring one SWU forward when I was 25k away from 200k, when the fact it the program says I get on when I have 125k LP and 30 segments. I was denied for the wrong reason. I spent 2.5 hours on various holds to be told that (apparently, fortunately, that was last weekend or it would have been half a day).

I called the next day and another EXP agent asked and was told that in the new program, since you have to fly 30 segments, they were explicitly not allowing the advancing of SWU based on your travel history, you had to fly the segments.

Sure crap happens and you might not actually fly it. But with the trip I was booking it would move me up to 24 segments in the 1st week of Sept.

I've been EXP for 15 years. I've adjusted and adopted to the program as it's changed. I would think common sense would rule. I'm going to get 5 SWU, dumped into my account this year. I don't need 5, I need 1. I need it in Sept, not Oct, Nov, Dec.

Fine. I have 3 of 4 international segments with SWU, I'll fly in coach, Mrs. Deac83 can fly in J. I'm going to get on the plane and sleep anyway, so the SWU, is marginal value, except for the principle of ignoring a history of loyalty and failing to interpret travel patterns in this new Loyalty (ironic) Points system. Looks like I have a business trip to India in the fall, I won't need it for AA, this just makes me a free agent for that trip.

I know it's salt in the wound, but last weekend it took me 15-20 minutes, the EXP agent answered the phone right away, it's actually kind of shocking that experienced travelers would gamble and wait to the last minute. I know when my SWU's expire and when my Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt certs expire and if I don't that's on me not someone else.

Flame away.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 11:22 pm
  #1812  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Originally Posted by deac83
This won't be popular, but I'm sympathetic but not at the same time. I wouldn't believe any 'verbal' extension and would plan accordingly. On one of the other SWU threads I was told, by some in this group, it was 'unrealistic' to ask them to pull ond SWU forward, when I have 20 segments and 175k loyalty points and and at least 120k of that is from flying.

No one hear batted an eye, when I was told that they couldn't bring one SWU forward when I was 25k away from 200k, when the fact it the program says I get on when I have 125k LP and 30 segments. I was denied for the wrong reason. I spent 2.5 hours on various holds to be told that (apparently, fortunately, that was last weekend or it would have been half a day).

I called the next day and another EXP agent asked and was told that in the new program, since you have to fly 30 segments, they were explicitly not allowing the advancing of SWU based on your travel history, you had to fly the segments.

Sure crap happens and you might not actually fly it. But with the trip I was booking it would move me up to 24 segments in the 1st week of Sept.

I've been EXP for 15 years. I've adjusted and adopted to the program as it's changed. I would think common sense would rule. I'm going to get 5 SWU, dumped into my account this year. I don't need 5, I need 1. I need it in Sept, not Oct, Nov, Dec.

Fine. I have 3 of 4 international segments with SWU, I'll fly in coach, Mrs. Deac83 can fly in J. I'm going to get on the plane and sleep anyway, so the SWU, is marginal value, except for the principle of ignoring a history of loyalty and failing to interpret travel patterns in this new Loyalty (ironic) Points system. Looks like I have a business trip to India in the fall, I won't need it for AA, this just makes me a free agent for that trip.

I know it's salt in the wound, but last weekend it took me 15-20 minutes, the EXP agent answered the phone right away, it's actually kind of shocking that experienced travelers would gamble and wait to the last minute. I know when my SWU's expire and when my Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt certs expire and if I don't that's on me not someone else.

Flame away.
Invitation accepted.

The above is utterly comical. In your case, you were asking frontline reps to do something that's totally unheard of — to deposit an SWU when you were barely at 60% of the segments requirement — but now you're "not sympathetic" to people who played exactly by AA's rules and got screwed?

Nobody here has ever heard of SWUs being deposited in advance upon request, as you apparently felt you were entitled. Likewise, when was the last time anyone here heard of a 10-hour wait on the EXP line rather than the "15-20 minutes" you mentioned? Or AA reps claiming not to know what an SWU is? Or that SWUs are only processed from Monday to Friday?

Last edited by js1993; Aug 1, 2022 at 11:29 pm
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 11:42 pm
  #1813  
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: NYC, SEA
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, AA EXP, DL PM, AS 100k (fake), B6 M3 (fake), UA FO.
Posts: 712
I was able to use up the last of mine about a week ago, since I was worried that AA would pull some s**t at the last minute, but at the time I thought I was certainly being overly cynical--turns out I wasn't nearly cynical enough because it hadn't even crossed my mind that it would be this bad. 8+++ hour wait time on the EXP desk (and then no wait the following day) is certainly intentional. Honestly what is surfacing about AA in this thread is all kinds of shameful.
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 11:48 pm
  #1814  
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Join Date: Oct 2014
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Originally Posted by ryanbriar
Agents can play games with saying they dont know what an SWU is (which is shady), but saying something that is factually inaccurate (to my knowledge / experience) to purposely not apply the SWU is next level, if true.
If you got regular (non-EXP) agents because of the EXP desk being overloaded it would not surprise me if they did not know what a SWU was. And they say stuff that's factually incorrect all the time, before they don't know what is correct.

There's nothing shady about it. There are a lot of poorly trained new hires. They don't know what they are doing
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Old Aug 1, 2022, 11:55 pm
  #1815  
 
Join Date: Aug 2021
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Posts: 2,917
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
If you got regular (non-EXP) agents because of the EXP desk being overloaded it would not surprise me if they did not know what a SWU was. And they say stuff that's factually incorrect all the time, before they don't know what is correct.

There's nothing shady about it. There are a lot of poorly trained new hires. They don't know what they are doing
Well, as a general matter, it's "shady" for AA to have or need "a lot of poorly trained new hires" after accepting tens of billions in Covid bailout money that was intended to keep AA's existing workforce in place. It's not like AA has expanded since 2020 and needed more people. AA is still flying fewer flights on fewer routes. AA's customer service should be better than pre-Covid but it's far worse.
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