flyingeph12

I had to be re-booked last week in the FL @ JFK, and before the agent could reissue my ticket, the upgrades on the domestic legs had already cleared. The agent noted this and said something about there being a "new system."

britz

Interesting about the "new system". I'm under T-4 and it doesn't look like a single upgrade has cleared. I'm now #1 on the upgrade list with 11 open seats. I've never seen so many open seats with an upgraded not cleared this close to departure.

metallo

I highly doubt there's new IT in place. Perhaps she just meant the "new AA," and there's nothing new about upgrades clearing immediately after booking if there's no one else on the upgrade list and 'X' inventory is available.

metallo

It was a busy flying week for me, and I also noticed upgrades being held even later than usual on most routes, even those which typically aren't that elite-heavy. There did still seem to be the typical list sweep down to F1 just prior to T-4, though, rather than making everyone wait until the gate.

britz

Well upgrade cleared just under T-3, weird. I wonder if the same thing will happen for my Sunday flight. First is practically empty and no upgrades have cleared yet.

tlb12650

I have noticed the upgrade window has closed too. I'm Exec Plat and had 6 flights this week, non of them had been cleared until just before departure. When I do clear, AA is placing me in a bulkhead seat (which I hate) with no ability to move my seat as all other seats have been populated w/ other upgrades.

Tonight, I have a FULLY REFUNDABLE Y (I purchased weeks ago) class 7:45PM flight out of SAT to DFW. I have always been upgraded in the T-100 or at least T-48 time frame due to class of ticket AND status however, as of 1PM the 1st class cabin if completely empty and I have not been upgraded.

In addition, I have a Sunday (6/19) 5:05PM flight from DFW to MIA Y class booked weeks ago with only 5 seats currently taken in a cabin of 40 seats and I have not cleared.

Due to the number of flights I had this week & the DFW-MIA flight on Sunday, I contact AA Exec Plat desk and voiced my concerns with the issues stated above. Of course, they were worthless in providing any information but patched me through to IT Help Desk. Yeah... that was worthless too as the poor girl had not a clue what I was talking about as she was only the "gatekeeper" (i.e. give me your information and I will send it on to IT).

American Airlines - On the path to lead the race to the bottom!

nk15

I think we should be asking if anyone has cleared at T-100 this week...Anywhere, any flight...

wjj

Not me though I expected to. I was on RSW/DCA booked over a month ago. F7, A7, P7 and 10 seats open and I did not clear until T-24. DCA/ORD the next day I cleared at the gate. I agree that something is up.

On a somewhat related topic, I was told that waitlisting for A inventory using either miles or SWU does not move you ahead of the complementary upgrade list once it gets to T-4. I was told this is something that was new as of about 6 weeks ago. I never saw any announcement but perhaps I missed it.

metallo

It depends on how you're waitlisted. If your entire ticket is booked in coach, and you're waiting for a SWU or miles/copay upgrade, there's no waitlist priority above regular UPG upgrades. That isn't new as of six weeks ago (unless I've completely lost my mind) -- it's been that way for at least the last few years, although it's something FTers have frequently discussed in the past and still results in confusion (see VIP1 vs. UPG1 priority answer? [Not really]).

On the other hand, if you're on a multi-segment itinerary and at least one other segment has already cleared into 'A' inventory, you're technically ticketed in First at that point, so you should be listed as RF rather than UPG on the PALL list (at least this is how most airport agents handle it in practice -- whether it's official policy, I have no idea) -- that would, in fact, move you ahead of anyone listed for a complimentary upgrade.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I did today MIA/ORD a 763 flight that's usually difficult to clear even as an EXP.

golfingboy

More to do with the strong US economy, aggressive F fares which leads to more people buying F seats. A few years ago, AA was one of those airlines where F fares were a significant premium over Y fares across the board.

With AA, when I am aiming for complimentary upgrades, I think I am in the 40-50% success rate ballpark. As a matter of fact I am typing this from 8F on PIT-PHX right now and my connecting flight has not cleared either.

Such is life, free food, free woodford, no complaints. I am working 90% of the time when I am flying, so I don't really notice much whether I am in F or Y.

VickiSoCal

We're on LAX-DCA 48 hours out, why hasn't it cleared yet??? Oh, because there's no seats.

I'm stunned by the number of people on flights with wide open F cabins.

britz

Makes sense not to clear on elite heavy routes/ when F is full. But when it's practically entirely open and no seats clear? That's weird. Smf-dfw isn't particularly elite heavy. I cleared at T-3 along with one other person. 10 people cleared at the gate. Seems odd- it's not uncommon to see 1-3 people clear at the gate on this route but 10 Is a lot. Flying LAX - DFW and vice versa I don't expect F unless I pay or clear it on a SWU months ahead of time.

conklaven

Flying MEM-DFW and then DFW-MKE on Sunday and still no upgrade.

MEM-DFW has 14 open First Class seats and DFW-MKE has 15 open first class seats...

Whats the deal? do they really think they can sell 14 seats in one day for a Sunday flight?

rjw242

No, but if you bother to read the thread, you'll see several reasons that they might be doing this.