Thanks for the tips flyerguy and ssbmoro!

which is supposed to get processed first once inside the window? Unless it's the complimentary upgrade before the miles/copay, wouldn't calling bring attention to something potentially in my favor? I thought SWU and miles plus copay were higher priority than 500 miles certs.

Booking code is now R by the way.

For recent flights I've taken JFK GRU (August, October, December), I've been clearing AT BEST the day before with plenty of availability and once at the gate just before boarding like I was flying DFW AUS. In years past, I've cleared quite a bit before that. I can understand AA wanting to hold out for the last minute for those biz people willing and able to pay in excess of $7k r/t.

And further to this, I'm waiting for C inventory for a JFK ZRH flight this weekend to open up where this is considerable inventory per EF. A phone conversation with an EXP agent confirmed what I thought - it will probably be at the gate. She apologized and made a comment about things changing from the merger i.e. notification of upgrades.

This new "fixed world" is so great.

Fri 2/3 SDF-CLT-MCO
Sat 2/4 MCO-DCA
Sun 2/5 DCA-SDF

all cleared at ~T-100

I was doing fairly well before, but the window actually feels like a benefit now.

So great to read all these reports!

Jon, which should be processed if inside the window- waitlisted miles plus copay upgrades or 500 mile complimentary upgrades.

and thanks or all your contributions to this issue!

Are you getting notification emails? I am not. (I used to).

I am not convinced the upgrade system is fully operational.

Currently on a MIA-DCA and F has several empty F seats. Only upgraded 2 days before.

Have flight on Sat Feb 4 and no upgrades and wide open F - one that I would expect and have gotten in the past more than 2 days out.

That's your example??

My upgrades are all clearing at the 48 hour mark.

If you like domestic upgrades, AA is definitely the place to go. This would never happpen at UA. I'd give ANYTHING to trade domestic upgrade chances in exchange for redeemable SWU's at booking and greater saver J award availability. One could only wish...

I stopped getting the emails several weeks ago. Something is definitely off, although im not citing the aforementioned example as why.

On the flip side, I cleared DFW-DEN at the 100 hour mark. Almost spit my coffee out.

Yes that is an example. Last year same time I was getting these upgrades on mid week DCA-MIA-DCA at 4 days out.

Yes this upgraded 2 days out, but with the flight wide open and the result during flight being several empty F seats - revenue management should be smart enough to know that an upgrade would happen and process sooner.

Not complaining just pointing out that having done same flights a year ago - the system worked and was different.

So maybe it is fixed but not exactly as it was before.

Fair 'nuff.

I am getting the emails. I always have gotten them whenever the upgrade has come earlier than T-5.5 (and I think I would usually get the email even at T-5.5, but rarely if ever when it came at T-3.5, and never when it was closer to the gate).

Thanks George. On the topic of flights to GRU, I have enjoyed 3 consecutive years of buying business and using SWU up to first whenever I can, before the SWU downgrade, I earned 12 SWUs in 2015. This year I can no longer buy business flights, what used to be $2,500-2,700 RT in business JFK-GRU or connecting via MIA or DFW with some preplanning, has skyrocketed to $6,700-7,500 over the past 4-6 months! What gives?!? And, adding insult to injury LATAM (TAM) has the temerity to charge the same price as AA on their tired 767-300; you'd be a fool to pay $6,700-7,500 to fly on their tired 767-300 when you can have a pod on AA's 777-300. Why on earth LATAM (TAM) is not flying their spanking new A350 GRU-JFK is beyond me.

Finally, I did a lot of searching and discovered you can still get affordable business airfare on OneWorld but you need to buy a separate ticket to MCO out of NYC and then through MIA on the return with AA, and then take the LATAM (TAM) nonstop MCO-GRU & GRU-MIA. Domestic first on American and then "I" (business) on TAM for around $2,800 RT total. Not bad, if you don't mind the connecting flights. If you book these segments in a single PNR the price jumps quite a bit to $4,800 RT, arghh. So strange.

I am not really seeing this as fixed. I have a flight from ORD-SFO on 2/4, which shows a full open F cabin and no seats occupied and or allocated. In the past years before US started to monkey with the system, it would have cleared a few on Tuesday/Wednesday around F-100. So FWIW, the system is still FUBAR, not a fix but what I am starting to assume as the new reality with AA as it moves from standing out in the pack of the US big 3 to just being another airline who's FF program has been fleeced.

Thanks for the suggestion to go thru MCO. Is TAM lie flat MCO to GRU? I'm not too picky about shabbiness - after all, I've been flying old US 737s and AB 321s on the old AA routes and sucked it up post merger.

I paid for a few J JFK-GRU trips when they were in the high $2k low $3k but now that the real is back to just above 3 to a dollar, back to $6-$7k (which I will not pay). In the past year, I've posted comments to AA customer service thanking them for the upgrade but telling them the gap in price between economy and biz is too much for personal travel. As a data point, I made a suggestion about what I would be willing to pay, and have paid in the past. For what it is worth. As you can expect I get a canned email response thanking me for loyalty, yada yada....