JonNYC

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....aring-airport/

golfingboy

For quite some time upgrades for most part were only clearing at T-24.5 or T-4 even on flights where the F cabin did not have a single seat booked. Upgrades at T-100 were very rare too.

Now in the last two weeks or so a lot more upgrades are clearing in advance with more regularity. Don't expect many to clear at T-100, but you can expect higher % of your upgrade to clear with some advance (i.e. 48 hours or 60 hours) as result of this recent fix compared to 2016.

Flights with just 4 seats left in F most likely will go down to the wire especially if it is selling relatively well (which appears to be the case given your comment about the upgrade list being 30 deep).

You shouldn't base your opinion based on one flight.

platbrownguy

(1) Insiders whose reliability has been borne out have confirmed it, and you have no evidence of similar weight to counter their statements.

(2) Until a few weeks ago, the great weight of the reports was "no window upgrades." Indeed, I was one of the lone voices saying "well sometimes they still happen" -- but I travel SDF-DCA (with 12 F seats on an E70/75) on weekends where the cabins fly out with empty seats regularly, so it's not surprising that I got advance upgrades. Magically, after the glitch is fixed, the great weight of the reports suddenly shifts to "wow so many window upgrades and pre-gate-battle upgrades."

No one is saying "fix = upgrades for everyone" or "fix = upgrades for almost everyone," and it's very certain that no one is saying "fix = upgrades for you."

Finally, the fact that the upgrade list was 30 deep would, in my mind, provide sufficient basis for AA to believe that a handful of people might want to buy F seats at the prevailing rate. Good for you for being #1, but I'm sure there are situations that you have been or are likely to be in where the availability of short-notice F seats will be to your advantage. What was different before the fix was that even on flights that were wide open, upgrades were unicorns.

VaBeachGirl

I'm EXP and am flying ORF>CLT>LAX tomorrow morning (2/10).

ORF>CLT cleared at T-100 on the dot (on the A319 with only 8 F seats)
CLT>LAX cleared at T-43 (earlier that morning EF was showing J6)

Just wanted to add another data point -- I was getting worried about CLT>LAX!

Au4882

Thanks! I was wondering that, too. Flying CLT-LAX-HKG next week. Waitlisting a SWU, but we know how that goes, so I did want to know about comp upgrades on this route. My flight is at J6 right now, 5 days out.

rjw242

A highly credible source who's been posting inside info here for years with near-100% accuracy says it's fixed. Your indignation at not being upgraded early enough that one time is utterly irrelevant by comparison.

vxmike

Of course, but I don't see how one goes from literally 100% (most at the window) on dozens of flights after the merger (I used to fly dtw-DFW-Phx) on the exact same route to < 50% almost overnight when my travel pattern hasn't changed.

Platbrownguys's suggestion that people are paying the ~$100 premium for last minute F over last minute Y could be correct. Still doesn't explain the phantom gate upgrades I saw....I think there are some shenanigans still. I've been EXP since 2009 and never saw this type of stuff...I know times are changing but it still sucks

chicagoflyer1976

Just got a "you've been upgraded" email for a flight next week, 100 hours out. First time in a long time. I had to think for a minute, since the flight isn't until next Tuesday.

AAEmpireState

Upgraded Y-J on this week's JFK/LAX flight at ~T-60 (with an accompanying confirmation email). ^

Au4882

Another data point: Upgraded T-55 on CLT-LAX on Wednesday, and received email. FT was showing J5 about an hour before I was upgraded.

adurzi

Here is another data point for you. I'm EXP flying on AA293 JFK-LAX at 8PM tonight with J7 F7 open as per AA.com and google flights. T-10 and STILL no upgrade. Inventory has been J7 F7 for ATLEAST 4 days. AA may have corrected the majority of this glitch but they have made NO effert to verify if the fix was system wide nor have they made any effort to look at their premium routes.

It is great that this issue has been addressed but for someone like myself that flys this route almost exclusively I have yet to see ANY evidence of such a fix.

JonNYC

For all intents and purposes-- or, more accurately, if it makes it easier to understand, plan for and deal with-- consider the premium transcons an entirely different class of flights and not subject to "normal" upgrade parameters in terms of how they are managed.

george 3

Data point from ZRH - JFK on 2/11 (Saturday after blizzard affected NE USA). Wife and I were upgraded at T-30. Flight was showing 7 available for the first three Biz class buckets with 11 open for most of the week before. Given the possibility of extended delays and possible cancellation of this four times a week route, I was actually surprised to receive the upgrade prior to the gate. In hindsight, it was actually great because it took a lot longer for us to get to the airport early morning due to much slower intervals of the tram and airport trains.

iadisgreat

Glad to hear it.

But people please stop, there is no window for international upgrades and international upgrades are not what this thread is about. The constant reports about these are cluttering a thread that has long since passed its usefulness as it is.

CMK10

Flying RDU-PHL last Saturday on an E90, got upgraded at T-48 (second one of those in a row actually) though oddly I didn't get an email. First time in all my years as an AA elite that I didn't get an upgrade email.