Upgrade Request isn’t Listed at Gate
 

There are many times I request an upgrade using the 500-mile coupons when I book a flight or maybe a couple of weeks before the day of the trip. However, there have been times I don’t get upgraded, and I think they have sold out first class or people with higher status than me (as platinum) got the seats. However, when I show up at the gate, my name is not even on the upgrade list that is displayed on the gate monitor, and there are still open seats. I ask the gate agent why my name isn't on the list and they claim I never made the upgrade request. I have even called customer service, and they can’t explain why this happens. I also find there are times I don’t get the upgrade, and pilots are sitting in first class; I am hoping these guys have paid for these seats. Does this happen to anyone else as well? It would be nice if American could explain why this happens.

This happened to me for the first time last month on a DFW-PHX flight.

One possibility that can cause this to happen is if you do not have enough 500 mile upgrades in your account. In that case, your name will not appear on the airport standby list.

When you check in using the app, it will tell you that you have been added to the airport upgrade list. If you do not get this message, that would be the appropriate time to call in. By the time you get to the gate, a lot of agents aren't willing to take the time to troubleshoot because they have a lot of other stuff to do (and especially if there are already 20 names on the upgrade list).

As far as pilots in F, they could be anything from non-rev to EXP to positive space company travel.

No I have over twenty-five 500-mile upgrades in my account never is that the case of not having enough upgrade coupons. As for the app, I was listed as number one on the list but not listed at the gate.

Did the GA add you to their list? Did you show the APP list to the GA?

This has happened to me enough times that I nearly always call at least once between requesting the upgrade and the flight date to make sure I'm on the list - especially for international flights. I also always check documents in TripCase to make sure the request shows there.

A quick fix is to just make sure you get added to the list at the kiosk I have found. Lots of times my UPG request doesn't roll over to the airport list but once you do it at the kiosk you're then added. The only problem is that you might risk the UPG sweep at T-4.

What's this functionality? I've not seen this.

Really? Where you ARE shown on the flight upgrade list (shown on the APPs flight status starting at T-4), but not on the AP monitor? AFAIK, the only place WE see our rank in the list is the AP monitor and the APPs. (Of course, as I understand it, neither of these shows all the entries really in the PALL list either, but that's another issue.)

Using TripCase to verify upgrade request
 

Add your trip by linking to the record locator. Then select the trip. Then select documents. Select the Arranger Itinerary document. I see that on mine, it shows upgrade requested for all of the international flights but not the one domestic flight. I'm not sure if that means it doesn't show upgrade requests for domestic flights for everyone or just EXPs since the request is automatic.

If you show on the app you should be on the gate list. The app is your verification that you have been rolled over to the airport list. OP are you checking the app at T4 when the list goes to airport control? The GA isn't going to have the time to investigate why.

This is only for SWUs/mileage waitlists. A 500 miler upgrade will not show on trip case

. This has happened to me three times in a row. At first I thought I was # 27 and simply not there for lack of room but when I asked they had to manually put me in and I jumped to one or four. For whatever reason the app shows me until airport time and then I disappear.

This happened to me recently where I applied a SWU on the international sector that was waitlisted (in the end didn't clear). In the morning for my domestic flight I noticed I was not on the upgrade list and they manually added me at the airport. Even in the app it showed my status as requested, but I wasn't on the list or on the T-4 upgrade list.

Not sure if the SWU waitlist caused a burp of some sort or if the EXP agent was supposed to re-add me to the complimentary waitlist after applying the SWU. I am not 100% sure.

Based on the frequency of this kind of post (there were several others reporting similar issue in recent months) appearing lately this is a small concern and I hope this issue doesn't become more frequent. We just need to be a little more proactive and check the upgrade list on the app at T-4.

I wanted to come back to this thread to second this suggestion. Last week I found myself unexpectedly missing from an upgrade list. Remembering AANYC1981's suggestion from this thread, I hopped on the nearest kiosk and went through the check-in steps again. That did the trick (and I got the upgrade).