sosfo

Hi all. I know AA doesn't usually release C space until right before a flight, but I'm getting nervous and wanted to check thoughts for my miles+copay upgrade as a Plat travelling with a Gold companion.

AA169 LAX-NRT tommorrow is a 772 with 37J/52MCE config.
19 BIZ seats are open on the seat map.
22 MCE seats are taken on the seat map (only 5 taken when we booked)

Expert flyer is currently showing J7 R7 D7 I3 C0

Question 1: Think we'll make it before the gate?
Question 2: Does my companion's priority drop down on the airport list if we don't get upgraded beforehand?

Thanks!

JJeffrey

At J7 with 19 open seats, your chances are very good. Business is basically less than half full. I'd watch ExpertFlyer like a hawk this morning, as AA will most likely release a batch of C space in the next few hours.

sosfo

Just called AA and they said they see C7 but can't force the upgrade because I'm still on the waitlist. Is this a HUCA situation or is she right?

HLCinCOU

Well I'm back from a great time in Hong Kong. My SWUs cleared around T-72 both ways (1/26 COU-DFW-HKG, 2/1 reverse). My upgrade alerts in EF never went off (for the big leg anyway, I did get notified on the COU-DFW outbound), but that's been well-explained already, so thanks.

Pro tip: there are manual seat controls and a power reset under the middle cushion of the J seats on a 77W (and many others). My seat broke on the way over (movement buttons just didn't work), but I was able to manually set it with those controls. Showed the FAs how it worked since none of them apparently knew.

JJeffrey

If you haven't cleared yet I'd call back. Some AAgents will refuse to process it if they see you're on the waitlist, while others will grab the C space and push it through. The flight is still C7 so it shouldn't be an issue.

Antarius

My understanding is that they no longer do this, as in you can't jump the queue anymore by spotting C inventory.

ANyone else had any experiences in this?

sosfo

Thanks! I was about to call back and got an update from TripCase that it cleared. Now at C4 so I guess they are processing the list. So relieved!

sosfo

I don't mind the principle of banning jumping the line. I get that's not really fair. But when C opens, if they don't process the list right away, wouldn't someone who then bought a ticket, or who wasn't already on the waitlist be instantly confirmable since C is available? Or do they see the list and put those requests into the queue?

EDIT: In this case, seems C was available at C7 for about 3 hours before they started processing the list.

JJeffrey

I think the 'official' line is this, but over the past year I'd say it's still 50/50 as to whether you get the "sir, you're on the waitlist, your upgrade will clear automatically" or "yes there is space, let me grab it for you."

That is definitely the issue. As long as there is C space, anyone who just bought the ticket or wasn't on the waitlist can call in and grab it.

One time last year I called but got an AAgent that said I was already on the waitlist and it would process accordingly. I confirmed that she could see the upgrade space, and mentioned that if I had just bought the ticket today she could grab the upgrade. She said yea, that doesn't make sense, and went ahead and processed my upgrade.

HLCinCOU

I'm not sure what "fair" is in this context. I think you might really mean "orderly" instead without noticing. What's "fair" about earlier bookings being ahead in the waitlist? Whatever case there is for that, there's a similarly-reasonable one for prioritizing people who care enough to watch inventory and call. And you could say it's "fairer" to use really out-there criteria, like giving seniors or students priority, or going in random order. Time-of-booking seems right because we're used to it, but there's no intrinsic virtue in booking early.

Of course I don't actually care much about the waitlist order. I just think it's worth actually examining our preconceptions on stuff like this.

ACA321

When talking about fair, you missed spend Many folks who are forced to book last minute pay much higher fares find themselves lower down the upgrade list than those who book several months out, often at comparatively rock-bottom fares...surely the argument could be made that this also isn't fair.

I think AA has made it clear what fair means to the airline: the passenger who spends more gets to the top of the list regardless of time of booking, as will be the system soon enough. Whether or not calling in to jump the waitlist when spotting C space will still work is anyone's guess, but I imagine AA is not ignorant to the fact that it does happen. Given how many benefits have been removed over the last year or so, I'd be surprised if this loophole remains open much longer before management comes down hard on employees who offer this type of help. This is only my speculation, but I'd wager to guess that AA would deem "line jumping" by calling in to be unfair.

Austin787

AA could also force ExpertFlyer to remove C listings, like it did for X.

HLCinCOU

I didn't miss it. I left it out because unlike booking time it's a real rationale for ordering the list. As such my critique doesn't apply to a (future) ordering based on revenue. I was just pointing out that the current system is arbitrary and that there's nothing particularly fair or right about ordering by booking time.

Once this change happens, you're right; at that point line jumping will be unfair. Of course then they have to figure out how to deal with somebody who purchases a ticket at T-48 when C>0 for less than the price paid by somebody on the waitlist.

To reiterate, I don't care much how they order the list, or whether line-jumping goes away. My comment was pretty narrowly intended to challenge the assumption that whatever rule is in place today is somehow a priori fair/right.

ACA321

I hear ya, and agree.

As a former US elite, I remember their loophole under the UDU policy well- once OLCI began at T-24, ANY elite could snag a remaining F seat by simply checking/rechecking in, regardless of how long the upgrade waitlist was. I benefited from this several times, often only minutes before boarding. I also was bitten by this on occasion as well- when I saw a seat but wasn't fast enough (sometimes due to poor internet connection!) and another elite beat me to it. While it was a nice loophole when it worked in your favor, I'm honestly kind of glad it's been closed. It was far from fair!

billgrates3

I have never had an EXP agent refuse to process an upgrade when EF showed Cx.