aztimm

Color me surprised.

I'm on AA 175 tomorrow, 1/12. I'm only AA Plat, but an EXP friend is giving me an SWU. He's tried this before, and it failed to upgrade.
I go to check-in this morning, and notice that AA 175 is listed twice on my itinerary, once with my assigned seat in MCE, the other saying, "select seat."
Anyway, I called, and it turns out that the upgrade cleared ^

I'm in 5A, but there seems to be quite a few seats left in biz if someone has a suggestion for a better seat (it is the B777-200).

I was able to select a meal, but the check-in doesn't seem to be working (from web or AA app). Not sure if I should call or just head to the airport to do it tomorrow. Perhaps when the agent processed the upgrade, she checked me in?

AAbraCadabra

Alright Flyertalk A-team. Haven't posted in a while...

EXP. Have 1 unused SWU and an LAX-LHR flight credit, so looking to take a last minute trip tomorrow (thursday) night.

AA 108 - 77W - J4
AA 136 - 772 - J7

just called no upgrade inventory released/available

you guys think 108 is too risky if I'm booking this just so I can use the SWU? is it common for there to be a long SWU waitlist? do people often miss this route? 136 seems a safer bet, but I prefer the timing of 108 (and I know the 77W product is superior).

any 11th hour sage advice?!? thank you

Au4882

Much better on 136, IMO. J4 isn't that high -- would assume that there are other EXP SWUs on the flight, who have requested the upgrade before you.

I'd check the seatmap to see how MCE looks though. If it's largely empty, you'll have a better shot at clearing. If it's full, I'd bet against you clearing the J4 flight. Better odds for J7, but even that could be iffy if there is a full MCE cabin.

britz

Hi all - booking a RDU-LAX flight about a month out. EF currently shows:
J7 D7 I7 Y7 B0 H7 K7 M7 L7 W0 G7 V7 S7 N5 Q0 O0 E0

Also EF shows C2 and I have a BXP1 I could use. Currently only one assigned seat in F. I would guess any 6 hour flight in to LAX would have high F demand? Anyone familiar with this route? If it's low-demand I'd rather save the BXP1 and chance on EXP upg but 6 hours in Y on a 737...

remedy

How tough of an upgrade is this (will be flying in September)?

lightbulbs

I would check to see the seat map to confirm how many likely seats open J7 represents. Agree J4 is dicey unless for some reason they are overselling Y and there are more seats open on the seat map.

tonytifao

Does anyone know how far in advance a SWU can clear on DFW-CDG or CDG-DFW?

Is this 789 a heavy demand SWU flight?

oysterhead43

brand new route. loads seem light right now / winter. traveling soon?

recent very low fares may increase loads. EXPs can at least book PE seats for free until April.

tonytifao

Thanks. I'm EXP, but I made a request for my family (total of 4). It's in FEB, so hopefully it works out.

The flight tomorrow has lots of seats open, but no SWU available. They did open up 3 Business Saaver Awards. This is showing that they wan't people to not use the SWU as it expired, miles don't "really" expire.

They really want to screw their customers. Seems like all SWU are clearing the day of or at the airport???

Budoka

Happy New Year everyone.

I hope that this is the appropriate subforum for my question. Also, my apologies if this is an n00b question. I am an old time traveler but new at this kind of stuff. Tried to search through the forum to understand but...am a bit lost.

I rarely fly AA but and have some miles sitting in my account that I would like to use to upgrade an existing flight just to not be under the constant threat of them expiring for no activity on the airline.

I have 29,400 miles (yeah I know not a lot) and am flying on a discount ticket (Fare class O) from Newark to Narita via Dallas. When I check AA it indicates that the Newark to Dallas leg is not eligible for an upgrade but that the Dallas to Narita leg is eligible. But I must contact the airline directly.

I checked the award chart and it indicates that discounted tickets are available for upgrade for 25000 miles+ 350 dollars. Also, a 75 dollar surcharge if under 21 days. I don't have any problem with any of that given the price I paid for the original ticket, 500 bucks, but is there something I am missing or need to know before I call AA?

I am on American 175 from Dallas Ft Worth 31JAN to Narita.

I have no AA status so understand I would be at the bottom, bottom, of the list but I guess what I am asking is what am I saying to them when I call?

Also, would it be better just to burn the miles up, 30000, for a RT economy ticket on the same route at a later date?

oysterhead43

just because you don't see C availability tomorrow doesn't mean they haven't processed SWUs.

JJeffrey

You're not missing anything, just call AA and ask to be put on the waitlist for a miles/copay upgrade for your DFW-NRT flight. They will take your credit card information, and you'll only be charged the miles & $350 if the upgrade clears. If it does clear, you can apply the same upgrade to the EWR-DFW segment as well, if it's available at the time.

Even without status, flying on a Tuesday in late January your chances should be pretty ok. Business looks to be around half full, with MCE wide open in coach (so not much competition from other elites).

And, upgrading international long haul flights is generally a really good use of miles considering how much a normal business class ticket can run. A roundtrip from the US to Tokyo on AA will be 65k/70k miles (off-peak/peak).

Budoka

Thanks! I will ring them today. Wish I had known about the 21 days before but like I said it is OK but still inexpensive given what I paid for the ticket.

As a side note, do upgrade fees get reimbursed by Amex Platinum/PRG credit? If so will switch my choice from United to AA just for this flight.

50ways

AA 125 DFW-HKG on 1/24, me (EP) and my partner (no status), booked on 12/28, with O Fare. Called same day I booked and waitlisted with SWUs both directions. 8 MCE seats still available to choose from on AA site and 31 Js showing on Expert Flyer (EF).

Been watching the J availability on both directions and they have not decreased at all since booking. I've put seat alerts in for better MCE seats for when those peeps move to J with upgrades. I've also put C alerts in on both directions.

F2 A0 P1 J7 R7 D7 I7 Y7 B0 H7 K7 M7 L7 G7 V7 S7 N7 Q7 O4 E7

Return AA 126 HKG-DFW 2/1
F5 A2 P5 J7 R7 D7 I7 Y7 B0 H7 K7 M7 L7 G7 V7 S7 N7 Q7 O7 E7

Do miles + copay work the same as SWUs? If I'm EP will I be cleared prior to a Plat with SWU or miles + copay? After reviewing dates 1, 2 days out on EF, it appears SWUs are clearing T-48 or 24 for these routes.

Why they making me sweat?!

michaelpop

In general I've always found getting an upgrade on the RDU-LAX flight a lot easier than out of CLT. I would think you'd be okay at this point to get the upgrade but you'll probably have to sweat it out until the bitter end.