ARCHIVE: "Sticker" / 500-mile E-Upgrades & EXP "UDU" Upgrades (2015)
#61
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EP 3MM, UA Silver, Bonvoy LT TIT, Hyatt Explorist, HH Silver, Caesars PLT
Posts: 7,259
1080 miles has always been 3 stickers. The threshold was 51 miles TOTAL, not per 500 miles. LAS is another like that at 1055 miles, which has always required 3 stickers.
#62
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Bonvoy Platinum, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,815
I wonder if AA will ever allow non-elites to trade their stickers for something else.. Not sure what I'm going to do with the 17 stickers in my account..
#63
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 542
I lost my status on AA. Booked an award flight for my son. Noticed that I have 6 500-mile upgrades left. Can I use those on an award flight for my son?
#64
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
I don't believe you can upgrade award tickets. And I believe someone on the PNR needs to have status. May be the account they are coming from needs to have status. At least they do not expire, so you don't have to rush to use them (unless your account totally expires).
#65
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
Programs: AA (Plt Pro; 1.5 MM)
Posts: 6,185
Instruments like SWUs, 500-mile upgrades etc are designed for cash tickets. They cannot upgrade award flights. As pointed out above, your 500-miles upgrades never expire, so leave them alone till you are in a position to use them.
#66
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: SJC/VCE
Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT
Posts: 10,161
#67
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
As AAdvantage is now the combined programme in effect for all AA and US flyers, this will be moved to the Consolidated forum.
~Moderator
~Moderator
#68
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,043
Hey yall, I checked the stickys and read up on this a little, but can anyone confirm my suspicion below...
My first use of 500-mile stickers was for a non-elite friend and myself traveling SLC to DFW. Only 2 stickers were deducted from my account for this ~900 mile trip. I requested this at the airport through the ticketing agent.
Later, I upgraded another non-elite friend and myself from DFW to BNA and 4 stickers were deducted for this >600 mile trip. I had our itineraries linked and requested this online several days in advance of our trip.
I assume I just lucked out on the SLC-DFW trip and my companion was upgraded without a deduction. If not, the DFW-BNA should have been a 2 sticker trip as well.
Thanks!
My first use of 500-mile stickers was for a non-elite friend and myself traveling SLC to DFW. Only 2 stickers were deducted from my account for this ~900 mile trip. I requested this at the airport through the ticketing agent.
Later, I upgraded another non-elite friend and myself from DFW to BNA and 4 stickers were deducted for this >600 mile trip. I had our itineraries linked and requested this online several days in advance of our trip.
I assume I just lucked out on the SLC-DFW trip and my companion was upgraded without a deduction. If not, the DFW-BNA should have been a 2 sticker trip as well.
Thanks!
That would be my guess. When I was Platinum, Mrs. Microwave and I would often fly together, and when upgraded there were a few times when stickers for my upgrade would be deducted but stickers for her upgrade never disappeared. You've broken no rules, so I'd consider it a lucky break and save them for next time!
#69
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 7
"Miles needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" - How quickly is this field updated?
Hello,
As a US Airways preferred flyer I was given 16 AA "500-mile" upgrades when the merger of the loyalty programs was completed in March. As I understand it, it takes 10,000 EQMs to get 4 of these upgrades.
However, on my AA account page, the number in the "Miles needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" field seems to be stuck at 9,240 despite having flown over 6,000 miles since the programs merged. The miles for these flights have posted to my account but the remaining miles to get upgrades doesn't seem to reflect them.
Is it typical for this field to be updated only, say, monthly, instead of as the miles post?
As a US Airways preferred flyer I was given 16 AA "500-mile" upgrades when the merger of the loyalty programs was completed in March. As I understand it, it takes 10,000 EQMs to get 4 of these upgrades.
However, on my AA account page, the number in the "Miles needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" field seems to be stuck at 9,240 despite having flown over 6,000 miles since the programs merged. The miles for these flights have posted to my account but the remaining miles to get upgrades doesn't seem to reflect them.
Is it typical for this field to be updated only, say, monthly, instead of as the miles post?
#70
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
Hello,
As a US Airways preferred flyer I was given 16 AA "500-mile" upgrades when the merger of the loyalty programs was completed in March. As I understand it, it takes 10,000 EQMs to get 4 of these upgrades.
However, on my AA account page, the number in the "Miles needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" field seems to be stuck at 9,240 despite having flown over 6,000 miles since the programs merged. The miles for these flights have posted to my account but the remaining miles to get upgrades doesn't seem to reflect them.
Is it typical for this field to be updated only, say, monthly, instead of as the miles post?
As a US Airways preferred flyer I was given 16 AA "500-mile" upgrades when the merger of the loyalty programs was completed in March. As I understand it, it takes 10,000 EQMs to get 4 of these upgrades.
However, on my AA account page, the number in the "Miles needed to earn 500-mile upgrades" field seems to be stuck at 9,240 despite having flown over 6,000 miles since the programs merged. The miles for these flights have posted to my account but the remaining miles to get upgrades doesn't seem to reflect them.
Is it typical for this field to be updated only, say, monthly, instead of as the miles post?
#71
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 61
I have a question of earning stickers on an EXP qualifying flight.
For example, if you currently are ~2K miles from EXP status, but ~3K miles from earning the next set of stickers, what happens if you fly a 1.4K mile flight connecting to a 6K miles flight? Or what if you fly a 2.5K mile flight connecting to a 1K mile flight? Will the system just see that you are now EXP and thus won't credit you the 4 stickers, even though you flew the 10K miles as a Platinum?
For example, if you currently are ~2K miles from EXP status, but ~3K miles from earning the next set of stickers, what happens if you fly a 1.4K mile flight connecting to a 6K miles flight? Or what if you fly a 2.5K mile flight connecting to a 1K mile flight? Will the system just see that you are now EXP and thus won't credit you the 4 stickers, even though you flew the 10K miles as a Platinum?
#72
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: West Palm Beach
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 791
Last Friday I used stickers to upgrade a 3-sticker flight. Requested within the window and immediately upgraded. The stickers have not yet been deducted from my account...is this normal?
#73
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
#74
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 215
500 mile upgrade certificates not issued to EXP elites
I was working toward achieving EXP tier status and now have almost achieved it. And just now I've realized that besides benefits, there also are disadvantages while being EXP elite - no 500 mile upgrade certificates are awarded after each 10k EQMs flown. So, basically, while I do not need them, if I want to have companion's seat upgraded, I would need to buy those certificates at $30 each. I do not understand why EXPs are not entitled to this benefit like golds and platinums? Am I missing something here?
#75
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: JFK/LGA
Programs: AA EXP/5 MM, BA Blue Bayou, HH LT Diamond
Posts: 5,837
No you are not. That is how the AA program has worked for many years (at least 10 IIRC- there may have been a couple of years in the early days of the EXP level (introduced c 1998) when EXPs earned and needed 500 mile credits for their own use.)