pauleeepaul

No more so than other aspects of airline pricing and upgrading protocol. Lots here get their rocks off about how much they "saved" on an upgraded cheap Y ticket vs the "yutz" who paid full fare for a international J ticket- that IMO is where one could- really- be offended.

There is a value in something confirmed in advance vs chancing what amounts to a standby- that is what you are paying for. Kudos to AA for striving to extract the max value for the product they are delivering (but still are struggling to turn a profit.)

aamilesslave

True that. It's also similar to when a K-UP or Y-UP is cheaper than the lowest available coach fare.

bdemaria

If LFBUs are offered and SWUs/mileage copays aren't clearing - that's a problem. However, if there are a couple of premium seats open close to flight time and AA is able to sell them, great.

oklAAhoma

^ Well said.

There's nothing offensive about the practice imo. The discounting of perishable/unsaleable products is certainly not unique to the airline industry.

ijgordon

But it's so wholly inconsistent with the rest of their pricing strategy, which typically charges more for the last-minute inventory, in an attempt to maintain revenue integrity.

oklAAhoma

Yes, it typically costs more for last-minute inventory, unless too much last-minute inventory remains. In those cases, fares can actually decrease a few days before flight time.

With respect to revenue integrity, how are LFBUs any different than NetSAAver fares?

dayone

In my view, it's consistent with CFC. YMMV.

marksskram

Preface: Elites, please don't hate me. I've been using the Alaska Airlines mileage plan for a while but am switching to AA to gain elite status and brand loyalty.

I take AA up on the LFBU as often as I can but I notice I'm usually only offered it for the first leg of my (domestic) trip despite the fact I see the first class cabin of my second leg (usually much longer) is more than half empty. I've asked gate agents in both my originating gate and 2nd departure gate and they say they can't do these kinds of upgrades but there's often no kiosks around.

Is there a strategy to this - am I just unlucky that AA is expecting to honor elites' upgrade requests?

Thanks!

P.S., does AA give bonus miles to AAdvantage accts for LFBUs? I know Alaska doesn't - I'll update this thread when I find out in a few days..

ESpen36

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

The LFBU is offered at the kiosk only (and from TAs occasionally when departing FROM some overseas stations). When you check in at the kiosk, the system will search your flights and look for inventory to offer you the LFBU. Typically, shorter flights have more availability on day of departure than longer ones, given that the longer ones tend to have more premium paid customers and upgraders. (Remember, GLDs/PLTs need to burn stickers, so they might choose not to do so for short domestic flights.)

The only thing you could try, when connecting at places like ORD and DFW, would be to locate a kiosk inside the secured area to reprint your boarding pass and see if it offers you the LFBU at that point. Otherwise, you would need to go outside security to the main ticket counters and use a kiosk there.


In theory, no. The miles you earn are based on the fare you purchased, not the cabin you actually flew. But sometimes the system makes a mistake and awards you too many miles/points. (It's not something we discuss much because, well, why complain?)

marksskram

Thanks you for the welcome and reply. I tried two (hope was lost after the first but why not try again) "rebooking" kiosks in DFW and even though I see on aa.com the cabin is still pretty empty, I wasn't offered an upgrade for a price. It's still unclear if they honor upgrades or try to get extra revenue first- I see 4 upgrade requests pending at the gate TV display.

Thanks again

Mark_T

That part at least is clear, you will only be offered a LFBU at a kiosk if all other requested upgrades have been cleared.

If people are still on the upgrade list then you won't get LFBU offered.

Of course that can end up being the case if someone does not request the upgrade before reaching the airport but that situation aside you need to have an empty upgrade list to see LFBU.

The other reason you will not often get the offer on your 2nd leg when checking in is a time factor as your 2nd flight would also need to be under airport control with no wait-listed upgrades outstanding which is of course less likely if you are a few hours away still.

videomaker

I wouldn't count on the LFBUs as a reliable upgrade path. It happens when it happens, and that's it.

If you're connecting through DFW, I'm not surprised you wouldn't be able to snag one there. Most of my connecting flights go out with F full and a waiting list for elite upgrades. And yes, the concensus here is that LFBUs are offered for seats above and beyond those needed for elites who have requested upgrades.

marksskram

Gotcha, thanks again. Waiting for elite status it is then - and getting lucky with LFBUs when possible

oklAAhoma

It might be of interest that AA.com concurs with the consensus here.

Q: Will the Confirmed Upgrade option reduce the number of premium class seats available to full-fare and AAdvantage elite customers?
A: No. Upgrades via Self Service will be offered only after we've determined that sufficient premium seats are available to accommodate customers who want to buy full-fare tickets and to AAdvantage elite members who wish to upgrade.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/FAQs/...iceCheckIn.jsp

Gamecock

I agree.

LFBUs are not available on every flight, whereas miles/copay are.

I have in the past used miles/copay and do not see the value on TATLs, as much as I like sitting up front.

OTOH at times I will pay $500 at the counter, if available. I see that as a far better value.

Does it bother people who buy a car one month and a month later rebates and other incentives are offered? Sure it does, but the airlines selling upgrades is hardly unique to the airline industry.