Forcing an oversell?
 

I'm willing to pay full fare in F or Y. Does anyone at AA have the power to force an oversell? Trying to help a coworker in a tough situation.

EXPs can oversell the economy cabin, if at least 24 hours in advance. Unless the passenger is EXP, I'm not sure there is anything you can do, other than do standby at the airport.

From aa.com:

Yes. Lots of people. Practically everyone in Revenue Management, management level employees at airports, likely managers in Res offices, etc.

So, yes, there are people at AA who have the SABRE keyword to OB space. Your chances, however, of talking to one of these people are very slim.

AA has become increasingly conservative in setting authorization levels. Back in the day, "spoilage" was viewed as worse than oversales. Oversales can be bought off with a cheap voucher but once a walkup fare is turned away, that revenue is gone forever. Now, AA seems to prefer the operational ease of fewer oversales and is willing to leave revenue on the table.

If your employer has a corporate contract with a corporate TA, have your friend, not you, handle this through the TA. Otherwise, have your friend, not you, handle this through AA. The universe of people who can do this is narrowed with QIK, but it's there.

The specific request is whether AA will authorize overbooking (not overselling) by one for a full Y fare. Your friend is as likely to get it as you are to get it for him and having you in the middle is unhelpful at best.

Whether RM will spring for the overbooking will largely depend on how overbooked the flight is now and how things look. If it's at -20, forget it. If it's at -1, better shot.

How far out is the flight? If you want to PM me with the details, I'll give you some guidance.

Thanks everyone. Something opened up about 2.5 hrs before departure, and she was able to buy outright.