JDiver

It has com to pass.

Upgrade priority will be based on Status held first, then by Elite Qualifying Dollar spend over the last 365 days, within upgrade types.


"New Upgrade Priority Link to Gary Leff, View From the Wing 16 May 2017

Upgrades are currently prioritized by elite status and then time of request.

Starting May 20 2017 upgrade prioritization will be:
This will necessitate new strategies and is sure to upset some apple carts. Even dates of Barclaycard $3k EQD for $25k spend on Red and Silver, and the additional $3k EQD for Silver who hit $50k spend postings will probably have effects on calculating when these will have their best and longest term effects.

But in the end, the highest EQD earning highest status members will benefit and those who barely meet EQD minima will suffer.

headinclouds

I wish that I had converted more of my 500 mile stickers when I was EXP. Now I'll never use them as a ordinary PLT.

aisleorwindow

Having read the various blog posts, I still have two key questions on this:

1) Is there any way to see what our 2016 EQDs are? (Besides manually adding it up).

2) Where do BXP1 (Business Extra) paper upgrade certs fall in the priority? Are they treated same as SWUs/miles?

deeruck

Surely points 4 and 5 will be used rarely. Unless they bucket the EQD, that would almost always break the tie, wouldn't it?

gradboozer

Guess it's just time to start buying more paid F.

chicagoflyer1976

For me, I think this will be an overall net negative - this year I went from a job where I booked pretty close in (2 weeks to several days before departure) to a job where I regularly book 3-4 weeks or more before.
I would say I'm generally seeing more upgrades, but it's so route dependent. ORD>LGA remains tough (so many CK), but most other routes no problem.

I've had a handful of Thursday night upgrades where I've cleared or been #1 or #2 , and ultimately cleared, while the list has been 30+ people. For example, I had a thursday afternoon flight from DFW to LGA that was sold out in F when I booked about 5 weeks prior, but I was # 1 on the list. I utimately cleared (see below RE: CKs, after being moved down to #4 - thanks to a a couple that didn't want to split up).

My spend is likely above average, at least until November (I had some expensive international business travel in November 2016, don't think that will happen again).

For leisure travel, I generally book far in advance, and usually don't have a problem clearing upgrades. But again, it's very route dependent. On routes where PLTs and maybe even GLDs are clearing, it won't matter. On those unfortunate routes where EXPs are in the back, it might tip the tables.

I think what's hurt me more than anything is prioritizing CKs over EXPs. I've had several situations where I've been #1 or #2 on the list, only to be moved to #4 or #5 , presumably by CKs doing SDCFC and then getting on the UPG list. I can tell since their names (when called for boarding) tend to match the "cleared" names on the UPG list.

oh well...

mvoight

Of course you can............. There are some flights that don't even fill the first class seats....... not a lot, but it does happen. I am out of upgrades right now.

Resident

So...what are the remaining options for getting rid of 500m stickers if one is going mercenary/losing status?

JonNYC

Was thinking the same thing myself.

There are none.

George Purcell

You'll burn them eventually, I think. Heck, I was 1 for 4 on a recent trip as a lifetime Gold.

rasheed

I agree with the point about putting the almost useless tie breakers of booking code and date/time stamp. I can't imagine the exact same two EQDs from running twelve months.

We have to accept that early bookings and fare class will almost always not matter for revenue fare bookings eligible under this system.

I think having EXP and higher will still be mostly useful as I think many flights still get a few Plat Pros upgrade. For Plat and Gold, this maybe very disruptive. I am not sure how many EXPs fly on domestic awards because that would be disruptive to their elite accruals and booking for others alone won't count unlike United's (old) system.

Rasheed

LonghornSF

I know it's a zero sum outcome but personally I love these changes ^

I fly long haul business frequently so my EQD is quite high. I'm a cheapskate though so I almost never use reward points to book domestic biz. This will help my wife and I sit up front when we're doing weekend trips or flights out to the west coast to visit family. I also like the move away from time-of-booking based priority, which never really made sense. All in a positive change for higher spend customers.

JDiver

That's exactly as it is intended to work.

grrizzli

Points 4 and 5 will be in play when pax have 0 EQDs. One can still be an EXP without spending a dollar on AA in the past 12 months.

gary_nj

Any idea how this will work for sponsored upgrades with a SWU for international travel? I presume the status level of the sponsor will stick with the request at least until some time close to the airport.