Madison Guy

You already have it. Or do you not realize that UPGRADES are in fact an award??? Recent posts seem to indicate SOME posters think FREE (award tkts) are part of the award program but that UPGRADE benefits are not - so if this is (apparently) you - you are not alone!

Hagbard Viking

Indeed. From aa.com:

AAnytime Awards provide you with the most flexibility, allowing you to book any unsold seat on any day.

MileSAAver Awards provide you with an economical alternative, if you can make your reservation in advance, but are subject to special limitations on seating availability and to certain Travel Embargo Dates.

Upgrade Awards provide you with the opportunity to purchase an economy or business class ticket and use AAdvantage miles and a non-refundable co-pay, if applicable, to confirm an upgrade.

alien

I can only find published information on "Expanded Award Seating Availability" relating to MileASSver awards. From AA (bolding mine):

"Expanded Award Seating Availability
As an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member, you have exclusive access to additional MileSAAver® award seating availability on American Airlines, American Eagle, and AmericanConnection flights for you and one companion. While this is not a guarantee of available seating, it does provide more flexibility when you are traveling on a MileSAAver award."

I can find nothing published on expanded SWU availability. I have, however, been one of those lucky enough to be the recipient of C availabilty when none has shown on several occasions.

ESpen36

Some agents might not be aware that this special inventory exists. Last spring, I was trying to get a Z seat overseas, and the flight was showing F7A7 etc....across the board, with no seats occupied. But no Z inventory on AA.com. The first EXP agent with whom I spoke said that nothing was available. I thanked her, hung up, called back, and the second agent immediately found an available Z seat.

Go figure!

flipside

While they don't say it directly, upgrade awards are indeed awards, and come from the same inventory as eVIP upgrades, it's pretty much a 2+2 = 4 thing

envgeo

Same question as short hair francis.

I just called for business class mile saver award availablilty asked about the expanded mile saver awards for EXP's. The agent said that "Our system shows the expanded mile saver awards available to you as an EXP."

Is that correct?

dartagnan

I booked an award STL-JNB yesterday, and there was only 1 seat available for the YYZ-LHR-JNB legs on BA. The agent at AA called BA, got a seat opened up, and booked both tickets. I have no idea if this is relevant, but I was very impressed that AA took the effort to secure an additional seat for me. (as a not quite yet EXP).

25milesfromhome

On a couple of occasions, I've called to book trips to Asia. I had checked on aa.com and saw no availability for the first or last legs (SAN-LAX), but the agent doing the booking was able to see available seats. There was no need to make a call or do anything else.

Zantaine

I currently have Mrs Zantaine scheduled for a flight on Dec 25 via a MileSaaver ticket. I tried all day to get her flight changed to a specific flight on Dec 24. (AA 3637 SJT-DFW connecting to AA 1575 DFW-SFO) EF shows AA 1575 as F7 X4 A7. I know MileSaaver is Z but I was hoping with 17 open seats in FC they could open up 1 seat for her. In economy, only 3 exit row seats on the 757 are taken. The miles for the MileSaaver award ticket are coming from my account.

The agent I spoke to earlier said she'd send a request to RM and I should call back. So when I called back 4 times (hours in between each attempt) they said nothing has changed. When I just got off the phone now, the agent said they couldn't do it. They said SJT-DFW is no problem, but they can't approve DFW-SFO. I know the motto of calling until you get the answer you want but I've literally talked to 6 different EXP agents today over the phone. Should I be more persistent? I don't want to cross a line, but I also want to make sure I'm not out to lunch here. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

sukn

If RM has declined the request, and currently there is no expanded EXP inventory, you may be out of luck since we are so close to flight time. However, you can always keep checking, there is nothing wrong with that. By some miracle, though doubtful, a seat may open up.

Zantaine

Thank you very much for your response Sukn! I guess my biggest misunderstanding is if there are 17/22 FC seats open approximately 21 hours before take off is there really no way to open up 1 seat? (This data being based off of what EF is showing me) I hoped if they would open up X, (Currently 4 on EF) they might open up at least 1 Z.

sukn

While what you post is logical, remember coach could be oversold so adding another passenger to the flight is not in the best interest of AA. In that scenario, releasing X simply means moving a Y passenger to F without impacting the flight load.

sukn

If getting home on Dec. 24th is the most important thing, there is currently Y MileSaaver availability on AA 4734 SJT-DFW connecting to AA 577 DFW-SFO.

Mr.Ushooz

I'm flying GRU to DFW on Feb 16, flight 962.

Before booking tonight, I checked Expert Flyer and it showed "0" C inventory available. I then called the EXP desk 5 minutes after checking Expert Flyer, expecting to be wait listed on the flight, or look for other options like maybe flying back via MIA instead of DFW to get a confirmed SWU.

When the AA agent punched in everything to book me, she said no problem confirming the eVIP upgrade on the flight that Expert Flyer showed as not available for upgrade (ie no C available). She didn't call anyone to pull any strings (ie revenue management), she just immediately gave it to me.

So the moral is, it looks like Expert Flyer is not always accurate or up to date.

Anyone else know why this happened (I'm not complaining, just wondering for future reference on why Expert Flyer and AA numbers don't jive).

justforfun

One of the perks of EXP is expanded award availability that doesn't show up on expertflyer. Enjoy the upgrade!