What if you book with $15K rolling EQD but at departure you have $5K rolling? Do you still qualify at the original value?

I don't have a source for it immediately handy, but my understanding is the EQD is calculated at every sweep. So if they open up C space a month in advance like they did for my LAX-AKL, they'll calculate it for the twelve months up to that moment. Then if they open up some more right before flight time, they'll do it again and your EQD number and thus place in line might well be significantly different.

That depends, are you waitlisted for a SWU or your EXP complimentary domestic sticker upgrade (UDU)?

Complimentary domestic sticker upgrades pull from different inventory (R), this clearing has no correlation with C space being available. So the agent was correct.

But SWUs and miles/copay pull from C, if you're waitlisted for a SWU and see C space open, definitely HUCA.

If you're talking about complementary upgrades, then yes it is correct. The space you need is R, which is not viewable on EF.

Hoping for some color here. EXP on a Premium Economy seat, trying to use SWU to get to business. Looked on Monday, and there were 5 first class seats, and 4 business class seats available. Looked yesterday and there was only 1 first class seat left, and only 2 business class left.

Is it correct to assume 4 of those 1st class were taken by Business people upgrades? I did notice that as that happened during the week, more business class seats opened up. However, I'm a bit surprised my upgrade didn't clear, as that would have meant at 1 point there were approximately 8-9 business class seats available. I can't imagine for this 1 flight there were 7 people with higher status/EQD than me, so is it safe to assume these were just last minute business class seat purchases? Or possible someone from another business class flight changed to this one?

Only 2 business class seats left, so I'm thinking I have ZERO chance AGAIN :-/

It's possible that all of them were upgrades, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily likely that they were. After that, even if they were upgrades, that doesn't mean that the available seats would be released to C inventory for SWU. They may have been purchased with cash, or may have been available to book with miles.

What route are you flying? If it's any of the South American routes that uses the 77W (DFW-GRU, JFK-GRU, MIA-GRU, MIA-EZE), I'd be surprised these days for an EXP not to clear a SWU, but still possible. If it's DFW/LAX/JFK/MIA-LHR, it's entirely possible that those seats are all purchased, or that only a couple SWUs clear, and that J and F tickets get purchased close in. Same with DFW-HKG. LAX-HKG should be easier, but depends on the day of the week/season/is still unpredictable.

DFW-OAK and back this week no upgrade for me. F cabin was zeroed out for days. I have to tell myself before this EQD ranking I would have cleared F days out. Generally speaking is AA selling cheaper F fares? FWIW the folks sitting down weren't biz folks at all and they all looked like they fly NK once a year to visit grandma in Melbourne Beach.

Thx for reply. It's HKG-LAX :-/

Seriously? Because you can tell what a passenger does or what they paid by how they look.

And if you could, guess what - folks flying to see family in Florida have as much right to be on the plane as you do.

lighten up frances

It was a joke and I thought it to be funny.

A little serious are we?

Cleared LAX-AKL AA83 as ExP T-45 Days with Miles & $$. But didn't clear the MIA-LAX segment.... 20+ seats available. Looks like return SYD-LAX only has 3 seats available so if anything happens, it'll be at the airport......

Many flights to/from the Bay Area on AA completely sell out in F before the upgrade window, in my experience. I don't find the fares to be that cheap on my routes (usually to/from SFO, DL and UA are about $100 cheaper than AA one-way).

Basically agree with the above... I'd be cautious about any preconceived notions about who has the ability to afford paid F -- particularly in the Bay Area, there are plenty of younger individuals who have the necessary funds, whether work or personal.

The AA system takes into account some changes over time, but not all. In particular, changing status after a reservation is made can cause a glitch. Here are the particulars: Last year I dropped from EXP to PLT, then this year worked my way back to EXP. I was therefore sometimes making a reservation at one status level and flying at a higher one. Having reached EXP recently, I was surprised this week when for a wide open flight my upgrade cleared at 72 hours, not at 100 hours. Sure enough, when I called the EXP desk they could see me as EXP in the system, but the upgrade request was listed as PRO for the next domestic leg in the reservation. For another upcoming reservation, three legs were shown as PRO and one, the under 500 mile leg, at just PLT. Worth watching for if you are climbing the status ladder. The fix is easy: I asked the agent to clear out the upgrades and then reload them - they now all show EXP in the system.