CloudCoder

I have existing reservations with (lifetime Gold) companion on the same rez with me. Upgrades are already requested. Does anyone know if we have to re-request the upgrade in order to get in on the new dealie?

JDiver

IMO, too early to know for sure. I’d look the policy over (link above and “first” post, plus post contains policy) and then call to assure it’s all good.

C17PSGR

So ... I'll confess I'm confused as someone who has traveled many times with companions. We've always been upgraded together (well upgrades don't always clear) and the 500 m/stickers have been pulled from my account. Seems like every time we've been at the airport on the upgrade list, we're together on the list. I know recently I was at the airport and was number 5 ... and was told there were two CK's and their wives/girlfriends on the list ahead of me.

So what is the change?

sensei

Daniel Solis

I'm guessing there is still no way to upgrade yourself splitting the PNR if their is two companions on it. (can't split since companions have no status and need me for the free bag)

I know I can do it on the return flight once everyone has checked in bags, I can ask at the airport to add me to the upgrade list and if I get a upgrade it auto splits me however too much risk to try it on the outgoing flight.

skoiboy

As an Executive Platinum member, does this change the need to use 500 mile upgrades for my companion? This always seemed like an odd requirement as I no longer earn the 500 mile upgrades and instead need to pay to upgrade a companion.

rjw242

Nothing in this announcement indicates that requirement has changed.

Often1

Why damn either AA or JonNYC because AA, on the one hand briefs its employees on what they need to know before posting the change publicly and JonNYC, on the other hand, has access to the guts of the change through what appears to be an internal-only communication?

It would make absolutely no sense to implement the change and the training at the same moment. Then people would post here, quite rightly complaining that they called in and the employee knew nothing.

While this change may matter in the rareified atmosphere of FT, there are minor tweaks to AA's operations all the time. Most have no immediate customer-facing impact, yet not notifying employees means they do not get implemented.

skoiboy

Do most EXP buy 500 mile upgrades for their companions, or is there a better way?

rjw242

I'm not sure what "most" do (some EXPs likely have 500-mile upgrades left over from when they held lower status), but if you don't have any upgrades in your account, the only options are to buy them, or use SWUs or miles+copay for companions.

JDiver

Rather than discuss other members, please remain focused on the policy and thread topic.

Thank you,

Moderator

Antarius

Sorry for being dense, but I am still unclear as to what the change is. Isn't this the current policy anyways?

Can someone please explain what changed or a before vs after? Thanks in advance.

MikeFly

This probably will not apply to most people, but the Twitter team confirmed back to me, after checking with AAdvantage, that companion status will not work if one person is going from Y-J and the other going from J-F; same flight, same upgrade instrument. I kind of expected the answer that they gave, but hope springs eternal

C17PSGR

I've been an EXP for several years. I buy 500 mile upgrades throughout the year as needed. Can't speak for others, of course..

+1. For as long as I can remember, if I buy tickets together the reservations are connected and we upgrade before the trip together. If I buy separately, I call the EXP line and ask them to connect the PNR. If we haven't cleared before the airport, our names are usually next to each other on the list. I remember one time they weren't and I stopped at the AC desk and they fixed it. And while I'm usually at the top of the airport upgrade list the spend in the low 20's, I've seen at least a couple of situation when someone traveling with a child was ahead of me on the list -- presumably because they had connected PNR's

econometrics

This is only applicable to ONE companion?