checkerboard

These weren't just for transatlantic flights; in my experience, these were also possible on flights to/from S.America.

A friendly Admirals Club agent offered this to me once, and I was surprised and delighted. Following his suggestion, I've quietly asked about it - and sometimes received it - on subsequent flights. Along the way, I've heard lots of conflicting info from various agents about this unpublished perk, but as best I understand it: until end of June 2018, it was fairly straightforward for lounge agents (or even gate agents) to process this, provided there was "P" inventory available for sale. This month, however, it's been less consistently available... in one instance, I was told (by an inexperienced lounge agent) that it wasn't possible to do any longer; but when I inquired at the gate, it took just a few keystrokes for me to be accommodated in PE. In another instance, flagship check-in was convinced it should be possible, but couldn't make the system do it, despite a wide-open PE cabin. For that flight, neither flagship nor lounge agents had any luck either - so flew in MCE. On my most recent flight where this came up - when I asked the admirals club agent what might be possible, she said it's kind of a mystery lately when it works and when it doesn't. All she could do was ask the computer, and it would either grant or decline the request. In that case, I again got lucky. It's a nice treat when it works out - but I won't be counting on it.

Uzzar

Just curious, did the flight go out with empty PE seats, then? I just dont understand why the rules for International have to be so anti-upgrade (to PE, not Business or F).

Dave Noble

At some point, I am sure that AA will finally release an award and upgrade chart which allows for travel in Premium Economy; I am surprised that it has taken so long for it to come up with one

Seems quite a positive though for those purchasing PE seats in that some may upgrade out of the cabin , but ( excluding involuntary upgrades ) not many able to upgrade into it

PlatinumScum

Are there any fare codes available? I can't think of any, and I suspect that repurposing a couple of economy revenue codes is a non-trivial exercise.

As someone who purchases PE, I don't like the current system. I'm competing for J upgrades with Y flyers, which really doesn't seem fair. This could be fixed by simply prioritizing PE -> J upgrades above Y -> J upgrades, but even that is apparently too difficult.

dkc192

I think I answered this in another post elsewhere, but I can't think of any available fare codes either, and AA historically has not used the two-letter codes that UA and DL use (e.g. XN, IN on UA). Furthermore, unlike many of its OW partners, AA likes to manage award and upgrade inventory separately by having a separate code for each, so it's likely that they'd need to repurpose two codes instead of one (as you pointed out). Unsure if this would be more challenging on the back end.

Zacnlinc

I agree and disagree with this sentiment.

I view it as the only way AA with place PE upgrades over Y upgrades, is if the UP tool(s) the Y person is attempting to us will only land them in PE and not in J. Otherwise, for example, the EXP in PE is simply competing with all other EXPs for the UP. If tie breaker is class of fare, well, then all is good.. But as others have pointed out in other threads on this tie breaker subject, EQD tends to sort things out well in advance before Class of fare gets called into play.

checkerboard

Yep. I saw several empty seats in PE.

flyalways

Well theoretically it is possible for a Platinum to have large # 12 month rolling EQD (there is no limit) if
their EQM/EQS has not reached EXP levels...so they may still be Platinum but with lot more
EQD than 9000 ! Is that possible ?