No status AA member with the Hyatt -> AA Gold challenge available, I have a flight booked in PE from SEA-LAX-HKG that is waitlisted for J using miles + copay. I want to credit the LAX-HKG flight to Alaska. Two questions:
1. Is there an advantage to me getting the gold status but not linking the account to my reservation (don't want to replace the Alaska number), will it push me higher up the upgrade list?
2. Can I see anywhere that my upgrade is correctly waitlisted? Maybe not an AA problem but I have had a ton of trouble with Delta not properly applying upgrades and me getting skipped for an upgrade. Want to make sure that my upgrade is correctly requested.

Thanks!

1) No advantage to getting the Gold status but not putting your AA number in the reservation. In order to get any Gold benefits, you need your AA number on the reservation so that AA knows you're a Gold member. The waitlist is first sorted by status, so as a Gold you would be above any no-status pax but below anyone with PLT/PLT Pro/EXP status.

2) Without status I do not believe your upgrade request is reflected anywhere online. Once you have status, there is usually an "upgrades" section at the bottom of each reservation that will show any upgrades requested.

You could always get the Gold status and put it in your reservation to hopefully up your chances, then change back to your AS number at check-in or the gate, etc.

BA flight # but AA metal
 

I'll be traveling ATH-ORD-SFO on AA metal but BA flight #'s. Long haul in PEY (E) and US-domestic short haul in economy (B).

On AA website, it states that:

"To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on British Airways marketed and operated flights as well as British Airways codeshare flights operated by oneworld® carriers and affiliates..."

Base miles Cabin bonus EQMs/mile flown EQDs/mile flown EQSs

Premium Economy E, T 100% Not available 1.50 20% 1.00

Economy Y, B 100% Not available 1.00 20% 1.00


Does my case qualify for this earning chart?

Also, at ORD, I will need to clear passport control & customs and then re-check my bags, right? Will I need to switch terminals as well?

Yes you will have to switch terminals at ORD. You will arrive at T5 and departure will be out of T3. Currently, transferring from T5 to T3 after exiting customs involves a shuttle bus. If you aren't traveling until December or later it is possible the train (ATS) will be back up and running by the time you travel.

Yes, when crediting to AA all that matters is the flight number. So if your flights have BA flight numbers they will earn via the BA earning chart at aa.com that you mentioned.

At ORD, you will arrive at T5 where you will clear immigration, then claim your bags, then go through customs. Just after customs you can drop your bags off with AA again, then go outside and take the bus over to T3 where your ORD-SFO flight will depart from. There are lots of signs directing you to the correct bus.

Thanks for the useful info. I won't be traveling on this until next May, so hopefully the train will be working by then.

Does anyone know about lounge access (I have Priority Pass)? However, the 2 PP lounges are airside in T3, and none in T5, so I will not be able to access any. Is that right?

There is a transfer bus that runs from Terminal 3 to 5 but I am not sure if they allow passengers on the opposite direction towards Terminal 3. If they do, clear TSA security at Terminal 5, visit the PriorityPass lounges and use the airside shuttle bus to Terminal 3. Otherwise, it's possible to use the lounges in T5 by clearing security twice ( once in T5 and then in T3 ).

Also OW status from a carrier other than AA, you are eligible for the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at T3 which is better than the PP lounges in T5.
I am not sure about AAdvantage access on INT to DOM transfers at connecting airports.

Thanks. I found this info on flychicago.com:

"If you arrive at O'Hare on an international flight and have a connecting domestic flight, you will arrive at Terminal 5 and will need to take the ATS to the domestic terminals. You will need to clear security again at the domestic terminals. "

So it does sound like the airside transfer shuttle bus only runs from T3 to T5 but not in the other direction.

In any case, I may not have time to visit a lounge anyway. My layover at ORD is only 2h15m. Does that allow for a leisurely or rushed experience going through immigration, customs, bags recheck, and terminal transfer? Does that leave me any time to go back into T5 to use either of the PP lounges (AF/KL, or Swissport) and then to go to T3 and go through TSA check again to my domestic gate? I'm thinking not, but it's been years since i've transferred through ORD. (BTW, I have Star Gold status but no elite status on OW.)

I was at ORD T5 landslide 2 weeks ago and I saw the sign by checkpoint 11 that there is a bus to terminals 1,2,3 from Gate M1. I think it is new and for some reason it’s not advertised. I was able to find info on UA FlyerTalk sub forum but it’s not clear how frequent that bus is etc.

That doesn’t apply if the ATS isn’t running, but your connection time isn’t great. Once you go to T-3 and pass through security, those Lounges accessible to you will be available there or in other terminals you can access airside. But again, for international to domestic, 2:15 isn’t likely to leave you a surfeit of time.

Post 202+ I found thread about reverse T5 to T123 airside transfer.

That's what I thought; so I wouldn't count on having time to access a lounge.

There are no PP lounges in T3 (or T2, T1 for that matter); they only have the 2 in T5. So unless there is airside connection between T3 & T5 in both directions, I wouldn't want to go back to T5 just to try out the KL/AF or the Swissport lounge, which are probably not worth it anyway.

Yea, before this goes any further, the PP lounges at ORD T5 are terrible. Complete overcrowded cramped mess in the afternoon. There is nothing nice about them, definitely not something to go out of your way for.

With a little over 2 hours, I would just clear immigration, customs, and then take the bus (train) straight over to T3, kill any remaining time in a restaurant, etc.

Hmmm, potential divorce or risk losing a kid :)
I do have access to Centurion but the SEA one is not that great. Guess that will have to be it

Thanks!

I’m PPRO and my wife is PLAT and I saw the same message when booking a flight for our cruise in November even though we both had more than enough stickers to “pay” for my wife’s upgrade. The fix was simply to request the upgrade online. As the flight was booked through a cruise company and was still in pending until 45 days out which is when the cruise line pays for the flights, I could only request the upgrade request via the app and not via a web browser. After I submit the upgrade request via the app, I was able to look online via a web browser and see that the upgrade was in a requested state. It shows as complimentary for me and 3 stickers for my wife.