RogerD408

You need the 500-mile upgrades in your account before OLCI. Cheaper to buy online than at the airport.

ilkhats44

Is that at the 24 hour mark, right when check in open or can I do this before I check in which is usually around the 2 hour mark.

echyde

How long will AA hold on to First/Business seats on a flight to Canada? I'm about 28 hours from departure and have Platinum status. There are two seats available but it hasn't cleared -- the seats still show on the seat map as open, and AA.com is trying to sell them as Business. The seat map shows the exact same two seats and cabin config for both the "Business" view and the "First" view. Is is likely they are just waiting until the end hoping someone paid will grab the ticket? I assume they have an engine that knows that route has last minute Business class purchases so they wait until the point of no return to do upgrades when just a couple of seats are left.

For all I know there are 6 EXPs in front of me, but I'm just curious about how AA generally handles upgrades when a couple of seats are left and you are past your normal upgrade window. New to AA so I haven't experienced this yet. Normally when my upgrade doesn't clear First is completely full already.

critterchick

My bet is that they'll hold on to the seats until T-24 at the earliest. I hope you wake up to an upgrade, but you may have to wait until you're at the gate. Or even in your seat. I was plucked from coach as the last passengers boarded a few months ago (also Platinum). I was 13th on the u/g list, but it was a 3-class plane and First had gone empty, so I think they moved a lot of people up from business (I was eavesdropping shamelessly) so they had room for me.

RogerD408

You will be challenged at the time of OLCI.

RogerD408

Yes, it does sound like AA is holding off a lot longer now. BTW, the seat map is the worst thing to use for checking availability. It may be the seats are sold, but they just haven't been assigned yet. It may be in the process of upgrading seats and you hit during the golden time when the seat shows empty.

You can try booking a seat in F to see if they show any availability. That they usually don't oversell.

MADPhil

You should not need them until you check in - online or at the airport - and you can buy them from the kiosks at the online price. You must have them to be put on the airport upgrade list at check in. I am not sure how quickly they will post, I think AA says a couple of hours for online but that people have reported it to be much faster and it may be immediate at the kiosk.

echyde

I am hoping someone with much more AA experience than myself can tell me how to handle a similar situation in the future.

Was doing a MR today. BHM-CLT-PHX-YVR returning next day YVR-DFW-MIA-BHM.

My BHM-CLT flight went mechanical before boarding. Initial estimate was a minimum of a one hour delay. Would cause a misconnect CLT-PHX (it actually ended up much worse than an hour delay). I called the Platinum desk and the agent switched me to a BHM-MIA-SEA on my outbound. I was still going to be about 200 MQMs short of what I needed (AA gave me Plat a few months back but I wasn't flying much at that time), and after trying various configs the rep asked me if rebooking in Y would help me. Obviously... of course, I took him up on that.

I asked for him to request 500 mile upgrades on all flights. He did. Almost immediately got an email saying SEA-DFW had cleared for my inbound. When I checked the upgrade standby list I wasn't on it. I guess he didn't request it as I was already checked in. I call back before I left BHM, the agent was extremely confused saying my upgrade was already requested, I clarified I was referring to standby for the upgrade, and she said I had knocked it out using the AA app. I explained I had not changed anything, but that my original itinerary was changed. She said she added me after waiting for about 5-10 minutes while she spoke to someone.

Landed in MIA at D3 I believe. Refreshed the app. Not on the list. As I only had an hour connection I ran to the train and got over to D49 where my flight was leaving from. Stopped at the closest restaurant and ordered food. In the interim I immediately went to the gate. Literally as I walk up they announce a gate change to D4... back to the other side of the terminal. The GA originally tried to act like she didn't speak English. But I speak Spanish so that game ended quickly. She told me she was doing some stuff on the previously departed flight (had left about 20 minutes previously) so she couldn't add me to the standby. Said I had to go to D4.

I ran, got my food to go, and went back to the train. Went to the GA for my flight and she was confused like the original phone agent. Finally got her to add me. I was number 1 of 3 on the list, but boarding started 5 minutes before. She said nothing was available anyway. Numbers 2 and 3 had cleared already.

When I went to board I showed the FA the upgrade list and asked him if there was anything he could do. He was phenomenonal. He immediately ran to a computer, tapped a few keys and handed me a First BP. When I boarded I sat down and about 5 minutes later another pax boarded. He thought I was in his seat. There was a row that had two empties so he moved there. The pax sitting next to me actually had an identical BP to me. He was on of the other 2 that had cleared. We both were assigned the same seat. Thankfully we had the extra seat left so we actually left with 1 open FC seat.

My question is how the heck do I avoid such a cluster in the future? How can I make sure I get added to standby when there are IRROPS and the ticket has to be reissued. It seems the upgrade standby list is a confusing process or idea for a lot of AA staff. I happened to get lucky, but what do you do if you get added late, are number 1, and the others clear first and there is no seat? Do you just eat it and move on?

I'm not going to lie. I seriously considered just not boarding and asking for a flight the next day because it was wide open. A six hour flight is a six hour flight and a lot more comfortable with an upgrade. Do you always have to fight this hard to "push" your 500 Mile upgrades?

Sorry for the e-novel and many questions. I was Delta then US and then back to Delta after the AA merger. Why AA gave me Plat I will never know. But I plan to stick with them as they are a perfect fit for my new employer's client sites. United could be an option, but right now I don't see any reason to rock the boat.

I've been traveling a good bit recently on AA and I've had several issues. The only one that bothers me is that they universally seem to have the most angry gate agents I've ever dealt with. Literally just have black clouds following them around and absolutely loathe to help Pax. It has been that way whether, DFW, MIA, or ORD. The FAs are amazing, though.

Thanks.

AAExecPlatFlier

Sounds like the upgrade request didn't have time to populate across systems before the BP was issues. I think when u change a flight u have to wait like five minutes or so. The only thing u can do when changes are made at airport and BP is immediately issued is have agent check to see if u are on the list by pulling up the list. And then have them add you to the list.

babypuwet

Hi all, I am an EXP from mostly international flight. I have a multisegment domestic flight LGA-ORD-PHX-LAS. The first two segments have Upgrade space available but not the last. I'm 35 hours out from flying and nothing has cleared. Does each segment clear individually or do all segments have to have space before my upgrade is cleared?

SFO777

Each segment would clear on its own regardless of other segments.

Segments

Assuming unique flight numbers.

babypuwet

yes, they will be unique fly numbers. Follow up question. Is there some rule that within 24 hours the PNRs are split and each person is on their own status? So my friend that is travelling with me that has no status will probably not get an upgrade?

RogerD408

The PNR will only be split if you request it to be. If you don't then two seats have to open up at the same time before you'll be upgraded. If only one (and usually that's what they do) then they will skip you over for the next single. If you do split them then yes, everyone is on their own status.

I have had some success (pmAA) in talking with the EXP desk and sometimes if they see me pretty close to the top of the list, they have contacted RM to see if two seats could be opened up so we could travel together. There is no rule saying they must do this, but a nice conversation just might get you some consideration.

coolcoil

Some airlines do that, so that's might be the origin of what you heard. That was UA policy through at least 2014 and may still be. I stopped following the UA forum when I switched to AA that year, but at that time there was a lengthy consolidated thread about the policy.