MADPhil

I had quite a few upgrades in the day and almost none of them cleared into adjacent seats. If you are quick you can sometimes change online, if not you have to hope to be able to offer a comparable seat for a swap and ask nicely.

AAExecPlatFlier

No. Just that you either clear together or not at all.

stc

I assume you are based in Charlotte. If you are only traveling at peak travel times, you probably have a snowballs chance in July of getting an upgrade as Gold. But, if you fly at off times, especially Sunday morning (and maybe Saturday), you have a lot better chance.

ibrandsguest

I am Platinum, and I was to fly LGA-PHL-XX recently. I was upgraded (for free) on the LGA-PHL flight since it is under 500 miles, and the PHL-XX flight was in coach on an all-coach regional jet. The PHL-XX flight was cancelled, and so I was automatically booked on another routing that arrived at XX about an hour later than my original flight.

I was in first class on the new flights, and I was happy, thinking that AA had given me an operational upgrade as a gesture of goodwill. However, I now see that 2 500-mile upgrade certificates were deducted from my account. I wouldn't have upgraded; I don't ever upgrade on LGA-XX flights since it's just not worth it to use the certificates or pay for first class.

Yes, I should not have assumed that the upgrade was free. However, is there anything that I can do to avoid having 500-mile upgrades involuntarily used in the future? Do I have any kind of claim for 2 free ones? I would prefer not to complain, unless this is a legitimate complaint.

Thanks.

BThumme

There's been lots of reports of this happening. I've been upgraded several times without requesting it, and a couple times I've had mile certs deducted.

You don't have to assume it's not free. If you didn't request it, you have to default that AA chose you to move up, most likely due to Y oversell (and if you're first flight was cancelled, there's a good chance they filled the new plane up).

festriaqua

I bought a domestic package on Expedia that included AA flights. The trip was automatically added into my AA account and included several segments of long and short flights. Few hours after the booking I got an email from AA saying they were unable to automatically request for an upgrade and prompted me to go online to make the request. Unfortunately the upgrade link on AA.com says its unavailable when I logged in.

Are there any restrictions to upgrades for flight packages purchased on travel sites?

satman40

I have seen the FA selling upgrades...just ask at the gate..
'Not worth it on a short flight,,,..to me.

festriaqua

Thanks. But as Plat, I'm supposed to be automatically added to upgrade list for flights 500 miles or less. And I was planning to use the upgrade coupons for the longer segments. Issue at the moment is that all of them are unavailable.

oysterhead43

Call AA

flyingeph12

I am not aware of any restrictions on upgrades for AA-marketed and operated flights bought as a package through third-party sites, but I've never booked flights using a package so I might be missing something.

Some potential reasons why you may not be able to request an upgrade online (or at all) include:
- You have more than 1 companion traveling with you
- Your flight(s) are not marketed by AA, i.e., no AA flight number/codeshare
- Your flight doesn't have first class (regional jets like the CR2)

You should call in and speak to an agent.

milesandmoremiles

Upgrades are only offered on published fares. Its quite possible the fare purchased as part of the package is not considered a published fare and more like a wholesale or consolidator fare.

festriaqua

Would this affect earning miles as well?

Microwave

I've shifted this discussion to the extant consolidated thread discussing 500 mile upgrade protocols and questions.

~Moderator

Lucky7dawg

I recently bumped up in status to Platinum. I had gold, but didn't take advantage of the upgrades too much (once or twice). I figured with Platinum my chances would increase dramatically.

I recently booked two flights W-F to chicago this week and next week.

I requested an upgrade using my 500 mile upgrade allotment. I havent received it for my wednesday flight but would check how many seats were open and only saw 1. I did notice some bulk head seats cleared up so I figure they got the upgrades. I cant complain with an exit row seat and no one in front of me though.

Now I am in the 72 hour range for my Friday flight as well. I have checked the status of that flight and see 9 open seats in first class. I assume I would clear but it's weird to me that I haven't cleared yet. Any idea on the timeframe that I typically would clear? I would worry if it got to 24 hours because then gold members could potentially clear as well.

Can someone explain to a newb, how exactly this works? If I haven't cleared by tomorrow night, do you think I should call AA or would they laugh at me?

Gino Troian

TBH I've given up trying to track upgrades and have been more pleased with getting
surprise upgrades But regarding your question, not all upgrades will clear days in
advance - sometimes you'll be upgraded a few hours before the flight or even at the
gate.