Last edit by: JDiver
Chances of Upgrade Request Clearing
NOTE: Be aware of recent (20 May 2017) upgrade priority changes."New Upgrade Priority as of 20 May 2017
(Upgrades were prioritized by elite status and then time of request until 20 May 2017)
Elite status
- Concierge Key
- Executive Platinum
- Platinum Pro
- Platinum
- Gold
Upgrade type
- Miles and copay award upgrades and systemwide upgrades (SWU)
- 500 mile upgrades on purchased tickets
- 500 mile upgrades on upgrade eligible awards)
Then, by
- Elite qualifying dollars in the past 12 months (rolling)
- Booking class
- Time of request
See Upgrade Priority Changes to Status, Rolling 365 Day EQD Spend May 20 2017
Link to Gary Leff, View From the Wing 16 May 2017
ARCHIVE: Chances of Upgrade Clearing and Availability (2019 master thread)
#256
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
Posts: 3,148
Also depends (in this case) on whether or not CX will release it to AA. One of the CX flights I wanted HKG-SFO was not released to AA, which is why I went via LAX on an AA codeshare / marketed flight.
#257
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: AUS
Programs: AA Exec Platinum/MM, DL Gold/MM, Hilton Diamond, Accor Platinum, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 6,977
Nope. AA relabeled domestic "First" as "Business" in early 2017, and changed the fare codes from A and F to I, D, and J. A and F are now reserved for first class on three class aircraft, whether domestic or international. However, if you book a trip on aa.com you'll still see domestic first labeled First in the fare display, and on your ticket receipt it will say First.
#258
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: United Premier Platinum
Posts: 638
It is my sense that - all other things equal - transpac flights to and from DFW have much more upgrade waitlisting than those to/from LAX and ORD.
Has this been others' observation, or not as much?
Has this been others' observation, or not as much?
#259
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA Plat / Spirit Elite / National Exec. Elite / Orbitz Plat.
Posts: 3
Looking for advice on an upcoming JFK to SFO transcon flight. Flying Tuesday 3/12 at 4pm and there are currently 17 business seats open and only 7 seats booked in MCE (I am assuming all Plat & up). I have 29 500 mile upgrades and no real expectation that I could burn through them all this year. From what I understand this route likes to fill up last minute. If the flight were today I would think my chances of upgrade using e500 are almost certain, but wanted to gather some input on if I should take the chance and try to use the e500s or just bite the bullet and use miles + copay to upgrade.
#260
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
I fly PHL-LAS-PHL monthly, and my return flights are almost always Friday night redeyes, occasionally Thursdays. I made a point to make PlatPro this year. I'm traveling tomorrow (29 hours from now). My outbound was PHL-LAX-LAS and I was upgraded LAX-LAS at T-72. Last month I was upgraded on the homeward redeye at T-72. This week, at T-72 there were 7 F seats open on the seatmap (I know there could be some tickets sold but unassigned), at T-48 there were still 6 seats, as now still 6 seats, F tickets available for purchase and no "n seats left" notation. On the way out, the PHL-LAX leg was an A330 with lie-flats in first and while I had no expectation at all of being upgraded, I was #6 on the upgrade list, which was higher than I'd have expected to be.
So I'm surprised to have not been upgraded yet. I don't expect a huge last-minute rush for elites to book the Friday night redeye OUT of Vegas, nor do I think there are too many people flying into Vegas to connect to the redeye. I still have reasonable confidence I'll be sitting up front, but does anyone have speculation what's going on? (Also, no bad weather anywhere that I'm aware of.)
P.S. Upgraded at T-26. Currently showing two open seats in F at T-23.
So I'm surprised to have not been upgraded yet. I don't expect a huge last-minute rush for elites to book the Friday night redeye OUT of Vegas, nor do I think there are too many people flying into Vegas to connect to the redeye. I still have reasonable confidence I'll be sitting up front, but does anyone have speculation what's going on? (Also, no bad weather anywhere that I'm aware of.)
P.S. Upgraded at T-26. Currently showing two open seats in F at T-23.
Last edited by redtop43; Mar 1, 2019 at 1:34 am
#261
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Looking for advice on an upcoming JFK to SFO transcon flight. Flying Tuesday 3/12 at 4pm and there are currently 17 business seats open and only 7 seats booked in MCE (I am assuming all Plat & up). I have 29 500 mile upgrades and no real expectation that I could burn through them all this year. From what I understand this route likes to fill up last minute. If the flight were today I would think my chances of upgrade using e500 are almost certain, but wanted to gather some input on if I should take the chance and try to use the e500s or just bite the bullet and use miles + copay to upgrade.
#262
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Flying DFW-LAX rt next week on the 789 both flights. Both are J7, outbound (Tuesday) showing 8 open on the seat map and return (Thursday) showing 16. Considering whether I should waitlist miles+copay, or just rely on my EXP comp. Thoughts?
Last edited by HLCinCOU; Mar 1, 2019 at 1:06 pm Reason: Derp, got my tabs mixed up; the second part was about a totally different thread.
#263
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Washington DC
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 66
IAD-CLT-DFW-COS on 2/27. Cleared as PP at 72 hrs for IAD-CLT and DFW-COS. #10 of 42 for the CLT-DFW leg, no surprise.
COS-ORD-DCA on 3/1. Cleared first leg not until 48 hours even though it looked empty (and had 7 empty seats). Second leg had not cleared as of this morning. COS-ORD was delayed 3 hrs causing a missed connection. Chose a new flight on the app and got what looked to be the last seat in first for the second leg as I confirmed it. I figured I’d be near the top of the list for that flight, but did I get any additional priority for the mechanical delay?
COS-ORD-DCA on 3/1. Cleared first leg not until 48 hours even though it looked empty (and had 7 empty seats). Second leg had not cleared as of this morning. COS-ORD was delayed 3 hrs causing a missed connection. Chose a new flight on the app and got what looked to be the last seat in first for the second leg as I confirmed it. I figured I’d be near the top of the list for that flight, but did I get any additional priority for the mechanical delay?
#264
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AA-EXP
Posts: 618
Rolling EQD may be important in this determination? In hub-hub flights out of CLT i have been surprised sometimes how low i am on the list at ~23k EQD.
#265
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Sorry, yeah that was a glaring omission. I've fallen off on my tracking data-entry, but I expect my rolling EQD is somewhere around 18k. So, not a big number...
#266
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Ha...and yet, overnight apparently the first one cleared!
#267
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Wow, and now the return is C3. It's a few days yet before the T-100 window even opens....really tempted to go ahead and confirm that one, even though my experience on the forward leg suggests I can save a few bucks by just keeping my powder dry.
#268
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
...and patience was never my strong suit. Went ahead and pulled the trigger on the miles+copay. The seat map was a key factor there...6L was open, but otherwise it was all middles or galley-adjacent. So I figure even if I was eventually going to clear I'd probably end up in an inferior seat. Might as well spend the $75+15k.
Last edited by HLCinCOU; Mar 2, 2019 at 1:32 pm Reason: har har..."gallery-adjacent"
#269
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP, AA Million Miles, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,586
DEN-ORD ,738, Saturday afternoon - cleared at gate (and went out with one empty seat in F)
ORD-DCA, 738, Saturday evening - cleared at gate (I was the only at gate upgrade that cleared).
I was glad to have cleared these - I switched to these flights day of departure to get out early before expected snow in Denver.
Reminder that it is a good thing that AA holds some seats back until departure...
ORD-DCA, 738, Saturday evening - cleared at gate (I was the only at gate upgrade that cleared).
I was glad to have cleared these - I switched to these flights day of departure to get out early before expected snow in Denver.
Reminder that it is a good thing that AA holds some seats back until departure...
#270
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: FL, USA
Programs: AA Plat, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriot Gold
Posts: 1,666
Wondering what the odds are of clearing 2 upgrades on a MIA - GCM(grand cayman) flight Thursday evening going and Tuesday morning return to MIA