If Premium Economy is oversold, are passengers booked in PE op-upped into business class before economy passengers with SWUs are cleared for upgrades? Just wondering as I have an EZE-LAX flight that is showing W5 but only one open seat on the map (I know, I know). It seems there are a few accounts of overselling on PE with op-ups. I actually have requested the upgrade with miles+copay. Wondering if this somehow helps my chances or is meaningless.

In that scenario I would think(hope) that AA would roll any oversold PE pax into business before clearing Y>J upgrades. If you are in PE and it looks oversold and you're waitlisted for a SWU, then the oversell definitely helps your SWU chances. You will(should) get upgraded first ahead of any PE>J op-ups or Y>J SWU upgrades.

I am looking to use SWU on flights from LHR to MIA for 2 people I am EP. I would like to be on Flight AA57 on a Monday in November but there are no C showing in EF, there are some available on Tuesday though. What are my chances of getting SWU through on the Monday flight or should I just take the Tuesday guarantee??

For a Monday in November your chances are definitely pretty good, however for a route like LHR-MIA if you don't find space in advance then it's likely you wont see any space released until around 24-48 hrs before the flight (even with a wide open business cabin, just the way AA works). If it's no big deal to fly on a Tues instead then I'd do that to grab the space.

Huh? What's your basis for this?

PE currently has no priority for SWUs. SWUs should get cleared in order of rolling EQD rank.

In a PE overbook situation, AA can do op-ups W--J. But I hope they aren't clearing SWUs out of policy order. That would be a significant annoyance, to put it mildly.

To deal with a W oversold AA should, IMO, do these two things 1) Op-ups without pulling SWUs 2) Seek volunteers for downgrade or rebooking.

Processing W-->J SWUs before higher EQD ranking Y-->J SWUs is not policy and should not be done even in an overbooking situation. No, it doesn't help the overbooking. But it does maintain the integrity of the upgrade process and doesn't anger customers who are "skipped" in the upgrade order.

In other words - the AA agents absolutely should deal with the oversold. Breaking the SWU priority process/policy is not the way to do it.

AA #136 LAX to LHR
 

Just call the Platinum desk and ask about the flight you want to be upgraded on. If your outgoing is all on BA without any AA ticket or codeshare, I don't think you can request mileage upgrades for those. It's my understanding that you can only upgrade on Oneworld carriers via AA miles if your flights are bought through AA, but operated by those carriers. For example, I can't book directly with BA for a Denver-LHR flight and then use my AA miles to upgrade. I would have to have booked the flight on an AA ticket, through AA as a codeshare (seen online as "Operated by British Airways" when booking), before I could use miles to upgrade. The concern here is that you are on BA ticket stock from LAX-LHR - are you on an AA flight ticket, or BA? Being on AA from LAS to LAX, then BA the rest of the way to STR (both ticket and operated-by) means you won't be doing any upgrading, even if you ask, because your flight legs have to be marketed/sold by AA in order for you to do it. I just experienced this because my corporate travel agent inadvertently booked my DEN-ORD-LHR-TLV legs on AA flights, but BA tickets. I called as an EXP to put in for an upgrade on the ORD-LHR leg to Business, but was told that I couldn't because it was sold by BA. I ended up getting the upgrade free anyway thanks to PE being oversold, and being operated by AA with my EXP status, they apparently decided to bump me, no miles or extra $$ required. :-)

For the return, if on AA, ask them if there are any upgrades currently available. If they say yes, and there are at least 2 - tell them you want to use miles + $350 to upgrade both yourself and your wife, and they will do it on the spot. Note it will be $350 and miles for EACH person on the same itinerary, regardless of their status. So to upgrade you and your wife, you would be required to pay $700 and 50,000 miles.

If no upgrades are available (yet) on the flight(s) you want to use miles to upgrade when you call, they will offer to put you on the "wait list". You'll give them your credit card info, and if you get the upgrade between the time you request it and the flight departing, your card will be charged and the mileage deducted.

I don't know if AA has a prioritization of status for mileage upgrades. I would assume they would prefer taking $350 per seat plus miles from anyone requesting the upgrade over an EXP using a SWU (free system-wide upgrade). Again, this is assuming you are on an AA ticket for the leg you are wanting the upgrade.

Upgrades LAX to LHr
 

Upgrades
 

Then you should be OK to request the upgrades you want. If you call and they show availability, and you are ready to pay $350 plus miles for you and your wife (each), then you'll have your upgrades in your hand well before your trip. If nothing is available at the time you call, give them the info (CC, AA #, etc.) and you'll both be put on the wait list.

Again, not sure on probability, but if you want to track availability or be notified when two seats come open for upgrades, check out ExpertFlyer and set up an alert for the flights you want to keep an eye on. You'll get an email as soon as their system identifies seats being designated as an upgrade from the airline (they somehow have a connection directly with many airlines to see this real-time), and then you can quickly call AA to request the upgrade on the phone.

Upgrades
 

Calling AA to get on the waitlist is pretty much the only way you will get upgraded, so yes it's absolutely worthwhile. Dec 3 is a Tuesday, so your chances are great, although upgrade space most likely won't open up till a day or two before the flight.