PlatinumScum

DFW-based, I'm guessing.

That matches my experience last year, where I went 0/5, with about $25K EQD. (I did clear the CLT-RDU segment of DFW-CLT-RDU late in the year, but I called in an and un-upgraded myself.)

Fortunately, things appear to have improved a bit. I'm in the second week of DFW-MIA-GRU, GRU-MIA-DFW-PHL-PRG, PRG-PHL-DFW (in Brno right now), and all of the segments other than DFW-PHL cleared. Not sure how I would have survived spending all weekend traveling from Sao Paulo to Brno without at least one of the longhauls clearing (W to J)!

HofstraJet

HofstraJet

mzsmiley

Hi all! I posted on a different thread but was hoping to get a bit more insight as I'm still new to upgrades.

I will be traveling on AA193 LAX>HKG in October with a discounted economy ticket that I won through work. I plan to use 25k + copay to upgrade to business. How likely will this get cleared or am I just following a pipe dream? No status yet and will not for awhile as I just started my churning journey. It's a mid-week 12:55am flight on a Tuesday night.

Also wanted to add that I have called in to be waitlisted since they unsurprisingly don't have any availability ATM.

dkc192

Midweek gives you the best bet of clearing, though October is still too far away for anyone to offer definitive, load-dependent insight for your flight. Best to check back in September with an exact flight date and those of us with EF subscriptions might be able to help.

worldiswide

Flew last week to DC. Ticketed Ord to dca but flights were cancelled both ways due to weather and atc holds. Upgrade on the way out cleared about t-24 and was preserved through two flight changes, one later the same day and another for the following morning with an airport change to bwi. On the return flew with a non status companion on a different pnr. Both of us were upgraded at about t-72. Flight was cancelled about 3 hours prior to scheduled departure and upgrades preserved with change to following day flights af again with airport change to bwi.

ah85

Traveling from Dallas to Barcelona in December. DFW-LHR-BCN outbound and BCN-JFK-DFW return. Was able to clear Miles/Copay upgrades for both DFW-LHR (AA50) and BCN-JFK (AA67) already. Impressed & Surprised.

A651346

I'm flying AA193 next month and received alert from EF that C space was available so I quickly called EP agent to reissue ticket with assigned seat number. After the email alert I went on EF to check on how many C space opened up and to my surprise I saw C5. It has been a LONG time since C space for this flight opened up a month before departure. Interesting enough the return flight on AA192 has't triggered any alerts.

SCS

Can you elaborate on how this process works? Were you on the waitlist before the space opened up? I was under the impression that when C space opened, they would clear upgrades from the waitlist into the newly opened space. But if that were true, there shouldn't be any advantage to calling as soon as EF notifies you...

JJeffrey

Upgrades do clear off the waitlist when C space is released, however the timing can vary. Sometimes it can be almost instantaneous, while other times there can be a lag of a few mins to a few hours. AA's upgrade waitlist system runs in batches and is not directly correlated to AA's revenue mgmt system releasing C space.

Those of us that have ExpertFlyer set up alerts for C space, and when it opens up you can call AA to have the upgrade processed immediately, rather than waiting for the waitlist to run its course. Some agents will clear you immediately, while others won't if they see you're already waitlisted.

This process with regards to waitlisting and watching C space on EF and calling in is nothing new and has been around for years. Take some time to peruse the dedicated SWU and miles/co-pay threads and you'll find lots of info and discussion.

FAQ: Miles + Copay Upgrade / Upgrades (master thread)

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...l#post31348541

takeaseat

Does buying a premium economy seat make you more likely to get upgraded over someone who purchased a regular economy seat?

If I look at a flight and there are ~14 open business class seats, do they upgrade 14 people or try to sell to the last minute and leave some unsold/upgraded?

Do J seats eventually convert to C? Sorry new to this

JJeffrey

Welcome to FT. Premium Economy doesn't carry any priority over regular economy on the upgrade waitlist. And AA will definitely hold seats until the last minute in hopes of selling them, however if they don't sell then this space will ultimately be converted to C space (assuming everything is working properly).

takeaseat

So basically, just get on the waitlist, and hope the day of I get bumped up? Is there anything else I can do by monitoring for C and calling them?

A651346

Yes I was already wait listed to use my SWU and wanted EP agent to process immediately with the confirm seat I wanted. The post above from JJeffrey provides more insight on why personally I like to have it processed versus having wait listed SWU "run its course."

Thanks JJeffrey for the detailed explanation!

Avocados

I've been a long time lurker on this forum; figured it's time to contribute now that I've achieved some very minor status with AA. Attained Gold in mid-June and wanted to provide my upgrade stats for some data points; I believe this is the correct thread. In general, I have to say I am surprised by how much success I've had as a Gold after reading through so many tales of upgrade woe, even for EPs. Though to be fair, two of these I technically used a companion's platinum status being booked on their reservation, if I understand the PNR linking correctly. Overall I'm 4 of 7:

CLT - HSV on a CR7 I believe: Cleared at 24 hours
HSV - CLT, same: Cleared at 24
RDU - LGA, on an E190: Cleared at 48 hours (adopted wife's platinum status, as we booked under her account)
LGA - RDU, on an E190: Cleared at 48, same as above

My misses were PHL -RDU and RDU - CLT and the return CLT - RDU.