Blumie

I thought this was interesting. I just purchased MCT-(BA)-LHR-(AA)-JFK-(AA)-LHR-(BA)-MCT in J for the Christmas and New Years holidays. (I live in Abu Dhabi, but flying from MCT in J often is a lot cheaper than from AUH.) After ticketing, I called AA to apply VIP upgrades for the LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR segments. Both were showing A1 on ExpertFlyer, so I knew both would clear -- which they did. Out of curiosity, I checked the flights again after hanging up with the agent, and both are still showing A1. I have logged into my reservation and have confirmed that the agent properly applied the upgrades. So perhaps this is simply an example of AA doling out the A inventory one seat at a time, though I don't recall seeing or reading about this before. (FWIW, the other LHR-JFK 77W flight on my travel date is showing A5, and the other JFK-LHR 77W flight on my travel date is showing A2, so it's not the case that this is SOP for all flights.) I'll check the inventory again after the ticket is reissued, but the inventory should be pulled when it's allocated, not when it's ticketed.

[Edited to add: ticket has been reissued, and both segments are still showing A1.]

777lover

Blumie

What is unusual, in my experience, is for a flight to be listed as A1, and for it to still be listed as A1 after an A seat has been allocated.

btonkid12345

It's not the same seat as before that is being listed again. You took that seat. The system then allocated 1 more seat from J inventory to A.

Can happen frequently. Can also go the other way - for example, I have seen Z2 I2, I buy a single Z fare, and then it converts to Z0 I3, with that last seat that was in Z class, being bumped up to I class.

It's the algorithms making instant pricing/inventory decisions

Blumie

Of course. I get that. All I'm saying is that I haven't seen this scenario -- and I have a lot of experience flying, including the last 15 years using VIP upgrades as an EXP. Clearly there was no manual intervention involved; it was all done through whatever algorithm governs these things. But unlike the other LHR-JFK 77W flight that day, which is showing A5, meaning a family of 5 in J can all upgrade together to F, on my flight, even though AA is willing to allocate at least 2 seats for upgrades, they're only willing to do it one seat at a time.

Dave Noble

A is not just used for upgrades , the family of 5 might have a purchased 1st class fare in A class

It is not particularly unusual for availability to become available after a seat is booked if the airline is happy to sell more seats in that class