SWU not shown as used...
 

Hypothetically, let’s say you had a flight that was messed up due to delays, etc. so when you were upgraded it was ticketed as full fare Y and got eqd based on distance (so all messed up) . The SWU is still there (they didn’t pull it) as they should have for the upgrade (yes they got upgraded).

What are the odds theu catch it and if they do, how long does it take for them to audit and find the error.

I would take a look at this thread, no activity in the past year or so but still a few data points on if/when/how AA audits SWU use.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...solidated.html

They'll get it eventually. I had a similar situation where they didnt pull the SWU. Sometime 2 months later, it got deducted.

[delete

You can always contact AA and get them to manually pull it, as I am sure you would have already called them if you didn't get upgraded and they had pulled an SWU

I have had it happen a few times.. upgraded at the gate, maybe the GA did not have time to type in all the necessary info on my reservation, has the flight was almost ready to leave.
If I remember correctly, I dont think it ever got pulled.
One of the times, it was pulled a few weeks later, and the other.... not sure,
(sucks getting old, it hard to recall what happened a few years ago)

Be aware that if it is your last one and you use it in the mean time they will let you go -1 in the SWU count and the next time you earn some you'll lose one immediately.

Right! Because the airlines are wonderful actors at all times.