Dambus

Our corporate TA is saying that booking procedures with AA have changed and it is no longer possible to confirm a PE seat and waitlist for J - paid Business - this is on a transatlantic flight).

Instead the only option is to waitlist for C but if it does not clear and PE sells out in the meantime then you’re SOL.

Are they blowing smoke or has the process actually changed?

Thanks.

GNRMatt

Do you mean purchasing an Economy seat, getting upgraded to Premium Economy and then upgraded again to Business? Or do you mean purchasing a Premium Economy ticket and then get upgraded to Business?

Dambus

Trying to purchase Business, confirming in PE and wait listing for (paid) Business.

I have done this a couple of time over the last year but today was told no longer possible as above.

enpremiere

Are you trying to upfare to a paid business seat in which case that’s simply about any business inventory being available or are you trying to upgrade to business using a systemwide which requires C availability?

Dambus

Just trying to make a paid reservation in Business - no upgrade instruments involved.

In the past, if Business was sold out it used to be possible to confirm in the next available cabin and then waitlist for Business. The waitlist would clear only a day before or even day of on one occasions.

thetaxman

If there is no Business fare available/AA won't sell you one, then wouldn't this be a simple ticket exchange process? If a paid seat opens up then you can swap/cancel/exchange the PE fare you purchased for a business fare subject to the fare rules you have on the PE ticket. I don't recall AA proactively reaching out to customers in a lower class who wanted a ticket with a higher class when they booked. EF alert for fare availability on the specific flight and then straight back to the Corp TA for reticketing when you get the notification? May be this is a change in policy with the TA v AA?

Djokison

Can’t you just purchase PE and upfare when a seat in J becomes available? It wouldn’t be automatic, and you’d have to set up an EF alert, but still pretty easy for the TA to do.

In this scenario where you purchased a J fare with a confirmed PE seat, what would happen if no J seat opens up, fly PE at the price of J?

ijgordon

The formal waitlisting process gives you, in theory, a higher priority to nab that business class seat when it comes available, as opposed to waiting for an ExpertFlyer alert. But usually only full fare business class allow for waitlisting. I'm not sure you even need to purchase a ticket in a lower class to waitlist for space, although that's usually what people do in practice.

FWIW, EXPs get top priority on the waitlist for First/Business:
Waitlist priority for First or Business Class
If we're unable to confirm a First or Business Class seat on your preferred American Airlines flight, Executive Platinum members will be placed on the top of the waitlist for the next available seat. Please call at least 24 hours prior to flight departure for this service. If you aren't confirmed before arriving at the airport, you can ask an agent to put you on the standby list.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...istancedetails

I don't have any insight into what policies and practices may have changed, but it seems the OP is being told that AA won't let you have a confirmed reservation and a waitlist (in a different class of service) on the same flight. Which sounds weird. Or perhaps it's possible that there are just no PE fares in the market that permit waitlisting, so having that PE reservation is somehow inhibiting the ability to waitlist for a higher class.

MSPeconomist

I'm confused by the OP. Is the TA suggesting that the solution is to buy a coach ticket for the traveler or just not to have a seat at all on a deeded flight?

Maybe it's a lazy TA who just wants to sell a business class ticket on a different flight or different airline and be done with it.

asf-07

It appears there's some confusion here as the OP is indicating "Waitlist for C" which is an upgrade, not an upfare. I believe the intended title here is "Confirm in PE / Waitlist for J" or similar.

Personally I was unaware that there was truly a waitlist for this in a sellout situation. If the mechanism no longer exists (if it did?), book PE and check the inventory daily or multiple times daily. When a J fare opens up, call in and up-fare.

Dambus

Thanks for the replies and apologies for the confusion on the booking class (have amended my original post).

There are full fare PE seats available so based on above it sounds like my TA is confused or being a bit lazy. I have asked them to purchase a flexible PE fare and waitlist for full fare J - waiting to see what they come back with.