I agree... From the article, it appears that initially, one will need to navigate between EF.com and AA.com to see the differences between C and A space to calculate what's being allocated as "upgradeable" offerings.

It's yet to be determined if EF and AA will allow one to know directly from EF what's available for upgrade space. We'll have to see what's the skinny with the next EF upgrade in a few weeks. If anything, there maybe a surge with EF memberships in the works.

EF has indicated that once they fix the problems that arose a couple of days ago, EF will clearly show a “C upgrade” (in the upgrade availability section of their site) and a “C revenue” (in the flight availability section). However, EF has said that their connection displays for “C upgrade" space will continue, as before, to not display correctly--as such, one should use EF for “C upgrades” solely segment-by-segment and not for connections, as those outputs are not accurate.

So my wife and I are booked in coach going to Key West from DCA with the connection in Miami on 1/15/21. Both segments going down show C6. We connect through Miami on the way back on 1/18/21 and both those segments show C2. I called AA to see if we could upgrade using miles plus copay and the agent said there was no space available on any of the segments. I am EP but do not have any system wide upgrades left so the AA website does not help me. Can some explain what I saw with C6 and C2?

You have to do the search segment by segment, so Key West-MIA and MIA-DCA as separate searches. When you do that you'll see that at least one of the segments has no inventory.

FYI AA has told us that the fix for the international market inventory is going up tonight. If by tomorrow you still see upgrade inventory issues please send us an email with specifics, thanks.

Thanks ExpertFlyer Voice. I checked the segments individually and there was no C inventory for my flights as the AA agent advised. I will receive 4 system wide upgrades in a few weeks after I complete my next trip so I will be able to see availability on the AA website too. I would add that that I would not subscribe to Expert Flyer if I was unable to use the upgrade search toll. I find this service invaluable.

Look's like EF displayed international upgrade inventory has returned to normal (i.e. non-existent!)

-FlyerBeek

Unfortunately, the connecting journeys’ situation has gone the other direction. All connections showing as C7, even when neither segment has space. Seems that EF should, as they do with some other queries, just turn off connections and only display segments as they”re the only reliably correct outputs.

We can't "turn off connections", you have to search for the individual segment by its city pair, that has always been the case.

Exactly. I don't really understand why people seem upset when even before this change, AA was already super stingy on C space even on domestic flights, including high leisure markets like LAS.

I for one am not upset about 'C' space, I don't think anything has really changed there. I am upset about 'A' class changes. Essentially overnight AA has wiped out the upgrade space in 3 cabin F that has always been there. It's their right to do this, upgrades aren't guaranteed etc, but they have essentially eliminated a long standing feature of the Aadvantage program without any notice. This is not a thread to discuss the value of 3 cabin F on AA but for those of us who do value it, this is a massive devaluation.

I am actually surprised by this move. I always thought the easy open F upgrade space was a deliberate tactic to attract paid J customers, who would even be willing to pay a premium for AA J knowing they can upgrade to a F product. With this feature reduced to mostly waitlisted upgrades that maybe clear a day before travel, I for one have no incentive to buy AA J if there is a cheaper J alternative with another airline. They clearly think they can sell more F seats this way and, if so, its a good move for American. But personally I think the only ones who will benefit from this move will be non-revs.

I agree with you. I have had many co-workers and myself only purchase an AA ticket because of the easy J to F " A " upgrade. The whole SWU and AA Advantage is more intertwined than some may think. I have had many conversations with the $6-$10K per ticket crowd. The " C " is not that important to them on work trips but the lack of "C" and "U" for family travel is a deal breaker. They all say the same thing. " I don't need to be loyal if I can not use the benefits." I know AA cant give away all the good seats but they have to keep the high end customer happy. There will be far less of them in the near future.

This. It’s the family vacations where C and U space are most important for me, my work thankfully pays for J and I don’t see a big value in upgrading to F on those trips.

I checked EF and it doesn’t seem like the issue is fixed yet. Plenty of phantom space showing.

We haven't had any reports of phantom inventory since AA told us the issue was fixed on Thursday. If you think there is an issue please email us a specific example. Before you do, compare the Flight Availability search using the "Do Not Show Interline Connection" option vs not to show the two different inventories and remember to check the inventory segment by segment.

Data point: got an EF alert today for C space on a SFO-JFK transcon that I have booked in Dec. Was able to use two BXP1s to upgrade the two of us :) The bonus is that this was originally an N fare (ineligible for BXP1) but got bumped to a V fare due to a schedule change when AA gutted the SFO-JFK transcon schedule.