Jet Ranger

Hi, quick question. Can I just ask when upgrades are clearing for others - specifically EXP’s. I have an upgrade request in on a flight on Saturday MIA-SDF, and AA showing 3 seats still for sale, and 4 seats free on the seat map.
Curious as to when this kind of situation would clear. I heard (anecdotal evidence only) that AA aren’t clearing anything for anyone until 30 mins prior to boarding these days, in the hope they can eke out more dollars from the travelling public, rather than upgrade their elites.

Just curious about this, as a lot of my upcoming routes seem to be v high priced in domestic business, so obviously I would like to take advantage of my status and complimentary upgrades as & where I can.

Thanks for your input.

metallo

Many of mine have cleared at T-100h. However, due to limited capacity at the moment, lower J prices, and seemingly increased demand for J seats from leisure travelers, certain flights have a significant amount of J inventory purchased prior to the EP upgrade window, and a flight that is J3 will generally not clear at T-100.

I've noticed AA typically clearing the list at the 100 hr window down as far as J4, and then those remaining J seats tend to be released for upgrades down to J1 about 24-48 hours before the flight. I did glance at the inventory and seat map for the particular MIA-SDF flight in question on EF and would suspect that a solo EP traveler would still clear the upgrade on this flight, probably late tomorrow or Friday, barring last-minute J purchases (seems unlikely on MIA-SDF on a Saturday night, but you never know, particularly if leisure travelers make new reservations or up-fare their Y reservations before then).

In this particular scenario, as EP, I'd consider riding it out and waiting for the comp UPG, although since it's an E175, I'd also consider up-faring to ensure I got a seat on the single-seat side. Bad luck with the Saturday MIA-SDF flight, by the way... the Thursday and Friday flights are still J7.

jcatman

Jet Ranger......metallo just provided a prompt and "Five-Star" reply to your query.

355F1

I’ve done three RT PHX-PDX-PHX trips since September and I’ve cleared at T-100 for all.

ranran

I have had four flights in January. All cleared but each at different times. One at 100, one at 48, one at 24 and one at 10 minutes to boarding.

joeyE

So when it's an 'airport control' or gate decision, are the gate agents in control of the timing of when upgrades begin clearing? I've had them say "I haven't begun clearing upgrades yet" which implies it's being done on a whim, or they have influence as to when upgrades can be cleared.. I thought it's either they're cleared or they're not cleared. Are gate agents under specific instruction to hold out until just boarding starts? Seems like that's the worst possible time to initiate a process with a lot of moving parts.

Jet Ranger

Thank you metallo for your detailed reply full of lots of useful info - exactly why I love this community.

You are right on the Saturday night choice - but it really can’t be helped sadly. i also looked at Friday and Sunday - and I was like - damn, what is it about that Saturday? Just one of those things I assume.
I’m gonna take my chances see what happens.

The timing of it clearing seems pretty random depending on the day, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll feed back. Thanks again for everyone’s input.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Lots of good response. A couple of caveats. For whatever reason it seems that upgrades on Ejets often do not clear until the flight opens at the gate even if there are multiple open seats. Second, I've been told by GAs they no longer can process upgrades until the system allows them to do so, which is usually around T-30. I had a GA at PHX actually stand there and count down the clock with me.

But with AA (and others) monetizing the F cabin if you see a good upfare deal take it because there's a good chance others will and possibly there goes your chance at an upgrade.

IADCAflyer

So to give you an example from a plat. I had a last minute trip for a long-running client. It was decided last Friday that I'd travel to see them yesterday. Ticket was booked. For a semi-short trip like this, I was content not to upgrade and had (at the time) a row to myself. Come monday morning with all of the snow, my moderately empty flight became a moderately full flight. However, F class had 5 open seats. I decided to burn some stickers. Changed my upgrade option to "yes, upgrade". I was already within my upgrade window when I did it. About 4 hours later, I noticed my seat changed to a F class seat...

fotographer

well my most recent trip to Cabo.
. ATL_DFW cleared T100
DFW to Cabo .. cleared at gate (2 open seats)
Cabo to DFW cleared at gate (2 open seats )
DFW_ATL n seats taken up to T12.. cleared at gate

With AA its always like playing the lottery.. when you think you should clear .. sometimes you do.. and when you least expect it you clear...

Jet Ranger

Lots of useful replies, thanks folks.
Upfare currently being touted for $174. One more seat opened up. It is like playing the lottery I agree. I’m gonna hold out a little longer.....

This is the current numbers for the flight - C0 J4 R0 D4 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 G0V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 E7

onanisland

Mine cleared about 18 minutes before boarding today. I was the only person on the upgrade list.

ajwMiami

In my experience, since COVID started, the upgrades for me (EXP) either clear at T-100, at the gate, or not at all. Overall success rate has been ~75%. I literally have not had a single upgrade this year that didn't either clear at T-100 or at the gate.

I noticed certain flights, like MIA-DFW, seem to be booked fairly full in FC even 2 months out. I can only speculate this is mostly leisure connecting traffic.

For whatever reason the FC cabins seem full these days even with dramatically reduced biz travel.

fotographer

[QUOTE=ajwMiami;33017160]In my experience, since COVID started, the upgrades for me (EXP) either clear at T-100, at the gate, or not at all. Overall success rate has been ~75%. I literally have not had a single upgrade this year that didn't either clear at T-100 or at the gate.

I noticed certain flights, like MIA-DFW, seem to be booked fairly full in FC even 2 months out. I can only speculate this is mostly leisure connecting traffic.

For whatever reason the FC cabins seem full these days even with dramatically reduced biz travel.[/QUOTE

Quite a few people I know now are just buying F.....to avoid the lottery ... and not that I dont blame AA.. but I have been offered to upgrade for $$$ on every flight I was already waiting for a upgrade
oh well.. so much for AA stating that they would clear any upgrades requested prior to asking for $$$$

ajwMiami

The offers from what I can tell aren't really upgrade offers per-se, it's really just an offer to upfare to the first class price where you pay the difference. This IMHO is acceptable, it would be different if they were offering cheap $50 upgrades or something.