jamabam

It was such a mess for me when it came to the upgrade process. I am convinced the system is not functioning properly. I had EF alerts set up for my flight and watched the J count dwindle down right as each upgrade window rolled by (120, 72, 48 hours) but still no upgrade processed for me despite constant calls/chats with AS agents assuring me I was on the first class upgrade waitlist.
It wasn't until after I checked in at 24 hours and I did not see me on the list when I chatted again them and the agent had to do some backend tweaking to let my reservation show the words "first class waitlisted" yet I still was not showing up on the list when you pull up the flight status page. Once I got to the airport, I asked the GA what the deal was and she said there has been an issue with OWE upgrades and they have to manually re-add me at T-60. Thankfully there was still J2 and it wasn't until boarding started when she finally cleared me. Anyway, it can't hurt for you contact their CS again but I'm pretty sure you have to ask the GA to add you to the waitlist *again* once you're at the airport. Good luck, it's super frustrating but hopefully yours clears

william142

While everyone is super friendly which I can't always say about AA, this partnership is a complete cluster. No one has a clue. Checkin agent spent 10 minutes doing whatever and she said she rechecked me an I should be on the list, then went to the gate where they told me I am not on the list. They need to get this figured out so it is seemless.

jamabam

At least the premium class upgrade has been working consistently, albeit still a confusing process. Really hope we never see the day when AA considers MCE an additional "upgrade" layer.

Most AS folks are certainly friendly but a few weeks ago I had a GA refuse to fix my upgrade list issue because he said all first class pax were checked in (like that should matter?). I didn't have the energy to argue but you can imagine I was watching that list like a hawk if someone else was able to clear to first because of a no-show I would've lost my sht.

EVA Air

I had a similar experience recently. I booked on an Alaska-marketed, American-operated flight as an AA EXP. The boarding pass showed Group 1 and EXP.

On the first flight, Admirals Club agent added me to the upgrade waitlist and said my chances were good. My name never showed up on the app waitlist, and the flight went out with two empty seats in F.

On the second flight, I didn't bother.

zippy_sd

Adding to the data points, it still looks like the codeshare is the problem... Upgrades on AS marketed and operated flight as AA EXP worked better in my most recent experience. I showed up as #2 on the AS upgrade list without any effort on my part, and snagged one out of a possible two upgrades on my SAN-BOS r/t routing.

aisleorwindow

Any word on when AA elite status will get a companion into Premium Class on AS?

The website just says "later in the year". Anyone have any info on what the timing might be?

rvolkcpa

My wife and I are both AA EXP and are flying on a Qantas ticket from YVR-SYD-LAX-YVR. The final segment is an AA flight, but we are ineligible for upgrades because it is a Qantas code-share on an AA flight. We would have booked the entire trip with AA, but AA EXP agents could not book the first leg to SYD in business and the return legs as PE. Booking directly with Qantas gave me the flights and service classes that I wanted.

Eujeanie

I just found out on an Alaska Airlines thread that if you have AA status, and book a flight on Alaska, you can get a Premium Seat for free.

What I'm not sure of is if this extends to others on your same reservation who do not have AA Status.

My husband is AA Gold, I have no AA status. Would we both get the upgraded seats? What if you had several people on your same pnr/reservation?

Has anyone used this perk and can clarify anything?

MarkY123

Here's the official info from AA's website: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...a-airlines.jsp

Also, check out the Premium Class Seats section on that page.

Please note that
"**Alaska Airlines Saver Fares (booked in ‘X’) aren’t eligible for upgrades to First Class or access to preferred or Premium Class seats."

Eujeanie

It is the 3rd footnote that makes me think that, as a Gold, it is only the member with AA status. I'm just hoping that it's not true, wanted some DPs from those who have actually used the benefit.*Access excluded regardless of status or class of service if travel is within North America or between the U.S., Canada, Mexico (except MEX), Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

**Alaska Airlines Saver Fares (booked in ‘X’) aren’t eligible for upgrades to First Class or access to preferred or Premium Class seats.

Yikes, and just noticed the first footnote - excluded if flights totally within North America? So one person only going to Europe or Asia only? Alaska does not even fly to those destinations!

^Initially this benefit only applies to the AAdvantage® status member. Later, AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, AAdvantage Platinum Pro® and AAdvantage Platinum® members will be able to extend this benefit to 1 companion traveling on the same flight and in the same reservation.

MarkY123

The first footnote (*) applies to Lounge Access, not to Premium Seats or First Class Upgrades.

Eujeanie

Ah, ok. And probably not on a second psgr given the only-Gold status. Oh well.

MarkY123

Lounge access rules are definitely more convoluted than they need to be and are often subject to (mis)interpretation by the gatekeepers. And there is always some sort of "capacity control" language that lets them off the hook. It never hurts to ask, though.

Regarding the Premium Class seats, I would try the procedures outlined by AA, and if that doesn't work, contact Alaska. Good luck!

Eujeanie

Thanks for your help.

dw

My understanding is that the answer is no, it doesn’t apply to others on the reservation; and also if he is on the same reservation as non status holders, he also will not be able to select a Premium Seat himself online unless he asks Alaska to split the reservation.