juniorflyer78

Hey there, recently I joined the ranks of Platinum Pro...I have a couple questions I was hoping the experts could answer...

1. I have a flight the leaves in 48 hours, and yet my "complimentary" upgrade has not been confirmed, and the app asks me if I want to purchase an upgrade...I get that they are trying to squeeze some money out of people,. but what is the use of a complimentary upgrade if it does not get confirmed 72 hours in advance as advertised?

2. Platinum pro desk has the same length of hold time as the regular desk///when I was Ual 1k you could directly get a person...I know PP is not EP but still...

would appreciate any sort of help you can provide.

vasantn

72 hours is the earliest you can get your upgrade confirmed. Most times in most markets it's considerably later.

There is no "Platinum Pro Desk". But you are supposed to be routed to a regular agent faster than lower-status customers.

juniorflyer78

Thank you for the quick reply...guess it Was just wishful thinking..

Is there any benefit in calling reservations or customer service or will the info be the same that I can see on the app?

PHL

Customer service won't be able to process this kind of an upgrade for you. That's just the way it is. If there are still unsold seats leading up to the flight, the upgrades will process in order tier, from EXPs downward. Within each tier, they will process those with higher spend in the past 12 months first. So if there are PP's also waiting for an upgrade, and have more spend than you, you'll be processed after them.

You say you came from UA, so I guess you're familiar with the "Tens of Dollars (TOD)" upgrades that have been commonplace with them for many years to the consternation of UA regulars. Just take a peek over at the UA forum. AA started this practice in recent years and I'll admit I've fallen for the advance offer when it represented a good value to me. Sometimes it was even less than $40 per 500 miles that I would have to pay for e-certs since I'm only Platinum.

Since you mentioned you used to be a UA 1K, you also probably know that you didn't always get an upgrade at the start of your window and probably sometimes didn't get the upgrade until the day of flight, or even at the gate as a battlefield upgrade.

At 12 hours (or maybe it's 24 now), you can see the upgrade and standby wait lists for your flight to see where you stand. That's a moving target, of course, since higher tiers/spenders may book onto your flight before departure.

juniorflyer78

Thanks...I guess it will just be a game time decision. I don't like the fact that they are still trying to sell it...but I guess its not personal. just business ;-)

enviroian

fdog

As a data point, last year as a PP I received an upgrade at T-72 only a few times, usually out of LAX or SLC. Most commonly at T-30 ish. Surprisingly, very few battlefield upgrades.

All the best, James

IADCAflyer

Its all route dependent and time of year and time of day dependent. As a PPRO, I've been batting 1000 so far. Upgraded on the flight to CLT this morning. My second flight has been sold out in F for 3 weeks.

Nptguy

Hi Everyone,
I am 265 EQM's short of Plat Pro. I have met the other requirements. Besides jumping on a flight tonight, is there any other method of closing these few miles out? Many thanks.

vasantn

In a word, no.

Segments

Check to see if you have a Buy Back / Boost offer?

AA Buy up / Boost for 2021-2

MADPhil

Depending on when you qualified and when you bought the ticket you may need to call to make sure that your status is on the reservation. An agent may have to remove and restore you AAdvantage number.

cova

AA sells upgrades even after the upgrade window starts. So being offered an upgrade for a fee might apply.
I would call AA and have them update your status in the PNR. The old status tends to hold in the older tickets.

redtop43

I'm EXP. I mostly buy F but I've had several flights in the past 6 months that I didn't, and in many cases I got upgraded well after the 100 hour window. One time it was about 30 minutes. I think there was at least one time I got to the gate and they called my name to give me a new (F) BP.

The reality is that they want to hold back a few seats for purchase, or even for same-day changes or IRROPs. There were at least two times I was on a paid F ticket going PHL-LAX-LAS and needed a seat LAX-LAS - one time my connection got in early and I wanted to take the earlier flight; the other time an AAgent who had rebooked me at my request messed up and booked me for the wrong day. I was glad there were still F seats (although for a 45-minute flight, I could have survived).

VegasGambler

Upgrades require upgrade space to be confirmed. If it's there you should be upgraded automatically (unless someone is ahead of you on the list)

Was the upgrade offer cheap or expensive? Sometimes it's just offering to refare your ticket into first class (which you can do yourself with no offer; just call in and pay the fare difference) That is technically an upfare and not an upgrade.

There are also the cheap "TOD" upgrades which are true upgrades, and honestly, I don't completely understand (I don't know how it's determined when they are available and how the cost is determined)