Same day flight change after upgrade
 

Has anyone had past experience on doing a confirmed same day flight change after already being upgraded to First on your existing flight?

The flight being changed to has 2 seats open on first for purchase. If I do the change, will I remain on the first class cabin as I am now or will it change me back to coach and waitlist?

thanks!

Coach and then you'll go into the upgrade queue as if you just purchased the coach seat.

I did this Wednesday. Was upgraded on my 5:20 flight and took and earlier flight. Once I agreed to the change I was immediately given seat 2A, so the system recognized me and cleared the upgrade right away on the new flight.

I would like to see a bunch of responses on the OPs post. This is a really good question

I've found that if there is open F then I will have the option in the app to confirm the new flight in the upgraded cabin. If there is no F available, I can select other seats and will get in Y and then be back on the upgrade queue like normal. I could be wrong because I book paid F about 50% of the time anyway...but I'm almost certain that is the case. If anything, it is easy to test and verify without making any changes.

In my experience, after receiving an upgrade I can only use SDFC if there are available F seats (or maybe space available for whatever fare buckets upgrades map to?). I've had to speak to agents to either SDFC to economy, or sometimes SDFC to an F seat (where I imagine they manually clear the upgrade).

Incorrect in my experience. I've been upgraded to F at T-72 several (4-5) times this year already, and then SDChanged into F seats. I've never downgraded myself through SDC; it's never even allowed me to pick Y seats.

You can also select a new flight and pick seats before you confirm on the new flight, so you'll know whether you're in F (you will be) or Y.

Reporting back, this is exactly what happened. It showed SDC available, I clicked on the new flight and the seat map popped up for me to choose a seat at the F cabin. I chose my seat and only then hit "Continue" to finish the SDC process. I am all set on my new flight in the F cabin.

Thank you all for the experienced responses, this is why I love this forum.

I don't think I was ever able to do a SDC if I was upgraded in the app. Granted, the odds of an F seat being open are somewhat slim. I always had to call and if so, ended up in Y and the upgrade queue

It's definitely possible to keep your upgrade if you change via the app, whereas calling in to make a change presents a real risk of being downgraded back to the originally purchased class and being placed on the upgrade waitlist.

When you're already confirmed up front, whether paid or upgraded, the system will search for the same inventory when you attempt to do a same day flight change through the app. If available, you can confirm it and keep the same class of service. For instance, if you're in 'R' class because you've received a complimentary upgrade to J, you can preserve your upgrade by attempting to switch to a flight that has 'R' class available. However, if the inventory is something like J1C1R0D0I0, as opposed to J1C1R1D1I1, you'd need to be in full 'J' or in 'C' class to be able to do a same day flight change and stay in Biz, and you'll get an option for standby vs. a confirmed seat.

The same applies if you've purchased a discount inventory premium cabin seat. Let's use 'I' class, for example. You can switch to other flights that have 'I' available, but not a flight that only has higher fare classes like 'D' open. In this scenario, I've had the opposite experience -- the app won't allow the same day change, but I've had a phone agent who was willing to make the change when the same lower paid Biz inventory wasn't available.

Bottom line, when you're ticketed in a premium cabin, the capacity control for same day flight changes in the AA app is all about the same fare class inventory being available on the new flight. It's different than the procedure for main cabin same day flight changes, which use an apparent hidden inventory (or previously 'E' class) that is/was necessary for same day flight changes.

As above, this is probably what will happen if you call and speak to a reservations agent.

Yes... key difference is app vs. phone agent.

Happened to me recently, TPA-ORD, confirmed upgrade T-24 or so, then did SDFC with 3 seats up front showing available on EF but I ended up in coach (9E or something terrible).

Did it through the app, too.

Asked at the gate if I was eligible for an upgrade (I’m EXP, usually #1 or #2 at worst on the list) and they just shrugged.

I recently got upgraded as a Gold at check-in, and did a SDFC. I kept the seat in first, and jumped about 20 people on the upgrade list for the new flight. According to Expert Flyer the flight was C2 when I changed, so I wonder if that had something to do with it.

Not sure if this is supposed to happen, or if AA's system can't differentiate between first class on a complimentary upgrade vs cash or miles.

‘C’ space is irrelevant to your situation. ‘R’ was almost certainly open in this case (R1 or R2), assuming we’re talking about a complimentary (previously 500 mile) upgrade, as opposed to a miles+copay or SWU upgrade.

Yes, the take home here is that the AA app does not seem to distinguish between paid and upgraded ‘R’ class for the purposes of SDFC (or for IROPS changes, for that matter).

I don't SDFC often, but when I have done SDFC after being upgraded, the flights that post to my account credit differently. Prior to the Loyalty Program I noted that when I would SDFC after being upgraded the flight would credit as though it was booked as FC. Now, with the loyalty program, the one time I SDFC after being upgraded I was credited based on distance instead of fare. These are just the most recent occurrences that I remember. This seems to go along with the comment above of - AA does not seem to distinguish between paid and upgraded on SDFC.

Followup questions here

1. Can you SDFC on a basic economy fare?
2. Let's say I'm looking at Flight A and Flight B. Flight A is cheaper, but less chance of being upgraded. Flight B is more expensive, but almost guaranteed upgrade based off seatmap. What happens if you book Flight A knowing that you won't be upgraded then SDFC into B? I understand that you'll be put on the upgrade list for B, but this flight is so empty I think even Plat and Golds could clear. How do I know if there will even be a J seat once I SDFC?