Blumie

I suspect this has been discussed, but I'm not sure. Certainly there has been discussion of the new rules for upgrading BA flight, but I haven't paid much attention.

So today I am flying DFW-LHR-DXB in J. I purchased the ticket from BA -- it was a lot cheaper to do so, as opposed to purchasing from AA -- and was issued a BA flight number for an AA-operated DFW-LHR flight. (I probably would have taken the BA flight, but that was a lot more expensive.) I hadn't thought much about upgrading to F, but in the Flagship Lounge I stopped by the desk to find out if upgrading with a SWU was an option. I'm pretty certain that in the past it was not -- I seem to recall that, in the past, when I tried to upgrade a BA-issued ticket I was told that was not an option. Today I got a different answer. The upgrade availability is not there, but there is an F seat available, and I am now first on the upgrade list, as confirmed on the AA app. No big deal if it ends up not clearing, but it's nice to see that it's an option.

LowValueCustomer

That was my understanding as well, but apparently this has always been the case - the SWU wiki says:

In any event, a good reminder and pointer for those of us who may have assumed otherwise.

Blumie

Right, but in my case I have a BA-marketed flight.

LowValueCustomer

Ah, I missed that the first time around - very interesting.

Antarius

The AA.com site says AA marketed and operated and also "Systemwide upgrades can be used for one-way travel for up to 3 flight segments on British Airways marketed and operated flights or British Airways operated flights marketed by American. At least one American marketed flight must be in the itinerary to be eligible.".

I'd be curious if they changed it for your situation too (as that's not covered above) or it's just a GA who doesn't know the rules.

I've been able to upgrade BA and IB marketed AA flights in the past. Some agents seemingly don't know the rules and have made it happen.​​​​​​

Dave Noble

BA marketed - AA operated, does seem to be outside the terms. The key will be whether the agent is able to actually process it. If so, is there availability to upgrade the onward flight to Dubai too?

Blumie

No, that's been F0 for awhile.

Blumie

My upgrade cleared 😀

Antarius

they definitely can. I've had this situation clear 4 times long before BA was in the picture. Takes a nice or clueless agent.

I doubt DXB would be an option.

Blumie

I could be wrong, but I doubt that in 2022 a “clueless” agent, or even a nice agent, could be responsible. I would think that AA’s systems would provide a high level of control. If the new rules still don’t provide for upgrading a BA-marketed flight, perhaps there’s an unwritten rule allowing for a same-day upgrade. I was the only one on the standby list, and there was exactly one seat available.

Antarius

I think you're giving AA's IT way too much credit.

But yes, I haven't upgraded on a non-AA marketed flight since 2020, so can't say for sure.

Dave Noble

Why not DXB? Swus can now be used on BA and I assume that LHR-DXB is on BA
The terms now state that transatlantic BA flights can be upgraded, but there have been several reports of non transatlantic flights successfully being upgraded

Antarius

Only LHR-Europe flights as part of a TATL trip. We've gone in circles about this before. The wording is not clear, yet it's possible for Club Europe upgrades as part of a Transatlantic trip.

Based on the data points we have seen, what is allowed is TATL clearing - AA to AA, AA to BA, AA to AA to BA, AA to BA to BA and reverse.

No one has reported being able to clear anything on BA except US to/from LHR and onward CE segments. Onward BA longhaul does not appear to be included either by the word transatlantic or by any reported data points.

Dave Noble

I am not aware of anyone trying to upgrade a long hau BA flight after an AA one. What circles have been gone around

That people have been able to upgrade intra EU flights despite the wording in the terms suggests that there may be no problem on other flights. The T&Cs state upgrades on Transatlantic flights only, yet other upgrades have been permitted

If there are reports of someone trying to upgrade in this manner and has failed, then fair enough

Antarius

These circles. It's been clarified repeatedly that AA.com wording is regularly not accurate and taking it at face value is pointless.. Also people with strong track records like JonNYC tweeted that Y to CE was a use case for this.

According to aa.com, a SWU takes you from Y to PE on AA, for example. This is not correct.

That's a big stretch as DXB and other longhaul destinations never have been considered TATL or part of the TATL JV.