ticketed via CTA AUS-LAX 9:52p for 4/24 a month before had to purchase that flight instead of the afternoon flight because it was cheaper
later on accepted an app upgrade for ~$200

on 4/23 the website (but not the app) had options for same day flight change / standby and showed the 7a flt which I didn't want. later in the day it showed the 1:52p flt which I did want
I went ahead and did a confirmed flight change for free and got 1A and no other seats were available. (I'm LT GLD)
Today I see 18 people on the upgrade list per the app.
I'm surprised AA let me switch to that flight for no cost. I would have thought they'd offer that flight but only with a downgrade to Y and flight credit or whatever for the app upgrade but their IT probably can't do that

Flew BNA-DCA on a PSA-operated Eagle flight this past Wednesday. At 5 days out, flight was J6. I had 4 people on an award reservation, so I called to split the PNR 2/2, figuring it was an easy upgrade for two of us. Not so fast... Over the next 5 days I watched the availability dwindle by ones down to J1 the day before, and eventually J0. So I guess they released upgrade seats one at a time and the system bypassed me because I had two people. At the gate there were 19 people on the upgrade list (my party were #1 and #2). The flight ended up going out with an empty seat in F! I guess the person never showed, and the GA was too lazy to come on board and get the next qualified passenger.

Contrast this with my experience on DL mainline earlier in the week. Flight was boarding, there was 1 seat left and I was in the same boat -- #1 and #2 on the list. The GA paged me and asked if I wanted to split up. I didn't so, I told her to give it to the next person. Then, as I was boarding, I saw the GA walk onboard to get the lucky #3 on the list his boarding pass with a seat in F.

I know that AA specifically says that transatlantic flights aren't part of the complimentary upgrade system but I've been upgraded at least twice in the past 3-4 years as a mere AA Gold so I presume it's either an unofficial policy or they were operational upgrades since one was after I had already boarded and the other was at the gate. Anyone have any info on possible or likely transatlantic upgrades?

Also, if I'm AA Platinum now then is there any reciprocity between partners and would BA, Iberia, or FinnAir put me higher on their OpUp list ahead of non-status members or lower status members for transatlantic flights?

I've been upgraded at the gate or on the plane (AA metal) twice in the past 3-4 years as merely an AA Gold. Now I'm platinum and am buying a roundtrip flight to U.S. to Europe in economy and am debating sticking with AA metal vs BA 380 on the way there or Iberia/Finnair on the return.

You're incredibly lucky. Those are 100% operational upgrades.

As a oneworld elite you will typically be above any no status pax (but below any of the carrier's own elites) if a partner carrier does need to op-up anyone.

However the last thing I'd ever do is choose a flight/carrier/routing based solely on your chances of getting an op-up.

It cannot be stressed enough how rare these are.

If BA/IB/AY have more convenient schedules then by all means book that, I would never stick with AA just on hopes of getting an op-up.

I recently dropped to Gold (31K LP) after 4 months as Plat Pro thanks to Hyatt. Was Plat last year. FWIW, as a Plat Pro back in December, I cleared OGG-LAX at the window, which was amazing.

Here are my first results at Gold:

4/21 ONT to DFW 1 pm, 738: 28th of 32 for 0 seats

4/21 DFW to BWI 7 pm, 738: 14th of 16 for 3 seats
- I thought this was my best chance, as a week out, the seat map showed 11 F open and 12 MCE taken. I guess a lot of elites ended up on this flight at the last minute. The flight was cancelled the day before, so perhaps that was the reason.

4/23 BWI to CLT, 3:30 pm, 738: 16th of 19 for 3 seats
- There was no beverage service on this flight

4/23 CLT to ONT, 7:30 pm, A321K/R: 28th of 30 for 1 seat
- they were offering this for $242 for weeks leading up to the flight, which was a good price, but I'm glad I passed. 24D with basically a foyer in front of me and 24E empty was a great place to sit. I'd had enough time for a nice dinner at the CLT Centurion.
- the FA said there were 50 empty seats, which means probably more than 30 of the 140 pax were elites
- when I was looking at the app for this flight, an offer popped up to buy Platinum status until 3/31/24 for $1500. No thanks!

No they probably sold those F seats either out right or via app F upsells.

BWI-DFW (and the reverse) is a tough upgrade in my, admittedly limited, experience. I'm 0/4 as PPro & that's a mix of Saturdays, weekdays and timings.

DCA-LGA this Friday afternoon cleared at T-71 for me.

Last night BNA/MIA on a 175. Number one and cleared at the gate due to a no show. For the most part flights lately are either clear at T-100 or either at the gate or on onboard (when number one and sometimes number two). About 250K LP YTD.

That is certainly a valid possibility and one I considered. I even thought about asking someone if they could tell me, just to fulfill my curiosity. But at the end of the day I decided that it really wasn't worth wasting my breath on. Of course here we are, discussing this on FT, so I guess it was worth my keystrokes. :D

Since all upgrades are automatic this wouldn't be an operational upgrade. Looks like you got an upgrade because someone didn't check in on time, cancelled at the last minute or would clearly misconnect.

This was an international flight. There are no elite upgrades. My flight from MIA to ADZ went with first class over half empty.

No no, complimentary upgrades for elites are valid on all short haul international flights too (basically anything from Panama north within North America).

PHX to CLT, 10:30p Tuesday…6/25, no seats left. First time I didn’t clear for 2023

CLT to TPA, 7:37a Wednesday…cleared at window.

Still waiting to see if an upgrade clears for my TPA to PHX flight…7+ seats still available at ~60 hours out 🤞🏽🤞🏽

218k LPs

BDL-CLT 4/25 11:53a 1/15 on the list.. no upgrade
CLT-BNA 4/25 3:02p 5/35 ... no upgrade

Return tonight 7:31p BNA-CLT just got bumped up to A320 (from 319) and there are seats..
CLT-BDL 10:46p cleared at the window

Comp Upgrades definitely feel like they're getting harder, but AA is a Business so I get it..