Good to know thanks! But I don't understand why she would pay 75 at the gate? Don't you pay upfront in miles and cash, even for waitlisting?

Not sure what the agent meant by 'reticketing fee' being $75.. And no, she would not be able to process a points+copay upgrade at the gate anyway. After reading this thread multiple times, I'm not really sure what transpired. It seems evident that #1 and #2, through whatever upgrade means they used, were an all or none situation. #3 got the seat as a solo traveler. Then whomever requested the upgrade as a pair wants to change the request to send their companion back to coach while they still take the upgrade.

Am I the only one that finds even more juvenile delight in "B VER" than in "HAR,D" ?

I've upgraded from J to F on a 321T using miles by asking an agent in the AC before. It might have even been within 1hr of departure as it was an impulse buy as I was walking out of the FL to head to the gate.

- Perhaps, she asked for a mileage upgrade just minutes before the boarding and GA added her and another passenger on the upgrade list without collecting $75 copay for domestic mileage upgrade. This would explain why GA ask her to pay $75 for the seat as it was mileage upgrade.
Note that ticketing fee at the counter is $35 and it is waived for EP. The only other $75 fee is for the same day doemstic flight change (also waived for EP).

Speaking from experience, if you mile+copay, a manifest is printed at the gate which tells the agents which people to call to collect copay.

In this case, there were no seats and 20+ on the waitlist, why would they collect copay when at time of request they couldn’t ticket/book it? This was definitely a waitlist situation.

This was not the case. It was not an all or nothing. Maybe it was for them to pay $75x2, but she was adamant and aggressive to get the one seat herself and split with her companion. However, she was unwilling to do that for $75 + miles, she wanted it purely complementary but as stated, the gate agent said she couldn’t do that as clearly her complementary status threw her further down the pecking order.

LOL, I’ve always called myself “VERB”, never thought the reverse. Not sure I can un-see this now. Thanks pal!

Hmm I don't think that is true, because back in the days of 500 mile upgrades I had both a miles and copay upgrade and a sticker upgrade clear for the same flight. The C upgrade cleared a day or two before the R upgrade cleared day of (I was a lowly gold at the time).

Which then resulted in me having to call AA and ask for my stickers back since I already paid with the miles and copay.

There are several threads here with people saying this is true. I've never used miles to upgrade, so I have no first hand experience with this. Others on here definitely do, though.

I am confused by your post about two upgrades both clearing. I don't see how that would even happen.

The only thing I can think of is my C upgrade cleared before my R upgrade window began, its possible I was on the list twice but separately. AA's IT is fun, lol

No, you do not pay upfront to get on the wait list.

You only pay the copay after you've been chosen to be upgraded. In my experience it's one of the more frustrating processes because often upgrades clear these days only during boarding and they can't confirm you into the new seat until they've processed your payment, which requires the gate agent calling someone and waiting on-hold while boarding the plane. :rolleyes: This takes so long that I end up boarding after everyone else, just before the doors close. If by chance they can't process payment, my original seat is gone, so I guess I just end up in a bad middle seat or on the next flight? Fortunately that hasn't happened, but it consistently makes this one of the most stressful situations.

You're so good at this! This is one of those fun AA mysteries I'm often trying to figure out while traveling, and outside of FT, I only have a handful of friends who'd have any idea what I'm talking about.

How can I view the upgrade list? I'm new to ExPlat. My flight is tomorrow, and the system keeps telling me I am on the upgrade list, but that's all.