Difficulties upgrading with miles when space is available
 

Two days ago, I called AA to upgrade an LHR-RDU segment late this week with miles for 3 passengers (W to J). The agent said that she saw the availability, but could not get it to apply or even waitlist the flight. She advised me to call back the next day. The following day (yesterday) I called back and got an extremely pleasant agent who spent over 90 minutes on the phone with her helpdesk getting their system to apply the upgrades. I can now select seats and order meals for J. However, over 24 hours later, the ticket still shows as “on request” on the website and as PNRPNR / PENDING on the app. Do I have reason to be concerned about whether this ticket will actually get issued in the few days left? Has anyone else had this strange experience with upgrade space that does seem to exist but is difficult for agents to apply?

When you say you saw availability was it C code, vs J? Assuming so i would not panic, give AAs 1970s IT system a day or two to chew through it.

When is the flight? If it's more than a couple of days out, give it a bit and see if it clears. Alternatively, call AA and have them check on the reticketing. If there was a copay, did you get charged?

It’s in three days. Neither the copay nor the miles have been deducted/charged.

Yes, it was the award C code on expertflyer.

Twitter is usually less painful than calling

It can take a while to reissue the ticket, which is required when an upgrade clears. If you haven't received a new ticket showing C class for the upgraded flights in the next 24 hours, call in to chase.

I would call AA (or tweet as beachfan suggested) as your flight is not far out. They should be able to push the reticketing through.