Pleasant surprise: my most recent upgrade using SWU cleared without getting any alert from Expert Flyer.
Was able to select a J seat right-away.

Still sucks having to call the AA EXP desk for the rate desk to reissue the ticket.

Yesterday, CLT-MCO last flight of the day. 5 F seats open at T-24, cleared at checkin along with my travel partner. Currently only gold (lifetime) while I wait for many loyalty points to post.

Monday, April 8, 2024: -- Eclipse visit to Dallas
PSP-DFW 6:10am flight
1st of ~20 on the upgrade list. Got the last seat at T-40. Mileage ticket.
- There had been two "married names" in front of me the night before, but they must have changed their travel plans. I was top of the list in the morning at 4am when I awoke.
- At 5:15am, the gate was already crowded. I checked in with the Gate Agent. Mentioned I was at the top of the list, showed my boarding card and ID and went to sit down. Five minutes later a man and woman start to pester this same G/A for the final seat in J. Multiple lines of attack -- she needs it because she has "needs" (somehow disabled/ hungover/ otherwise deserving); then the status arguments; then asking about upfaring (we were well past the purchase window). Each attempt was deflected by this G/A. Meanwhile, ten people are lined up behind them trying to gate-check luggage.
At T-40, she calls me up and gives me the last seat. This other couple lurking nearby glared and mumbled, but boarding proceeded smoothly.

DFW-LAX, 8:40pm 787 widebody flight
8th of ~30 on the upgrade list. Already selected a premium economy aisle seat (which I flew in). Nobody cleared.
- Lots of drama in the lounge with misconnects trying to get on standby on this flight. Flight was near capacity. Weather was coming into DFW (and in fact after pushback but before takeoff, rain and lightning started) Rough ride first 20 minutes until we got to 40,000 feet.
- Admirals Club in terminal D filled to overflow with eclipse tourists. Food and drinks were handled competently, even if the lounge got a bit messy at times
- Pushy gate lice -- including two youngish women in Group 4 who rolled up and stood directly in front of me as Group 1 was called, and as I was moving toward the gate. Not sure what that was about, but as I brushed past her she tried to body check me (lol) and announced "excuse me" loudly.
- Several "helpless" people with huge bags asking everyone nearby to put their roll-aboards overhead. Also the woman behind me twice poked me with her wine splits as I was watching a movie. "Help me open this bottle" which I did. [No please, no thank you]
- Service was perfunctory but adequate (no snack in premium economy?) Drinks were comped.
- The arrival experience at LAX is terrible, perhaps the worst major airport in the world. There must be a thread about that. Just abysmal. Takes 90 minutes and a half-mile of walking to get into a simple taxi to Hollywood. Thankfully I only had one briefcase.

Apologies for the newbie question here, but only recently getting more acquainted with the logic of all of this (or lack thereof lol)

Does the amount of C seats available prior to departure (say T-72) indicate anything about pending upgrades? Just because C inventory is available doesn't mean that status members will clear? Or should they? Assuming there was no one waitlisted except you, should you get one of the C7 seats if you're within the window? Or does that inventory simply reflect ANY kind of upgrade instrument available, including paid, mileage, etc.?

C space is what you need to upgrade if you're using miles or a SWU. But C space being available has no bearing on if/when AA opens up upgrade R space, which is what you need for a complimentary status upgrade.

That said, if a flight has lots of C space available within a week or so of departure then it's likely that AA will also release upgrade R space at some point. But just because a flight is say C7 at T-72 doesn't mean that a PLT Pro will automatically get the comp upgrade.

Appreciate the clarification, I figured as much.

So if there's C7 and R7, I should hopefully be getting an email? :D haha

Yes but you cannot view upgrade R space at ExpertFlyer (or anywhere for that matter).

DFW-LGA yesterday, cleared T-24 as Gold.

wow good for you.

Three words I thought I'd never see together:
Gold
DFW
Cleared

I cleared in 2022 near Christmas as Gold on LAX > DFW on the 772. Sometimes miracles can happen! :D

Hi all,
Flying AA on ORD-ANC flight in June. I'm OneWorld Sapphire / BA Silver, what would be the chances to be bumped in F ?

Many thanks !
Julmops

No complimentary upgrades for non-AA OneWorld Elites. There's always the chance you could get an operational upgrade, but the probability is very low. Your best bet for sitting in F on this flight is to buy it via in-app upgrade.

Today:
TPA-CLT #5 for 0 seats.
CLT-ROC: Cleared T-100
~330K LPs.

BOS to STL cleared at T100
BOS to PHX #1 on list, no open seats
PHX to OGG #1 and got the least seat at gate

370k LPs thanks

LGA too!