FrankMorris

Hi everyone,

This year there was tons of SWU inventory to Europe from Oct-Jan - as in, almost everyday 2-3 seats were available, according to EF. I'm searching now for the upcoming year, and absolutely no seats are available at all for that time frame. Obviously, it's early, and I do know that AA will only release inventory at a certain point. BUT, does anyone have any anecdotal sense of when that level of inventory may be showing up again for Europe? Basically, I've got some SWUs that are expiring 3/31 and can use them next fall as long as I can confirm the upgrade before 3/31. Is it realistic to expect that inventory may come available before then? Thanks!

JJeffrey

I doubt you'll see much SWU space to Europe in the fall open up before 3/31.

I was looking the other day and I did start to see some space around early to mid November if you need to book something to park a few expiring SWUs. I was checking JFK-LHR midweek, my go-to for finding C space in advance.

FrankMorris

Thanks so much JJeffrey - when you say "park" the SWU, my understanding is that I can fly on a confirmed SWU upgrade after the expiration date, as long as it's that - confirmed. But, past the expiration date if that's canceled the SWU can't be used or re-applied at all. Is this correct?

JJeffrey

Yes that's correct.

So you book say JFK-LHR r/t in November on dates with available C space and confirm your upgrades before they expire. The SWU's are now attached to that PNR. Then you just monitor C space as the year progresses, when you see it open up on a another route and/or date that would be more preferable you call AA to change the ticket.

As long as you just change the ticket the SWU's will stay attached. But if you cancel it they will disappear forever.

FrankMorris

That's really interesting - so, I actually changed a ticket with an attached SWU a few months ago hoping to leave from a different city, but was told that because the route was changing, the SWU would have to be released and
"re-applied" on a new ticket at that point. Have you actually successfully changed a ticket and kept an expired SWU, being able to re-apply it? I had actually spoken with 2 different agents and the first thought it WOULD be possible, but the second was unable to do it (once I got to the point of being ready to actually make the change).

Thanks so much.

JJeffrey

Yes I have done this many times over the past 3 years.

Last month I booked FRA-CLT-RDU for later this winter and applied a SWU expiring in December. Two weeks later (after SWU expiration) I found some C space from ZRH so I called to change that to ZRH-PHL-RDU. Two days later I had to make another change and called to move the ZRH-PHL-RDU one day later (also had C space available). No problems on any of that.

When you call, DO NOT mention anything about how the SWU has expired (it doesn't matter) and don't call just to ask the agent if it's possible to change a ticket with an expired SWU. That will only put doubt in their mind if they don't know, or they will say they're not sure or just make something up about how it's not possible.

My calls go something like this:

Me: Hi I have PNR ABCDEF, I need to change the outbound flights to ZRH-PHL-RDU
Agent: OK, I see you have upgrades applied so I'll have to talk with the rate desk to calculate the fare difference
Me: No problem
Agent: The fare difference will be $100. Do you want to make the change?
Me: Ok great, yes please proceed. Also I just want to make sure you can grab the upgrade on the new flight since upgrade space is available
Agent: Yes let me check. I do see upgrade space on the new flight so I will make sure that carries over.

The agent will then be working with the rate desk for at least 10 mins IME, but will come back and say everything is set and ask you what seats you'd like in business class.

brenc3

I know that availability can be very unpredictable, but we do tend to see more advance SWU availability off-peak rather than peak. And there has to be some method since in principle it's RM deciding which seats it can sacrifice revenue on. Is it common for off-peak availability to open up at the 6 month mark, when the same flights might not have been available earlier? I've managed to snag 4x HND-LAX and FRA-DFW in the past 2 years but all were booked 10 months out.

FrankMorris

Awesome thanks for weighing in

FrankMorris

Ah okay this is really helpful - I very much appreciate the clarification. Seems like it can work, whether or not it's supposed to . So it's probably something one has to be comfortable with losing ultimately, though there's a good shot at it working out.

Out of curiosity, has this ever NOT worked out for you? And this is something that has continued to work very recently? Before I try it, would like to be as sure as I can.

JJeffrey

I've done this multiple times on multiple reservations over the past 3 years or so (the ability to apply a SWU to a flight after the expiration date wasn't possible for most until around 2019 or 2020).

So no, this has never not worked out, although there for sure have been reports of some folks having issues. If you call and the agent seems uneasy or unsure, then just thank them and tell them you don't want to proceed and HUCA. In the steps I outlined above, once you ok the change with the agent, I always make it clear that I only want to change if the upgrade can be carried over (so there's no real risk of losing it).

zip10001

great advice here JJeffrey
I have never had issue using all my SWU's before they expire, but your explanation is very clear & helpful anyway
thanks

Natasha Keswani

I would call AA and see if this is still the case - I read on a FT forum last week (can't find it now) that you can no longer park SWUs like this (i.e., book and then push the SWU past the expiration by keeping the PNR).

donotblink

damn, I was relying on this! Can anyone confirm?

JJeffrey

I can assure you that calling AA and asking will be a pointless endeavor.

It has always been the case where if you call and ask specifically about using an expired SWU or changing a ticket with a now expired SWU that at least half of the agents will tell you that it's not possible or not allowed etc.

That is all that was mentioned in the main SWU thread, one poster called and asked specifically about it and was told once or twice that it was not possible. Nothing new there.

The "trick" has always been to call and change the ticket without mentioning anything about the fact that the SWU has expired. Once attached to a PNR an expired SWU behaves no differently than a not expired SWU.

355F1

Tons of availbilty to BCN in Jan of 2025.

Just booked 2 PHX-JFK-BCN-JFK-PHX for $540/ea Basic Economy and cleared ALL 4 segments at booking using SWUs.

Couldn't believe it!