Upgrade Priority
 

I have no status with AA, but my wife and I were waitlisted for F on the domestic legs of my AA J award from Africa. (First two legs are with QR.) Do we go to the bottom of the upgrade list, due to no status? If not, where should we fall on the list (above/below whom)? Thanks!

Yes. If anyone with status gets added to the waitlist, they jump ahead of you.
Anyone with no status that has more AA Loyalty Points over past rolling 12 months jumps ahead.
For the most part, anyone using AA Systemwide certificates or mileage award upgrades jump ahead of all complimentary upgrades.

I think you'll get better replies. My answer is based on North America; do they have int'l comp upgrades?
Are you using SWU's?
There are much more knowledgeable people on this website.

Nope, no complimentary upgrades for long haul international flights. And SWUs can’t be used on award tickets, so OP isn’t using them.

I think the OP is sat in Y on the domestic legs of a J award, and hoping the F space clears. If so this is not really an upgrade- more of a getting what you paid for. But in the 100 hour upgrade window i think you are still systemically subordinate to those with status. Maybe set an EF flag for the booking code you need to clear into F, and monitor it, calling in if it opens up.

With no status and on an award ticket, I'm very curious as to how exactly you are "waitlisted" on this flight??

If you have a J award but got put in coach on some legs, can't you waitlist for those legs, similar to someone who bought a paid J or F ticket but got downgraded on one or more legs? When this happens, I thought you were above upgraders as this isn't technically an upgrade -- it's getting what you paid for. Am I missing something?

My understanding was that instrument upgrades on routes with complimentary upgrades aren't prioritized. No matter the upgrade method it's all based on status and LP (ie if I applied a SWU for a friend on JFK-LAX, they'd still be below all status members requesting complimentary upgrades). If I'm wrong that would actually be good news.

Sounds like you're going from somewhere in Africa on QR for 2 hops to an AA flight somewhere in Europe/Mid East for the flight back over the Atlantic to the US, and you are wanting to know about upgrading on the AA leg. Are you on a paid ticket and waitlisted with miles to upgrade the AA segment? In that case, your priority will be below any other elite AA members using miles and/or an SWU certificate. Or are you on an award ticket booked in First (or business?) but only getting the cabin on a few legs and waitlisted for the others?

If you're wanting to know about upgrading on QR you'd have to check their web site and/or their forum here on FT.

Not really. There is the "DSR" thing that gets thrown around on here from time to time, however 1) voluntary downgrades on award tickets are not really "DSR" as you have voluntary booked the lower cabin at booking, and 2) finding an agent that knows how to do it and will do it in this scenario (see #1 above) is very low probability, and 3) this must be done at the airport AFAIK.

So I could be wrong, but unless the OP is at the airport right now and has overcome #1 and #2 above, I really have no idea how they are on any kind of waitlist.

OP, are you actually currently on the waitlist? Or were you just told (perhaps mistakenly, perhaps by some phone agent :idea:) that you were on the waitlist?

Interesting. I've always been under the impression you could waitlist for F on these domestic segments, assuming the entire award was priced as a J award.

If the OP is actually waitlisted for F, then I'm pretty that would put him ahead of upgraders in the pecking order.

Don't think you will actually be on the wait list since it's an award ticket and you have no status. Even if you are on it, you will be at the bottom as you have no status and the priority order is based on status first

If he is on the wait list, that's not an upgrade.

Agree with moondog. On domestic AA, there are 2 lists: Upgrades and Waitlists. Upgrades are prioritized based on AA status and LP. Waitlist on the other hand is for awaiting seat assignments as far as I'm aware of.

not at all. tickets are priced by the segment. if thats how he booked, he paid for 1 leg in y and one leg in j.

While I realize that dynamic pricing muddies the waters somewhat, must award tickets are priced based on origin and destination, NOT by segment.
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What are you talking about, no where did I say op was upgraded. The wait list op and I are talking about is the wait list for upgrades. Look at the app it literally says wait list when viewing the upgrade and standby lists

The upgrade list is a waitlist, why are you trying to be so technical lol it's not working. Click the app the button literally says waitlist to view the upgrade and standby list

He explained it quite well in my opinion.
So what you are saying is that there is only one list for the upgraded and the ones who are not?

maybe once upon a time, but it hasnt been that way for years. even before officially full dynamic pricing there would often times be web specials with an overnight that wasnt strictly necessary, or a segment in coach

I can't recall exactly when AA and UA started to abandon their award charts (I know DL got a solid head start on them, though), but I redeemed many international awards where I could only get economy on the domestic segment(s) at booking, and always ended up clearing into first before any upgrades were processed. In fact, this used to be a fairly hot topic in the United forum; iirc, they had/have a special notation for award passengers booked in F but only confirmed in Y called "FFCC".

I do not know whether this concept still exists on UA, AA, or any airline, for that matter. And, the OP also hasn't returned to explain the nature of his waitlisting to us. I've merely been trying to suggest that in the event he is actually waitlisted for F (i.e. with an underlying fare that supports F), then there's probably a pretty good chance that he would be given a seat in F before they touch the upgrade list.