Edited to add: That last available seat on Tuesday MEX-DFW is now up to $604 on the app, so I guess there is a chance there will be one seat available for a complimentary upgrade...a chance.


AA is becoming even more cheap and aggressive with F buy-ups on some routes.

I fly DFW-MEX and return 3 or 4 times a year. I fly on Saturdays and Tuesdays and have only missed an upgrade on that route one time as a 250k LP ExPlat. That one time I was the first loser. All of my flights have been on 737-800 aircraft.

Somewhat surprisingly, I was upgraded on my first flight, OKC-DFW on an A319. I was number one out of 18 for one seat, and I cleared. The buy-up offers were around $300, which is laughable for a 38 minute flight. I'm thinking that's why there was a seat available for me.

My DFW-MEX flight on Saturday 10/4 was a completely new situation. AA was selling upgrades on the flight starting at $80 2 months before the trip. The buy-up offer then went up to $97 when half the cabin was full. With 2 seats left, before the ExPlat window, the offer was $143. With one seat left at t-100, the offer was $204.

On the day of the flight, I was number three out of 9 for 0 seats. Nobody cleared. With only nine people on the list, and two people with more LP than me also in Y, I am led to believe that most, if not all, of the FC seats were sold as buy-up offers or purchased F at ticketing. Honestly $80 is super cheap for somebody that doesn't fly much and has the opportunity to experience first class with a catered, hot meal. Especially if they're checking bags and don't have status or a card. It would be cheaper if they're checking all three bags, and many Mexico pax check a lot of luggage. I fly enough that it's not that big of a deal to me and I refuse to even pay $80 on a 2 hour flight. If I only flew occasionally, and not every week or two like I do, I would have jumped at $80.

My flight back on Tuesday is already down to one FC seat, and they are trying to sell it for $204 I'm flying MEX-DFW-SFO on Tuesday, and the buy-up offer on DFW-SFO was $140. I decided to jump on it. For a while I was getting upgraded between DFW and SFO, but I have been the first or second loser on my last three flights. That flight is long enough that F is a much better experience, and I will probably splurge on the upgrade occasionally if it is that cheap.

I'm looking at an AUS-DFW-VIE trip next Monday. I will book in basic economy and (hopefully) use an SWU to upgrade. AA80 is showing 20 19 open J seats a week out, availability is C7 J7 R7 D7 I7. No upgrade availability as of now. I will also want to upgrade the LHR-VIE segment on BA, which does appear to be available based on award availability. I'm tempted to go ahead and book and apply the SWU to clear the BA segment ASAP and waitlist on the others. There are still quite a few MCE seats open so I suspect I will be near the top of the list.

Any comments on the plan?

An odd twist in all of this is that almost all flights out of AUS that day are zeroed out in first class even though many still show seats open on the seat map. I'm guessing this has something to do with the Formula 1 event in AUS that weekend. It's frustrating because there is SWU availability on flights to LHR from ORD, CLT, and PHL but I really don't want to sit in Y on a long first segment. I can put up with Y on AUS-DFW.

If you want to go via DFW then I'd book that and get on the waitlist, you will most likely clear with that much availability a week out.

But IMO I would not upgrade the LHR-VIE segment until the long haul clears, it would be a major waste to burn a SWU on that if the DFW-LHR didn't come through. Of course BA short haul J is just economy seating with the middle seat blocked.

And makes perfect sense that first class is sold out on most flights out of AUS on Monday with F1 in town, that's about like trying to find first class availability leaving whatever city the Super Bowl was in on Monday.

SWU to europe
 

anything from clt in q1 2026?

Yes, tons, especially on the usual suspects FRA and MUC. EF is your friend.

Right now I'm looking at DFW-LHR for next Monday. AA20 has 9 open J seats and the SWU is available. AA80 has 19 open J seats and the SWU is not available. A week ago both flights had 18 seats open. Makes you wonder about their algorithm.

Booked a ticket 12 days ago using miles. To increase chances of upgrade, I compare all possible routes on my travel day, and selected TPA-PHL because there were 14 out of 16 seats available in first. Fast forward to 2 days before the flight, and there were still 8 seats. At T-24, I was surprised to not clear. This morning I am #2 on the list for 0 seats. Currently at 290K rolling 12 month LPs, I am starting to realize that the benefit of complimentary upgrades seems to be slipping away.

..... and to make matters worse, my connection is on an E145. I stay away from this route due to the E145, but thought it would be an OK trade off for TPA-PHL in first during dinner time. :(

That's pretty amazing. When I can I too book strategically to improve upgrade chances and would have thought that scenario would be an easy upgrade for an EXP. In your case I would have checked other flights a day or two ahead to see if the chances looked better. Often the number of miles booking within a week isn't much more than if you book within two weeks. I assume you also looked at SDC options within 24 hours to improve your chances.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Hopefully you have a decent Y seat. Last week I had my longest missed upgrade flight of the year: DTW-CLT. In my case it was a last minute booking and I didn't have a lot of flexibility with the time. However I ended up with the front row of Y to myself. So compared to F I had more legroom, more space to spread out, and I got my drink in a plastic cup instead of a glass.

What you have to realize is that closer to departure date AA will often begin to offer cash upgrades really cheap if the cabin isn't full. People checking their reservation, EXPs checking at the T-100 hour see a generous cash upgrade offer and they grab it. On a domestic flight I'd take an entire row of Y over a domestic F seat any day. Any meal served up front wouldn't be worth it, particularly if you can get complimentary BOB as an EXP. Of course, the chances of an entire row to yourself is pretty slim.

Upgrade was $160 or 16K Miles. I'm fine with exit-row-aisle, and snacking in the Admirals Club.

My odds went up a bit- I am now #2 for one seat. Story of my travel life lately.

The other thing that can kill an expected upgrade on trunk routes are pilots being deadheaded. DFW/MIA, DFW/ORD and DFW/CLT I often see a pilot(s) upfront and presumably he/she was the name(s) that cleared. I believe they show on the list at the top.

Not sure if this is right thread, but does anyone know what happens with complimentary upgrades on the new 777-220ER routes between LAX and JFK? I'm an executive platinum and have a coach seat on a flight next week. I can purchase upgrades to either premium economy or first class. But how do complimentary upgrades work? Will I be potentially upgraded to premium economy? First? Neither?

Same question was asked and some very recent discussion here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...x-route-5.html

10/10/25:
SFO-LAX (on Alaska) AS3422: Cleared 90 minutes before flight. 2 on list for 0 seats.
LAX-PHL AA776: Cleared at T-100. 1 on list for 1 seat.



10/14/25:
PHL-SFO AA2184: 5/33 on the list for 0 seats. Thanks, Dreamforce 2025.

SJC-PHX: number 1 for 0 seats
PHX-SJC: cleared (got an email at 4 AM for my 11 AM flight)

SFO-JFK: got a $160(!) upgrade offer to J and took it