Wife and I went 1 for 2 on Thanksgiving travel -

11/22 - CLT -> GRR - wound up 1 and 2 of many for 0 seats on a quite full plane.

11/28 - GRR -> CLT - flight delayed ~5 hours (A320 software upgrade it turns out), so we missed what would have been a great connection to get home at dinner time in Florence SC and wound up on the late flight, but did get upgraded T-1 - was showing 1 and 2 of about 12 for 0 seats when we headed to airport, when standby and upgrades cleared, was showing 4 seats open, but 2 of those went to standby folks and 2 went to us.

EP with ~420k rolling LP.

Side note - I so rarely find myself in airports that have clubs but not admirals clubs that I don't have any cards that give me priority pass. $50 each for the club GRR was an excellent value for this one - with what turned out to be close to 6 hours at the airport we did very well. Normally we don't do the club, because GRR is a pretty pleasant airport to wait at, and has quick security so not typically waiting all that long. But on this trip we left the hotel with 30 minutes delay showing, arrived and delay was up to 2 hours already, so I thought, why not try it. Would recommend for any extended time in GRR.

Flying MIA/SFO on Thanksgiving night, 738 Max. 3 on the upgrade list and they all cleared. Great night if you were a lowly GLD.

Lowly Plat
12/5 JFK>PHX #18 on list 738 Max completely full.
PHX>SBA #12 on list even though A319 was only 2/3 full.

Normally don't think much of it, but this weekend irritated me because it was two segments in a row on a rough trip.

12/6: COU-DFW, 2/5 on list as Alaska MVP75k, 2 open seats. First person cleared about an hour to departure. Then gate agent cleared the 4th person. I asked as I boarded why... "I had to give the seat (2F) to a flight attendant."
DFW-ROW, 2/7 on list. First person cleared again over an hour to departure. We pushed with 2 open seats (that I could see from first row of coach) after there were no-shows.

Here's insight into the chances of hub to hub upgrades: 12/9/2025, AA 1401, ORD-DFW, 39 on the list, zero cleared.

12/12 1388
zero seats with 18 on the list.. no one

I’d submit a short complaint to customer service for both flights.

For the first flight, I don’t believe that is in policy (pilots are a different story). I saw this over the summer on a heavily delayed flight where an FA was given a seat that opened up a person de-planed. What was odd is that someone else had previously gotten off, which resulted in someone getting upgraded off a long list. I’m convinced the GA didn’t want to move seat assignments around.

PLT 105K LP

12/9: PIT - PHX, 10/20, 0 cleared
12/9: PHX - SJC, 16/25, 1 cleared
12/11 Redeye: SFO - CLT, 24/40, 0 cleared (upgrade buy-up as low as $299 few days out)
12/12 CLT to PIT: 13/27, 0 cleared

Aa 2920
1 cleared ar gate out of 16

with EXP, is there a strategic time that it makes sense to split an PNR? Flight on Wed with me and the mrs shows J3. Ideally we'd check 4 bags, but can probably squeeze it into 3 bags. My thought is to see if we both clear at 26 hour mark and then if not, split it? EXP with 650k rolling. Any insights, if they exist, would be appreciated thank you

Today BOS to CLT, #1-2 on upgrade, 0 cleared

CLT to MHH - cleared 3 hours prior, companion cleared at gate for last seat

650k rolling Lp

I don’t stand chance lol .. I’ve got maybe 250 rolling LP

12/16/25 AA3047 SFO-DFW: 1/8 for 0 seats.

12/16/25 AA5110 DFW-BTR: Cleared at T26. No one on the list.

12/20/25 AA5508 BTR-DFW: Cleared at boarding. 1 out of 14 for 2 seats.

12/20/25 AA2354 DFW-PHL: 3/21 on the list for 0 seats.

Thankfully received the EXP snack on both flights I was in Y for. Seems like it’s getting more consistent.

12/17 CLT-PHL, cleared just before T-24. Platinum Pro. I had zero expectations, given it was a hub-to-hub flight, so I was pleasantly surprised.

12/19 MSP-CLT, #17 of 34 for 0 seats
12/19 CLT-ALB #2 of 11 for 1 seat, just missed on the A319