Ordering meals - since when is it 20 hours?
 

Got an upgrade today at around the 24 hour mark. Didn't see until I went to check-in for the flight and thought I had missed the opportunity to order a meal. Went to check to see if there was meal service and, if so, what the choices might have been. Pleasant surprise, it said meals could be selected 20 hours before flight. I made it by 30 minutes.

Fairly recently, but it's been at least a few months. The cynic in me says it's because of the increasing number of upgrades being held back until the 24 hour window. Still gives you a chance to select a meal if you're paying attention.

Summer 2025.

https://news.aa.com/news/news-detail...6/default.aspx

AA basically says as much This change will provide greater flexibility for customers who receive upgrades closer to their departure time, ensuring they have enough time to select their inflight meal.

T24.5 is the new upgrade window.

Per release and other threads:
https://news.aa.com/news/news-detail...6/default.aspx
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/37140735-post160.html

Beyond the upgrade reasoning, part of me thinks there was a decent amount of lag time between pre-orders closing and order tallies needing to be sent to the caterer that someone at AA realized they could cut it down and it would be a cost-free (key part), customer-friendly move.

Really a great decision.

Definitely elites benefit because we know AA tries to hold back for cash upgrades rather than give for free, but this also helps cash upgrades because the lowest cash price is typically at check-in if there is still availability - orders are still possible even though I suspect not many non-elites are familiar with this option.