flyerguy1975

Both mileage awards and SWU do not have companion benefit even if in the same pnr. Only 500 mile upgrade does.

Info confirmed from analyst at AA through another member. He said that issues members are currently having are that they are putting multiple types of upgrades in the reservation trying to increase their chance for an upgrade.

Then they complain to AA after the fact that the wrong type of upgrade was used and want to change it. Since they can't look at what bucket was available after the fact to know if a particular upgrade could have been used rather than the one that was used, they can't change the upgrade type.

A few exceptions may occur if enough notes are in the PNR and they comp the upgrade back but moving forward if you have multiple types of upgrades in the PNR don't count on getting it changed once flown.

As usual, address all issues before you fly and make sure you have agent put notes in PNR- then ask for a print out of what PNR. I've don't it in the past when I've explained the hassle I've had to deal with.

itchief

I had no issues since my upgrade cleared 72 hours in advance. I could clearly see that my SWU was still waitlisted by looking at my flight on AA.com since it said 'system wide upgrade - requested'.

transparent

Hmm... when I called to inquire about if the SWU was applied properly, the EXP agent insisted that I was only on the SWU waitlist and not on the UDU waitlist at all, and that they could see both lists. Then the agent typed away at something to "make sure" or something.

When I had viewed my reservation online at AA.com before calling, it showed Upgrade Type "Complimentary" for the outbound and return requested, after the call in a few hours the outbound changed to "Systemwide", return still says "Complimentary".

Did I inadvertently screw up my UDU chances?

golfingboy

Possibly...

This most likely means you will not clear in advance if R space opens up. Your best bet now is hope that C space opens up or AA does not process any upgrade until after T-24 hours.

JDinCOU

I'm sure this question has been asked before but I can't find the answer. I am EXP and my partner is GLD. We are always willing to split up so 1 of us gets the upgrade if only 1 is available. If we are booked on the same PNR, will an upgrade clear only if 2 seats are available at the same time? The odds of that seem pretty low as the seem to release seats 1 at a time. I'm worried that by being in the same PNR, we will get skipped and it will go to the next person behind us. Any advice on what we should do? Do we split the PNR so that he keeps my status in the priority queue?

skydve1

My experience as a Plat..
I've flown with my wife (no status) on one PNR with requests to upgrade both of us using 500 mile coupons. Several times when only one upgrade seat opened up, they'd page me at the gate and tell me, giving me the option to only upgrade one of us, or neither. Of course, I upgraded my wife..

ZoomVT

Never used an SWU before, how does the timestamp and status work in this scenario?

2 people in PNR - I am PLT and wife has no status
- Booked 12/14 and requested sticker upgrades
- Was given SWU and applied to waitlist since there was no C inventory

So a few questions:
1. Does the SWU use my original timestamp or the time the SWU was applied?
2. It still is based on status and time of request right?
3. Sticker upgrades share the status in the PNR so my wife gets my status for sticker upgrades, but thats not true for SWU, correct?
4. Are my chances better to use SWU vs stickers because C inventory gets released ahead, and cause wife will take my status?

Thanks in advanced!

transparent

My return still says "Complimentary", do we think that means I'm on both lists? The agent I spoke to before insisted that I was only on the SWU list-- if the agent is correct, would calling to ask to be on both work? Or if I withdraw my SWU, would my original UDU timestamp still be there?

This is on LAX-JFK. Right now it's J6 D0 I0. Not looking too great for C or R in advance, but I think once in the check-in window, UDU might have a better chance?

On the outbound, apparently my SWU cleared about 24 hours in advance, but I'm not sure since I never got an EF alert (though I also didn't get an email from AA saying "You've been upgraded" as usual with UDUs).

Burj

Interesting experience recently on LAX to HKG... Was 1st on upgrade wait list having used an SWU. The whole day before the flight I was #1 with about 4 seats open including 3J and 4J. Left lounge to go to the gate and checked on last time to see that #3 on the list had been upgraded. I assumed they got a J to F upgrade, however 3J was now shown as occupied (according to ExpertFlyer).

Got to the gate and asked if the agent was going to clear upgrades soon as boarding was about to start and I was #1. He said sure and offered me 4J, I specifically asked what happened to 3J as it was been open until just recently. He looked sheepish and said that it was just taken by another upgraded passenger. I asked him point blank if it was the person who was lower on the upgrade list and how was he able to jump the line?

The gate agent didn't answer that question but just said that if I wanted 3J he would take care of it and give him a moment. Sure enough he printed a new boarding pass and walked off and handed it to a guy who ended up being in 4J and came back and printed another boarding pass for me to be in 3J.

It was all a very strange situation. As a quick aside, 4J is closer to the galley so noise is an issue so I really didn't want 4J.

I'm curious if people have theories as to how/why someone lower on the upgrade list was able to sweet talk the agent to upgrade him early and initially give him that seat.

It is also an important lesson to continually monitor the upgrade list and seat map if you have a strong preference for seating!

JonNYC

Probably just that the GA saw that both upgrades were definitely going to clear at that point and ended up interacting with the other passenger first.

craz

can someone explain how this could happen. Last night I ended up as #7 on the UP list at the gate @ T-55 I was # 5, either way wasnt expecting to clear since there was only 1 unclaimed seat

What I cant understand is they called 2 people names both cleared they were #1 and #5 on the list, #1 no problem but with #s 2-3-4 having different last names why did #5 clear before 2-3 or 4? On board they moved up a few more to Biz

I understand people CXed last min or missed the flight, so I assume #s 2-3-4 might have been those UPed on board, but why did #5 clear have the green check mark next to their name as did #1 before boarding even started, and maybe 2-3-4 werent those that were UPed on board either. As #7 I wasnt going to clear, I was just dumbfounded trying to figure out why #5 cleared before boarding started and #5s name was cleed with #1s from the get go and never called 2-3-or 4s names

JonNYC

Not as dumbfounded as we are.

How bout a flight # to start with. Was it a 3-cabin flight?

flyalways

Hmm...What happened to #2 on the list ? Looks like s/he was shafted by
#3 ? Unless #2 was waiting for J to F and that was not available...

craz

AA 10 LAX-JFK 3 cabin

Stdby had over 20 on the list and Upgrade list was 16
Im not complaining as I wasnt gonna clear @ #7. Last I saw T-120 there was 1 Biz seat and 1 1st available for sale Y soldout. With a full flight I boarded ASAP so I dont know if any Stdbys cleared, I would think some did since they brought some folks up out of Y and resat them in Biz. . when they called 2 names I saw that the Up list then had 2 green check marks #1 and #5. so Its not like they called #1 and #2 and 2 said no and 3 and 4 said the same.From get go #1 and #5 were called

JonNYC

#1 was a economy-> business upgrade and #5 was business-> first