rockhound

Hi

Sorry if this was answer before but was searching and found nothing.

I will be EXP next July (have my last DBEQM just on June 15).
Can I buy a ticket now and call to use the EVIP on July once I earn them or I have to wait until I have them on my account to book it?.

All I found on AA.com is that "Systemwide upgrades can be requested at the time of booking, subject to availability. If not available at the time of booking, systemwide upgrades may be waitlisted."
thanks

thecleave

No, you can book the ticket now, and once you have the eVIPs in your account you can call the EXP desk and ask to have it applied to your flight, if there is C availability, of course.

bdemaria

You can purchase the ticket now now but you won't be able to request the upgrade until you have the eVIPs in your account. At that time, if there is availability, you'll be upgraded immediately, if not - then you will be put on a waitlist.

rockhound

thanks for the quick answers
rockhoundm

Deltahater

Actually, I thought I read on here that AA will sometimes let you 'borrow' an eVIP if it is clear that you will earn them before you fly and use that eVIP.

If all you are waiting for is your DEQM to post AA might be willing to assist you. Nothing you can demand, but might be an option

oklAAhoma

The only references I remember were w/rt current EXPs who were clearly on schedule to earn more eVIPs. I/ve never read anything indicating that AA is willing to advance eVIPs to those who have not yet attained EXP, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Hyperacusis

I will be hitting EXP in just over a month, and plan on using the SWUs I will be getting for flights to Europe out of DFW pretty soon, so I was wondering about experiences people have had with waitlisted SWUs.

Obviously the ideal scenario is that the SWU gets confirmed upon initial request, but in the event that doesn't happen and I need to waitlist, I'd like to get an idea of peoples' experience with waitlisting so I know what to expect. My questions would be:

1. Have you ever had a waitlisted SWU not clear? If so, what is your ratio of waitlisted SWUs cleared vs non-cleared? (eg. 5 waitlisted SWUs cleared for every 1 that didn't)

2. If your waitlisted SWU didn't clear, what route was it? Is there a pattern for certain routes being more difficult for SWUs to clear? Conversely, if you do have a lot of waitlisted SWUs that cleared, what routes were you flying?

3. How difficult is it to find C inventory availability on European routes to get your SWU to instantly confirm? Are certain days of the week or flight times more 'conducive' to this than others? I realize I can check EF, but I don't have a subscription. I'm specifically thinking about European routes out of DFW, such as LHR, CDG and MAD.

Thanks for any and all insights!

bnatraveler

if this does not break protocol, what is SWU, please?

OverThereTooMuch

Please have a look at the FAQ mentioned in this post - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...first-291.html

mvoight

Sign up for the EF free trial, enter a bunch of routes and dates you might consider, then check out the flights you don't have to waitlist for.

sukn

I am unable to plan my international travel very far in advance, as such, most of the time I have to waitlist for eVIPS. I have cleared waitlisted eVIPS 100% of the time.

Having said that, I do choose my flights very carefully by speaking to the EXP desk beforehand and making sure the loads in the upgrade cabin are no more than 50-60% full. There is no point in booking a flight where the desired premium cabin is nearly sold out and then hoping the eVIPS clear.

It has also been my experience that Tue and Wed travel is the easiest to clear an eVIP, but YMMV.

Mark_T

Best advice I can give is to get one.

The odds are that most of your waitlisted upgrades will clear but they may not clear early enough to get a good seat or when they do clear by the time you find out the cabin will be full so you'll have little chance to move around.

Using the EF alerts will often help avoid those problems.

bdemaria

In 5 years as an EXP, I've only had one SWU that didn't clear; ORD-FCO in the middle of summer, and the ORD-FCO flight the night before had been canceled. As for routes that are easier to confirm, I find it more an issue of season/event, rather than route. Certain routes at certain time (i.e., Milan during Fashion Week) will be very difficult to attain in advance.

altaskier

I have had all 20 of my requests clear. Sometimes they've cleared on booking, sometimes at some random time two months before, and in a few instances only a few hours before departure.

A subscription to ExpertFlyer.com is well worth it; it told me that a NRT-JFK upgrade was available two months out and when I called to snag it the agent was rather surprised to see one available that far out.

A note on terminology: they used to be called eVIPs and now are called SWUs (systemwide upgrades).

photodave

A subscription to ExpertFlyer is worth far more than the $9.95 per month it actually costs.

This year I've been able to confirm 6 SWUs at time of booking and had to waitlist for 2. I had notification from EF for C availability last week (two weeks from departure) and was able to call the EXP desk immediately to confirm the waitlisted upgrades. One is for ORD-MAN, the other LHR-MIA.