Call BX.

I've been a BE member for a while but just cashed out and applied my first BXP1 without success.

Called meeting services and they waitlisted my BXP1. Never got notification of an upgrade. Upon checkin, got a message that said "Upgrade request not completed." And then I was waitlisted number 8 (PPRO) with two seats available, third became available during boarding.

Is there something I'm missing? Even if BXP1 didn't clear, wouldn't I be top of the list? I'm assuming there weren't 7 passengers ahead of me also using SWU or BXP1. Would love any advice in this new world where confirmable domestic SWU are no longer to be found!

all the EXP's and CK's are ahead of you as a PPRO for upgrades of all types (upgrades with SWUs or EXPs if they wanted to have priority, comp upgrades within N America, and upgrades to EXP's on award tix..
Within your tier or PPRO you should be above all the comp upgrades, but below all the other PPRO's who might be using a SWU/BXP1 if they have more LP's than you.

I'm an EP and flying with a non status companion on 05/18 JFK to LAX AA 300..
I have had no luck with BXP1 upgrades and EF for the month shows no upgrade availbility on any of their legs
Anyone else experiencing this issue with the JFK to LA Flagship routes? or any luck getting upgraded on those flights especially with a companion?

As that's an after 8pm flight, it seems to have better opportunities for upgrades If available, they will usually open up within the week prior to flight. Right now, for example, 5/5 has 1 open, and 5/6-5/8 are showing C7. On 5/5, there are still about 5 unassigned seats and AA is still willing to offer 1 upgrade. On the others with C7, there are about half the cabin assigned.

On your 5/18 flight, about half the cabin is assigned. None of the flights within a week of 5/18 are open for upgrades yet, but I suspect as those dates get closer you may find some relief. Have you put your request in to waitlist?

It's possible they would upgrade you and not your companion. I'm PPro and was waitlisted on HNL-DFW with my non-status companion, though our records were associated and I double checked this in advance. Nonetheless, I got the ugprade cleared about 2 weeks in advance, despite there not being a lot of open seats (out of 37 J on a 772). My 2nd upgrade didn't come through, so I took my PE seat and let her have the upgrade. These were both on BXP1 certs which, if you can get them, are the best use in the entire AA system due to the length of flight and Flagship service.

It's not just the flagship routes. C inventory is scarce in general.

This isn't really an "issue" but just normal availability patterns for a route like JFK-LAX. Looking 2+ weeks out it's not surprising at all that AA hasn't released any C space yet.

But if you're not seeing any C space for the month then you must be searching wrong, as looking this week there are multiple JFK-LAX flights over the next 5 days that have C space, including AA300.

So like usual AA will open up C space if there's still room up front, but this won't start happening until you're within about 7 days of the flight until right up to the gate depending on how full it is.

Anecdotally, BOS-LAX and JFK-SFO tend to have more upgrade C space than JFK-LAX.

It's worth noting that C is a revenue fare class now and you have to use the "Awards and Upgrades" search in EF to find inventory that can be used with a BXP1 or SWU.

Since getting a BizExtra account a couple of years, back my sole use of points has been BXPI1s and my sole use of BXP1s has been J-->F upgrades on LAX-JFK and LAX-SFO. I have never had them clear (as an EP or CK) more than 48 hours early, and never have had them not clear by departure.

I thought SWU/BXP1 are prioritized ahead of complimentary upgrades according to AA website? So it would have been SWUs by elite status, then complimentary upgrades by elite status.
This is why I'm asking why I was number 8 - were 8 people of higher status using SWU/BXP1 ahead of me? I suppose it's possible, just seems unlikely on LAX-ORD.

SWU/BXP1/Miles+copay are prioritized ahead of complimentary upgrades *within each status group*.

So in your example it may have gone like this:

1. CK complimentary upgrade
2. CK complimentary upgrade
3. EXP complimentary upgrade
4. EXP complimentary upgrade
5. EXP complimentary upgrade
6. EXP complimentary upgrade
7. EXP complimentary upgrade
8. PPro BXP1 (you)
9. PPro complimentary upgrade

In addition to what njvandy mentioned above its also important to note that BXP/SWU/miles upgrades come from a different inventory (C) than normal domestic comp upgrades (R).

In theory AA should release C space before R, although this doesn't always happen. Especially on a normal domestic flight like LAX-ORD, you could have a GA that doesn't want to mess with clearing any upgrade certs (whether BE or miles etc.) and just releases all remaining upgrade seats to R to be done with it.

BE upgrades are one of the last good uses of BE points, however I never attempt to use them unless the upgrade can be confirmed at booking or sometime before the flight.

Thanks so much for this clarification, it makes a lot more sense.
I'm seeing that unless you're an EXP or above, it doesn't make sense to waitlist an upgrade. As PPRO I was trying to get to the top of the list!

I was able to confirm my first BXP yesterday at the time of booking, so I'll always keep an eye out for confirmable space.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the discounted "sales" of Business Extra certificates ? About 18 months ago, AA sold the BXP1 domestic upgrades for 500 points each, down from the usual 650. Just wondering if that was a one-off sale, or if it might recur annually ?