BA Pax in Upgrade Sequence for AA Flights

Old Sep 6, 2018, 9:18 am
  #16  
 
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I have been upgraded on BA, as AA EXP due to overbooking in club world a few times out of LHR to BOM
I think that (could be wrong of course) that with the BA upgrade I got, it may have been because there were no more golds and or silvers so they looked at OWE on the flight

sorry cant say anything on BA golds getting upgraded on AA flights, all the flights I have taken this year on AA, some of them have upgrades list 12 to 15 deep
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 9:52 am
  #17  
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Originally Posted by fotographer
I have been upgraded on BA, as AA EXP due to overbooking in club world a few times out of LHR to BOM
I think that (could be wrong of course) that with the BA upgrade I got, it may have been because there were no more golds and or silvers so they looked at OWE on the flight
BA doesn't work like this. BA may sometimes upgrade a non-member or a Blue even though there are Golds who have not been upgraded from the same cabin.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 10:26 am
  #18  
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I am not in the least bit surprised that any but AA Elites should be processed for their upgrades. Indeed I think that it has got completely out of control with any number of people in line for a handful of places. I feel quite sorry for the Gate Agents sometimes, whilst some have all the charm of a prison wardress, others are just delightful. Two such ladies at MSP come immediately to mind.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 10:34 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
BA doesn't work like this. BA may sometimes upgrade a non-member or a Blue even though there are Golds who have not been upgraded from the same cabin.
Is there a reason for this?
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 10:40 am
  #20  
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Complimentary and 500 mile "sticker" upgrades for AA elites are explained in the wiki in this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...questions.html
The 500 mile sticker upgrades are earned or purchased. Other Oneworld elites are not eligible for these upgrades. Also see:
Does AA upgrade oneworld elites?

Other persons may purchase load factor based upgrades or day or departure upgrades from a kiosk:
DOD / DODU (LFBU) Space-available, counter, kiosk, and online upgrade (master thd)

Operational upgrades depend upon the luck of the draw.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 10:42 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by rossmacd
the gentleman continued to argue with the GA
An unwise action on his part; I have quite some personal experience of AA GAs being more helpful to me than to the other, more argumentative, passengers. As usual, being civil and polite will get you a lot further when someone has to voluntarily take action to help you.

The AA upgrades are very much an AA flier thing, while standby is both an older idea that applies across carriers and one that is extended to the whole alliance due to tickets being sold across the alliance and passengers interconnecting. So it doesn't surprise me that the principle of status across alliance applies to standby but not upgrades.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 11:06 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by fotographer
Is there a reason for this?
Because BA does not want either its higher-tier members or anyone else to learn or to think that they can reliably get to sit in a higher cabin even though they have only paid for a lower cabin. Basically, if you want business class, pay for business class.

So there are two parallel approaches.

First, passengers are only upgraded for free if there is a good reason to do so, commonly because the lower cabin is overbooked and empty space in the higher cabin can be used to accommodate the excess bookings.

Second, such upgrades (when they are necessary) are often used as a marketing tool, suggesting to passengers (who are not necessarily higher-tier members) in the most practical way possible why they should pay more next time to sit in the higher cabin. This use of upgrades has become more sophisticated over the years, with a specific software tool (called DUT) suggesting to the airport who should be upgraded.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 11:25 am
  #23  
 
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I have always believed that only AA elites are eligible for the gate upgrade request queue. In fact, although I have AA status I am not even eligible if I am crediting the flight to another programme even though I have many “stickers” in my account. I have been told on more than 1 occasion that the reason for that is that complimentary upgrades are “a benefit of the AAdvatage programme” which seems fair enough.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 1:09 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Blueboys999
I have always believed that only AA elites are eligible for the gate upgrade request queue. In fact, although I have AA status I am not even eligible if I am crediting the flight to another programme even though I have many stickers in my account. I have been told on more than 1 occasion that the reason for that is that complimentary upgrades are a benefit of the AAdvatage programme which seems fair enough.
You can, however, do an AA mileage upgrade while crediting the flight to BA and having the benefit of your BA status put you onto the upgrade list (including at the gate) at the equivalent place as someone of the equivalent AA status.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 2:20 pm
  #25  
 
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On a flight from ORD to MCO i once asked the GA if it was possible to get an upgrade as OWE.. she looked at my ticket and refused.
on board after i realized the cabin wasnt full i asked the purser if they might have a free space available in first for me as BA gold.. and he checked and said sure. come up front.

very nice
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 2:38 pm
  #26  
 
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I had an operational upgrade as a BA Silver earlier in the year - PHL-YYZ.

Got to the gate and my name was the only one on the upgrade list. I was pleasantly surprised, but given the odds of a BA Silver being the highest-status AA passenger on the aircraft, I'm not expecting it to happen again anytime soon.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 2:41 pm
  #27  
 
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My partner is BA Gold, and when flying from BOG-DFW in Y last weekend, halfway through the flight a crew member came to him and said he was the only Emerald on the flight, and there was an empty seat in business, and that he should have asked to move to it. He was penned in at the window and half asleep given it was 3am, so just decided to stay where he was.
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 11:06 pm
  #28  
 
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 11:10 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Seat_1F


You can, however, do an AA mileage upgrade while crediting the flight to BA and having the benefit of your BA status put you onto the upgrade list (including at the gate) at the equivalent place as someone of the equivalent AA status.
Perhaps I have misunderstood your post but why would you need to go on the upgrade list when you had already used miles to upgrade your flight?
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Old Sep 6, 2018, 11:13 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Blueboys999


Perhaps I have misunderstood your post but why would you need to go on the upgrade list when you had already used miles to upgrade your flight?
If there was no C class available at time of requesting the upgrade, you can go on a waitlist for it
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