DannyP

I have wondered sometimes if AA considers BOS to be one of their hubs. It seems that no other airline except maybe Delta has as many planes or gates there as AA. If it is a hub, then how is it that I, with gold status, manage to get upgraded almost every time, even between BOS and ORD? Not that I am complaining about this, mind you, I just find it interesting considering everyone else always talks about the difficulties of golds securing upgrades.

justageek

I don't think it's a hub by any standard definition. But it has some international flights, so there are a larger than normal number of domestic flights to/from BOS to feed them.

Seems to me it's the same thing with LAX.

mAAine_flyer

BOS is a second-tier hub for AA (or focus city, or some such designation). IIRC, AA has the largest presence, either by passenger numbers or flights (I can't recall which), of any airline at BOS. For such a significant presence, it's a shame that it occupies such a cr@ppy terminal.

Congratulations on your upgrade success on BOS-ORD. This is probably my least successful route for upgrading -- I've gone 1 for 14 between BOS/ORD since last summer. And I'm plat .

bursa

BOS is a "focus city" for AA. AA has been cutting and adding flights from BOS though the cutting part seems to be more (not sure). BOS-SEA; BOS-SJC; BOS-PHX, etc seem to have gotten the axe. However AA is still BOS's #1 carrier, with DL @ #2 and US @ #3 last time I checked. AA Terminal B got a new security checkpoint for its main section, but of course, DL will get a brand new terminal soon. Can't wait to go there!

GWU ESIA STUDENT

Don't forget US, they have about 100 departures on weekdays from BOS.

ExtrAAordinaire

Flights at BOS -- including the international services -- rely primarily upon BOS' O/D. AA has relatively few connecting pax at BOS.

ExtrAAordinaire

AA never operated BOS-PHX. In recent months, BOS-SEA, BOS-SJC, BOS-LAS, BOS-BNA, BOS-PHL, and BOS-PWM have been cut. (BOS-YUL, BOS-AUS, BOS-YQB, BOS-PQI, and most of the former BEX routes have also been eliminated in recent years.) AA has added BOS-YHZ, BOS-MAN, and BOS-SNN.

DannyP

Congratulations on your upgrade success on BOS-ORD. This is probably my least successful route for upgrading -- I've gone 1 for 14 between BOS/ORD since last summer. And I'm plat .[/QUOTE]


As far as upgrades between those two cities, I have found three things to help a lot. First, choose flights that are not popular for business travel, which is easy enough for me, because I am in school and my vacations usually begin on weekends. Second, when looking at flights, don't check how full first class is, check the first three rows of coach and exit rows, to see how many elites are on the plane. These first two are not a secret, and are known by everyone. The last one may be too big a hassle for some, but be persistant. To be sure, I have only flown about four segments between these city pairs since gaining elite status, so it may not be a representitive sample. However, on three out of those four, I was still in coach at the 24hr mark, and I simply got to the airport, got on standby for the earlier flights, and put myself first on the upgrade waitlist. However, the combo of these three has meant that I have gotten to sit up front on three of these four flights. In fact, that is usually how I end up with an upgrade, regardless of the city. To this date, all but two of my upgrades have been gotten this way, and I have ALWAYS been the first gold on the standby list. Usually when I get passed by a plat or exp, they come after I do, but get moved ahead because of status. I will also do things such as look to go through LGA, or into PVD, if they have F seats available. Since I am not flying for work, I have a little more flexibility, which I think is the main reason for high success. Or maybe it's just luck. . .

ElmhurstNick

That goes to show you that flight selection means everything. I fly the route every 4-8 weeks, have done so since 1997, and I've never been denied an upgrade as a PLAT unless standing by for an earlier flight, a perfect 100%. I do try and avoid Monday 6-8am and Friday 3-6pm, however.

ElmhurstNick

Most of the BEX cuts came in two phases:

1) when AA got rid of the ex-BEX Saabs; and
2) when AA had the scope problems with the mainline cuts after 9/11 and had to cut a bunch of Eagle routes as well.

Replacing the Saabs with ERJs meant that they could use the gate facilities for the longer flights - much of this is along the seaboard to places such as BWI, DCA, RIC, etc.

And when they were able to add more RJ flights system-wide, they decided to use them for routes such as ORD-ALB and ORD-SYR instead of ALB-BOS and SYR-BOS, and divert mainline planes elsewhere.