nrr

I was booked on flight 33 from JFK to LAX departing at 8:00 am on 3/5/04 in class "L". I put in an upgrade request at the time I booked the flight. I called AA platinum desk on 3/4/04 at around 9:50 pm to find out if there was even a chance of getting an (electronic)upgrade--the agent said there were 3 seats still available for sale. As soon as the gate opened at 7:00 am, I placed my name on the upgrade list; I was #2 with 3 seats still available. The agent said that it looked "good" for my upgrade, but they could not release the seat until 7:45 am. I rechecked at 7:40 am and it looked like I would get the upgrade. At 7:45 am the upgrade disappeared. What happenend in those 5 minutes--I would like to know for this instance and for future reference. I asked this same question to the GA and she implied that some exp plats "bumped" me. Since I was standing right infront of her for those 5 minutes and no one approached the desk, how could I have been "bumped"?
[PS: The plane had only two classes Business and Economy.]
Since I did not get the upgrade going to LAX, I tried upgrading on the return trip, flight 10 LAX to JFK, departing at 10:00 pm on 3/7/04. (I was only planning on using up 5 electronic upgrades, either going or coming(but not both)--so only one upgrade request was placed at the time of booking.) When I got to the airport at 7:00 pm I asked at the check-in counter how did things stand for getting an upgrade: "the plane looks pretty full, but I'll put your name on the upgrade list...." 30 seconds later I used the "electronic check in terminal" and upgraded with seat 3A--it looked like there were at least 10 available seats to choose from. (Did the check in person know how to read the status of available seats?)
Further oddity with flight 33(discussed at the beginning.) I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to book a flight from JFK to LAX on 3/5/04 in FC(or Business); so at 10:00 pm on 3/4/04 I went to AA's booking site and place a request for one-way FC. Most of the flights had available seats costing around $2000.00--flight 33 was coming up at around $177.00--which could not be right for a FC one way ticket...

[This message has been edited by nrr (edited Mar 08, 2004).]

yyzflyer

I think we (Plats) had better get used to this. I have not had a domestic upgrade clear so far this year and the new EXP policy hasn't even started yet. I had requested an upgrade for a recent DFW-ORD dinner flight several months out - didn't clear, so asked again at the airport. Waitlisted, looking good with 5 empty seats an hour to the flight. All were filled by EXP's according to the Gate AAgent. Pretzels for dinner.

Part of the problem is route - yours, and mine in the example above, are routes with a lot of EXP business. The new reality, I expect.

vasantn

I guess it is route-specific. I have not had an upgrade denied since I have been a PLT ... about 70,000 miles over the last 12 months.

------------------
Vasant

MiamiPrep

Right. May be route specific. I am EXP, and have twice not been upgraded on MIA-JFK. But, if I leave from FTL (20 miles away from MIA), upgrade always seems to clear. I suspect MIA is more business travelers, FTL more leisure travelers.

RayinMaui

I would think a lot of EXPs are using up their electronic upgrades, since all flights will be free in 10 days.

azmmza

why was aa 33 a 2 class 763 ant not a 3 class 762?

SethLevy

There are a few parts of the staory that don;t make sense. First, why was AA 33 2 class and not 3. If they changed planes to a 2-class 767, that would account for the decrease in upgrade space because they would need to combine both first and business into one class. Second, on your return flight, you indicated you went to the check-in person that told you the flight lokked full, then you went to the self-service check-in, why did you not allow the first check-in person tocheck you in.

PLTs don;t worry upgrades will still be plentifuul, a 767 between JFK/LAX/SFO has 30 business class seats, they will never be 30 EXPs on the flight, and in today;s economy noone pays full fare any more.

On a recent flight AA 33, actually, the flight attendant told me that of the passengers in J, only 4 were EXP and only 3 had actually paid for business class. In fact, 7 seats were taken by coach passengers because coach was full.

martin33

easy. you don't have to be at the gate to get on the gate upgrade list and bump someone. they can put you on the list from anywhere in the airport.

xTWAnowAAer

JFK-LAX is the only time my upgrade didn't clear as an EXP this past year. Other than that I'm batting a thousand.

Pakse

Howdy,

Here's what I think is a possible solution to the question posed:

1. You check in for the flight, there is 1 seat open in F. You are PLT and are now on the top of the waitlist.

2. The waitlist will clear upgrades at 7:45pm.

3. By 7:40pm you are still on top, 2 other PLT's who checked in after you are below you.

4. The flight leaves from K6 in ORD at 8:05.

5. Mr. EXP is in the AC, just as they walk out at 7:40 they ask the agent to upgrade them; she say's - the upgrade list is pretty full sir. Mr. EXP say's, "I'm EXP - will that bump me to the top". She say's, "Let's try...yes Sir - you are at the top of the list, good luck". Mr. EXP thanks her and walks to the gate.

6. Now it's 7:45pm - Mr. EXP is at the gate, collects their new BP and walks on the plane.

I don't know how likely it is, better luck to you next time.

Other than an EXP passenger - who else would/could bump a PLT at the top of the list? All I can think of is EXP, EXP Companion, Air Marshall, Senior AA Exec or VIP.

Any other thoughts? Comments on my theory?

Keep the faith,

Pakse

paul5E

Same here. While the upgrades seem to be clearing closer and closer to flight time I didn't miss one single upgrade that I requested all last year or this year so far using either sticker (free or paid) as well as VIP03's on the ever difficult LAX - LHR route over 158 segments (21 Eagle flights excluded obviously).

Man, am I looking forward to 3/18/04 even if I do have 62 stickers left in my account!!!

Cheers!

JDiver

IMO, part of the problem are the destination, origin, routing, day, time of travel, the aircraft, and other circumestances beyond our control.

Example: I flew SFO-DFW-ZRH on a recent Friday, and though I was wait-listed for an upgrade, no chance! Friday - ugh! The flight was overbooked by 18 people in Y, and volunteers were compensated... J was SOLD (except perhaps for the allocated seats for upgrading with miles, VIPs, etc.) And, there were SEVEN EXP's and two Plats ahead of me on the wait list. (I might have gotten the u/g on a Tuesday, for instance...) I booked pretty much at the last minute, so even as an elite, my seat selection was limited (13G - only worst seat in the house on a 767-323 is 13E, IMO. Ah, well, I got there, survived and had two really great FA's (Billie and Nancy <IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif"> .) Not to mention, I am registered for EUR04 and FLY04.

On a Sunday return, my waitlisted request hand't come through, I "DSR'd" on check-in when the counter opened (there were 3 J seats left...) Two then filled with folks with higher priority or more CHF / dollars than I. In the end, a connecting pax from Mumbay missed the flight, I got upgraded at the last minute (even Group 6 had boarded) to the available seat.

OTOH, I had no trouble upgrading on the SFO - DFW - SFO portions - though the J cabin was full DFW - SFO, the 72 hour period gave me the upper leg on the upgrade. SFO - DFW, there were plenty of seats - the "heavies" fly Friday afternoon, not morning.

If I had really wanted those international upgrades, I'd have called and asked the C/S agent what flights were available for upgrading, and maintained some flexcibitliy - days, and routing, such as SFO - JFK - ZRH as well as via DFW. On the domestic flights, I'd have chosen the low-volume days and times, and programmed the upgrade request into the computer record - I could always CANCEL the request later.

FlyerTalk's frequent-flying folks (F3's? ) can be a great help in figuring all of this out and increasing 1) mile sarned, 2) upgrade percentages, 3) incentives and bonuses, and 4) all kinds of other things.

(I am amazed at some of the loads on those ZRH flights, presumably at shoulder or low season! OTOH, that means, maybe, AA gets to make some bucks and hang around longer.)

[This message has been edited by JDiver (edited Mar 08, 2004).]

nrr

There was an "electronic check-in" terminal right in front of check-in agent, and she requested that I use that in lieu of her checking me in. After I checked in she was going to try to get me into the upgrade system--when I showed her my new boarding pass with seat 3A--she seemed surprised.
[I could be wrong about the two classes of service on flight 33, but flight 10 definitely had only Business and Economy.

AA__Only

It is possible for another GA to take the seat for pax reaccommodation. Mr. Fly-Once-A-Year-and-No-Status could have misconnected or VDB'd. In those cases the GA could actually give him the F seat as an opup. Also competitior airline could have rebooked their pax as an accommodation when AA only showed F for sale. (That's happened to me in reverse: AA booked me on UA flight and was forced to take/pay for F seat as Y was sold out. The UA sign at gate was scrolling a message to their elites that no upgrade space was available.)

andrzej

And why would we want to use them up? After all, we still need them for our companions after 3/18.