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Answers (11)

Why does American do this?

Why does American do this?

  1. Anonymous Guest

    I’m an EXP with American, and I’m on a flight to Jacksonville tomorrow. I was eligible for an upgrade 100 hours out, but it has yet to clear.

    I know that pulling up the seat map for a flight isn’t necessarily a good indication of actual inventory, but when I look, I see 8 empty seats in F. When I do a dummy booking, AA will allow me to book 6 seats in F, which is the max amount of seats you can book on one query. Furthermore, the fare box says that there are 7 seats left. Any way you cut it, there appears to be empty seats in F on my flight going out tomorrow. Systemwide Upgrade inventory is also available.

    This happens all the time it seems, and I’m certain that by departure, my upgrade will indeed clear, but I find this very frustrating. Ideally I’d like to be able to pre-book my meal, but if my upgrade clears within 24 hours that won’t be an option.

    Why does American do this. The F cabin is quite obviously half empty, but they don’t seem to want to clear me. Are they expecting a bunch of high value customers to book paid F tickets to Jacksonville at the last minute? Is there a reason that American does this so often?

    Thanks, Lucky (and team)!

  2. yaboobie Member

    They probably won’t clear you If they still have a chance to sell the tickets, AA has definitely taken a turn for the worst.

  3. David W Community Ambassador

    I think there has to be upgrade space available at the 100 hours out mark for it to be auto-upgraded. Otherwise, you’d have to wait. I’m not sure of SWU upgrades are from teh same fare bucket but if theyre available that way, call and see of an AAgent can upgrade you. Otherwise its just waiting.

  4. OCTinPHL Diamond

    [QUOTE=”BigJinLA, post: 63150″]I’m an EXP with American, and I’m on a flight to Jacksonville tomorrow. I was eligible for an upgrade 100 hours out, but it has yet to clear.
    […]
    Why does American do this. The F cabin is quite obviously half empty, but they don’t seem to want to clear me. Are they expecting a bunch of high value customers to book paid F tickets to Jacksonville at the last minute? Is there a reason that American does this so often?

    Thanks, Lucky (and team)![/QUOTE]

    From where are you flying? For routes in demand my anecdotal experience is that upgrades rarely clear at 100 hours, unless for some reason there is SWU availability (but not always then – as David says, they come from different buckets).

    FWIW, PHL to SFO or LAX rarely clear before being passed to airport control, unless it is one the middle flights of the day. The early westbound flights and the afternoon one with European connections often don’t clear until the airport. The late morning and the evening flight west often do clear, but rarely before 24 hours. Whereas my upcoming PHL to RDU cleared at 100, and the return flight actually cleared at 102 hours!

    To/from DFW or NYC to just about any major city are in major demand, and often will not clear at 100.

  5. chesterwilson Member

    [QUOTE=”BigJinLA, post: 63150″]I’m an EXP with American, and I’m on a flight to Jacksonville tomorrow. I was eligible for an upgrade 100 hours out, but it has yet to clear.

    I know that pulling up the seat map for a flight isn’t necessarily a good indication of actual inventory, but when I look, I see 8 empty seats in F. When I do a dummy booking, AA will allow me to book 6 seats in F, which is the max amount of seats you can book on one query. Furthermore, the fare box says that there are 7 seats left. Any way you cut it, there appears to be empty seats in F on my flight going out tomorrow. Systemwide Upgrade inventory is also available.

    This happens all the time it seems, and I’m certain that by departure, my upgrade will indeed clear, but I find this very frustrating. Ideally I’d like to be able to pre-book my meal, but if my upgrade clears within 24 hours that won’t be an option.

    Why does American do this. The F cabin is quite obviously half empty, but they don’t seem to want to clear me. Are they expecting a bunch of high value customers to book paid F tickets to Jacksonville at the last minute? Is there a reason that American does this so often?

    Thanks, Lucky (and team)![/QUOTE]

    The flip side is that it’s frustrating for people who are booked in first class and have zero flexibility to do same day changes because of upgrades. I’ve run into that issue a few times already for my family.

  6. OCTinPHL Diamond

    [QUOTE=”chesterwilson, post: 63205, member: 1963″]The flip side is that it’s frustrating for people who are booked in first class and have zero flexibility to do same day changes because of upgrades. I’ve run into that issue a few times already for my family.[/QUOTE]

    That is a legitimate gripe. Which is why I often find that AA will keep one First seat open until about 90 – 60 minutes before departure. Not always, and it really depends on one the route.

  7. Donna Diamond

    I’ve been an EXP for the past three years with $25,000 EQD spend and I’ve only cleared 100 hours once. FWIW I mostly fly through SAN, ORD and PHL.

  8. Rob in Miami Member

    To add another perspective- I am EXP for past 4 years with about 18K EQDs. I fly every other weekend MIA-LGA and seem to get upgraded each time at 100 hours or so. In 2018 it was a MIA-CUN flight and would always get upgraded 100 hours beforehand.
    And, would like to thank Lucky on his suggestion for the Asian Vegetarian – my new go-to choice for entree.

  9. OCTinPHL Diamond

    [QUOTE=”Rob in Miami, post: 63263, member: 1690″]
    And, would like to thank Lucky on his suggestion for the Asian Vegetarian – my new go-to choice for entree.[/QUOTE]

    Ditto on the Asian Vegetarian. Someone else mentioned the diabetic was good as well – I agree. Both are better than the average domestic offering.

  10. Jerry Diamond

    So to recap, my upgrade did indeed clear about 30 hours out, so I guess that’s good. I get AA’s reluctance to upgrade people 100 hours out on higher yield routes, but a late night flight from DFW to JAX just doesn’t seem like one of those. In fact, IIRC, one seat may have even gone out empty in F.

    It just bugs me, but I guess I shouldn’t complain if I’m clearing. Oddly though, Asian Veg wasn’t a choice on this flight. All I was able to prebook were the two meals or a cheese plate. My chicken was predictably disgusting.

  11. Rob in Miami Member

    That is a different slant to AA than mine. I find it amazing that they give me an upgrade 100 hours or so before a flight on the last seats. I have very wealthy friends who only live spur of the moment and always book first class…. therefore they find no inventory. I am happy of course for this reversal of things.

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