American Airlines - First Class upgrades

[Pbucking]

First world problems....

So...this year...I have flown 21 times with American Airlines. Each and every time I get to the boarding area mayhem...I look at the board for "upgrades".

Not once...in 21 times (since June'24) have I struck lucky.

S have deduced....my Qantas Platinum...One world Emerald...would appear to count for zero.

I kind of get it...AA will always upgrade their own in lieu of QF...but just thought I'd share this....in case any one thinks they'll get an AA upgrade due to anything to do with Oneworld or QF...

I will state...I've been moved to the exit row twice..

Anyone had any better luck...or know how to score a freebie AA First upgrade ?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Upgrades on AA are not a perk of being a Qantas elite. You need to be an AA elite for that. If you want an upgrade you need to look at the app for paid upgrade offers.

 

[Princess Fiona]

First world problems....

So...this year...I have flown 21 times with American Airlines. Each and every time I get to the boarding area mayhem...I look at the board for "upgrades".

Not once...in 21 times (since June'24) have I struck lucky.

S have deduced....my Qantas Platinum...One world Emerald...would appear to count for zero.

I kind of get it...AA will always upgrade their own in lieu of QF...but just thought I'd share this....in case any one thinks they'll get an AA upgrade due to anything to do with Oneworld or QF...

I will state...I've been moved to the exit row twice..

Anyone had any better luck...or know how to score a freebie AA First upgrade ?

You can ask to be added to the list as a OW elite. Relatively new thing but the angels at the lounge should know how to do it.
If you aren’t on the list then there is zero chance.

 

[elanshin]

First world problems....

So...this year...I have flown 21 times with American Airlines. Each and every time I get to the boarding area mayhem...I look at the board for "upgrades".

Not once...in 21 times (since June'24) have I struck lucky.

S have deduced....my Qantas Platinum...One world Emerald...would appear to count for zero.

I kind of get it...AA will always upgrade their own in lieu of QF...but just thought I'd share this....in case any one thinks they'll get an AA upgrade due to anything to do with Oneworld or QF...

I will state...I've been moved to the exit row twice..

Anyone had any better luck...or know how to score a freebie AA First upgrade ?

I got upgraded on LGA > YVR in my only non J flight on AA.

Although i think they had a very empty First cabin.

 

[drron]

Well I was an AA elite for many years though only EXP for 2 years. Used to fly via Japan to the USA. The Japan USA flight was on AA. I never missed an upgrade to F on at least 20 flights including being upgraded to F from a J award flight.
It's very true. AA looks after their elites very well.

 

[Pbucking]

Well now....here I am in Heathrow...having booked a points flight through QF on BA..and low and behold....BA boarding pass says "enjoy your upgrade"

Now..LHR to MAN is short...and we all know that BA "business" is just economy sans the middle seat...but this is a 100% hit rate on upgrades with BA....compared to 0% with AA after 21 attempts.

Hear hear...and bravo BA...maybe OW Emerald does mean something after all...

Now..I have to head to the US again in Feb...maybe I'll go Star Alliance this time (thanks VA for the QF platinum "like for like"), because I won't score anything with AA..based on my last 21 flights....

I will let all know...

 

[Lynda2475]

VA isn't part of Star Alliance so don't think it will help you at all with US upgrades.

US domestic J on AA is pretty cheap, just book it outright direct with AA (or other carrier) if important to you.

 

[serfty]

What I have done with mixed success this year is to book directly with AA and use my no status AAdvantage number. I would not select a seat at this stage. I would not book "Basic".

I targeted flights with cheap "First" availability (low loadings).

Generally after ticketing, I would be offered lower cost upgrades. Some were simply the fare difference, others much reduced. Best was TUL-LAX for USD70.

If no useful offer happened I would later swap to my QFF Platinum number to enable better oneworld benefits.

 

[moa999]

can ask to be added to the list as a OW elite.

What's the priority vav AA elites?

 

[Daver6]

You can ask to be added to the list as a OW elite. Relatively new thing but the angels at the lounge should know how to do it.
If you aren’t on the list then there is zero chance.

I'd imagine you could do this at the check-in counter too? Do you just ask to be added to the upgrade list or is there some secret code (specific wording) one should use?

 

[Princess Fiona]

I'd imagine you could do this at the check-in counter too? Do you just ask to be added to the upgrade list or is there some secret code (specific wording) one should use?

Don’t know about check in but I would say yes it’s possible. You are asking for an “UPP”. That’s what the agent needs to look for.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

What I have done with mixed success this year is to book directly with AA and use my no status AAdvantage number. I would not select a seat at this stage. I would not book "Basic".

I targeted flights with cheap "First" availability (low loadings).

Generally after ticketing, I would be offered lower cost upgrades. Some were simply the fare difference, others much reduced. Best was TUL-LAX for USD70.

If no useful offer happened I would later swap to my QFF Platinum number to enable better oneworld benefits.

These upgrades are available through the AA app even with your QF platinum number in it. Just download the AA app and add the itinerary via the reference number into the app

 

[Gold Member]

What I have done with mixed success this year is to book directly with AA and use my no status AAdvantage number. I would not select a seat at this stage. I would not book "Basic".

I targeted flights with cheap "First" availability (low loadings).

I can understand not booking Basic fares and targeting flights with low forward First loadings etc. But what is the rationale behind entering non-status AA FF# and no seat selection? Do you know from experience that the automated upgrade offer system works differently with and without status, or were you just trying different things to test the system?

The airlines will have setup loads of parameters with different thresholds, conditions and triggers according to their own unique commercial models to extract as much revenue as possible. These would differ tremendously on variables like routing, time of day, day of week, First cabin load curve up to departure, bid upgrade offers, number of status flyers, among many others. I don’t think we’ll ever find a magic bullet approach to score that cheap UPP offer because it’s never a one size fits all approach. But there are certainly some tricks you can apply in the right circumstances that often work in your favour.

 

[SYD]

These upgrades are available through the AA app even with your QF platinum number in it. Just download the AA app and add the itinerary via the reference number into the app

That’s been my understanding. BA is the same.

I didn’t know about requesting “UPP” to get added to the list but I’m usually just paying for F where there’s a good / cheap fare.

 

[Daver6]

These upgrades are available through the AA app even with your QF platinum number in it. Just download the AA app and add the itinerary via the reference number into the app

I can't see anywhere in the app to add myself to the upgrade list. Can you share more details please?

 

[serfty]

I can understand not booking Basic fares and targeting flights with low forward First loadings etc. But what is the rationale behind entering non-status AA FF# and no seat selection? Do you know from experience that the automated upgrade offer system works differently with and without status, or were you just trying different things to test the system?

The airlines will have setup loads of parameters with different thresholds, conditions and triggers according to their own unique commercial models to extract as much revenue as possible. These would differ tremendously on variables like routing, time of day, day of week, First cabin load curve up to departure, bid upgrade offers, number of status flyers, among many others. I don’t think we’ll ever find a magic bullet approach to score that cheap UPP offer because it’s never a one size fits all approach. But there are certainly some tricks you can apply in the right circumstances that often work in your favour.

I tried with QFF number in booking several times but no realistic offer occurred.

There was more success with AAdvantage number.

I did do some research using anecdotes on FlyerTalk.

 

[cove]

We did AA Miles in their promo at Thanks Giving for family Christmas presents.
I had a problem in AA first where my seat would not power up my Resmed sleep machine so we are back flying with Singapore Air. That was on AA72 going to LAX.