? on upgrading on American at the airport

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Ken Litwak - 14 Nov 2008 07:00 GMT

I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not
understand the person on the other end with an strong Indian accent. So,
can someone please explain to me how this upgrade thing would work at
the airport? I understand that I can use money or points. I don't
currently have points but I could buy them, but I don't want to buy them
if I can't use them for an upgrade. Will buying points be as much,
more, or less than buying an upgrade with cash? Thanks.

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Shawn Hirn - 15 Nov 2008 12:16 GMT

> I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
> allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> if I can't use them for an upgrade. Will buying points be as much,
> more, or less than buying an upgrade with cash? Thanks.

It is totally hit or miss. Depends entirely on how heavily booked your
flight is.

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Ken Litwak - 16 Nov 2008 07:39 GMT

>> I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
>> allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> It is totally hit or miss. Depends entirely on how heavily booked your
> flight is.

Thanks. In an effort to get American to tell me more,I called again and
now I'm confused. It sounded like the guy I talked to first said I could
buy an upgrade if a seat was available at the airport. I called again
tonight and was told that my ticket can't be upgraded, so now I don't
even know if an upgrade is technically possible. I bought it directly
from American, so I don't understand not being able to upgrade it. I
don't fly much but have never had this sort of trouble or confusion with
UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the
policy at UAL go to work at AA :-).

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nospam - 16 Nov 2008 17:37 GMT

> Thanks. In an effort to get American to tell me more,I called again and
> now I'm confused. It sounded like the guy I talked to first said I could
> buy an upgrade if a seat was available at the airport. I called again
> tonight and was told that my ticket can't be upgraded, so now I don't
> even know if an upgrade is technically possible.

you might be able to buy an upgrade if there's availability at check-in
time, however, depending on the fare class purchased it may not be
upgradable at all.

> I bought it directly
> from American, so I don't understand not being able to upgrade it. I
> don't fly much but have never had this sort of trouble or confusion with
> UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the
> policy at UAL go to work at AA :-).

since you say you don't fly much, i assume you are not an elite member
(gold, platinum, exec plat). thus, your only options as a non-elite
are to use aadvantage miles or purchase an upgrade at the gate.

for a domestic ticket, it's 15,000 miles to upgrade one way from
discount economy. upgrading at the gate will depend if they have any
unfilled seats after the elite members have been upgraded, so i
wouldn't count on that. or you could cancel the ticket and buy first
or business, if it's that important.

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DevilsPGD - 16 Nov 2008 22:26 GMT

>>> I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
>>> allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the
>policy at UAL go to work at AA :-).

My experience has been that AA is clueless. Not too long ago I was told
by the check-in agent that business was completely empty, but
unfortunately my ticket class didn't allow me to purchase an upgrade.

I went back to the automated check-in machines and was able to purchase
an upgrade for under $100.

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VS - 17 Nov 2008 00:23 GMT

>I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
>allowed to purchase an upgrade.

I find it hard to believe that AA did not have an option for purchasing
a business-class ticket.

Oh, did you want to pay for coach and then ``upgrade'' for less than
the difference between coach and business? Now, why would AA let
you do this? You are not a frequent flier; you chose them because
they were a couple of bucks cheaper than the competition. If AA
lets people like you to ``upgrade,'' how would they ever sell actual
business-class fares?

By the way, Ken, I noticed over the past 10 years that every time you
are fixin' to get on a plane (about once a year), you precede it by
several posts to this newsgroup asking about hotel transportation,
baggage rules, getting this or that freebie that you did not pay
for, etc. What's up with that?

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Ken Litwak - 17 Nov 2008 05:37 GMT

>> I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
>> allowed to purchase an upgrade.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> baggage rules, getting this or that freebie that you did not pay
> for, etc. What's up with that?

A. I'm in AA's Frequent Flyer program but because I usually only fly
once per year and didn't last year because the annual conference I
attend was within driving distance, AA deleted all my points.
B. I'm not sure where you come up with the "Freebie" thing? I didn't
ask, "How can I upgrade for free?" You ought to speak to what I
actually ask. What freebie did I ever ask for, so what's up with your
question? Oh, sorry, trying to figure out how to fly coach and yet be
able to appear professional at an interview is a terrible thing to ask
about. Still, why do you even care? It's not like I post spam to this
newsgroup and you can ignore anything that I ask, rather than waste my
time. Since airlines regularly sell upgrade certificates to people who
bought coach tickers, your assertion makes no sense to me whatsoever.
C. I don't travel much and it seems that between each trip, lots of
things change and I don't find airline web site terribly useful in
learning what I need to know and they are obviously not going to be
helpful about things like getting from the airport to my destination. I
lack the visual acuity that most people have for navigating around, so I
at times try to find out before I go somewhere that I don't know info in
order to navigate where I'm going more effectively and yes,
economically, since I pay for the whole thing myself.
D. Let's see. I looked at a few major airlines to find a flight at the
_time_ I needed, irrespective of price. UAL's flight was sold out or I
would have gone with them. AA's light was not. The only price decision
I made was whether to have a refundable ticket or not. Well excuse me
for that.
E. Many participants in this newsgroup seem to travel a lot and
therefore likely know more about how TSA interprets its own rules, how
to accomplish specific things that are variable based upon flights
attendants, issues where an airline's staff seems to not be very
knowledgeable, etc. Knowing what the situation is before I go on a trip
simply saves me time. How would you have me find these things out? The
hard way? That would be stupid.

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nospam - 17 Nov 2008 05:58 GMT

> A. I'm in AA's Frequent Flyer program but because I usually only fly
> once per year and didn't last year because the annual conference I
> attend was within driving distance, AA deleted all my points.

like many airlines, after 18 months of inactivity your miles will
expire, however, they can be reinstated for a fee.

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VS - 17 Nov 2008 19:53 GMT

>You ought to speak to what I actually ask.

Ok. You asked how to get into business class on AA.
Answer: buy a business-class ticket.

>Oh, sorry, trying to figure out how to fly coach

On the contrary, you are trying to figure out how to *not* fly coach,
yet you seem unwilling to pay the fare difference. What's up with that?

>Since airlines regularly sell upgrade certificates to people who
>bought coach tickers

Which airlines would that be? I've never heard of AA (or any
other major airline, for that matter) regularly selling ``upgrade
certificates'' to once-a-year coach travelers.

>I don't travel much and it seems that between each trip, lots of
>things change

What do you think changed since your last trip? You think the airlines
started selling ``upgrade certificates'' to people like you, or flight
attendants started hanging coach passengers' suits?

Ken, I am curious. At this interview of yours, are you planning to
answer questions, or just explode with irrelevant verbiage like you
did here? If you are, in fact, capable of answering questions, then
riddle me this:

Why on earth would AA sell an ``upgrade certificate'' to someone like
you, and how would they ever sell actual business-class fares if any
coach passenger could buy an upgrade certificate instead?

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Jim Watkins - 18 Nov 2008 04:48 GMT

I have to agree that the web site for AA is not very helpful in
explaining how upgrade certificates work, although the necessary
information is there if you look hard enough.

The confusion arises, I believe, because you are invited at the
advantage site to buy upgrade certificates that you are not likely to
be able to use. The use of an upgrade certificate is limited to
passengers holding a full fare refundable ticket. Most discounted
fares (which most of us non-business travelers use, that is, those of
us paying for our own ticket and with the ability to plan more than
than three weeks ahead) are not eligible for upgrade. When you view
the reservation for a discounted ticket, the column headed "Request
Upgrade?" will show N/A (not available).

If you go to the page from there "View Upgrade Rules" it explains that
only a Y or B grade ticket is upgradable.

Of course, people do sometimes get upgraded for free if a flight is
overbooked in coach, there are seats available in business and no one
has paid for an upgrade. Of course, at that point, they upgrade the
platinum plus and platinum frequent fliers first, who will already
have left their name on a list for the upgrades.

Only once have I been offered a free upgrade, after, as a doctor I
volunteered to help a sick passenger and was of minimal assistance. I
declined, as there was only one seat and thought it better for my
marriage to stay in coach with my wife. Once in flight, changing
cabin arrangements is very rare, but at the discretion of the flight
crew. Sometimes returning war soldiers are upgraded first.

I have flown first and business a few times and it is very nice, but
except on the longest flights, rarely worth the money, in my opinion.

I expect that your interview will be fine and that any serious
interviewer will be able to take into account your travel and the fact
that you were willing to undertake it. Good luck!

>>You ought to speak to what I actually ask.
>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> you, and how would they ever sell actual business-class fares if any
> coach passenger could buy an upgrade certificate instead?

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Travel Forum / Travel Types / Air Travel / November 2008

? on upgrading on American at the airport