Upgrade Clarification – US Preferreds on AA

Letter from Suzanne Rubin seeks to clarify upgrades for US Chairman Preferred members.

Below is a copy of the email which I received from Suzanne Rubin, President of the American Airlines AAdvantage Program, this evening. I appreciate her taking the time to write in an attempt to clarify of one of the ‘most important of preferred benefits’ – upgrades.

Basically, how I read this about their upgrade policy, is that as a US Airways Chairman’s Preferred flying on American metal, I can request to be added to the upgrade list at check-in for my flight.  This means that, in contrast to the US Airways policy of upgrading Chairman Preferred members up to 7 days prior to the flight, I will only be allowed to request an upgrade at the 24 hour mark.

With US Airways, If no upgrade is available, the next sweep is at 4 days. In the event that an upgrade is not processed at that point, upgrade availability is checked right up until checkin if need be. Upgrades are prioritized depending on Preferred Level

.I like that she says the Company is going to be working on a long term solution for this.  I just hope that the solution involves a shift more towards the current US Airways policy. Some years ago, US Airways had a similar program to the current AAdvantage program with regards to preferred benefits, including the 500 mile sticker system. Management decided that system simply didn’t work with their vision for the airline and did away with that (500 mile) system. That is one thing I certainly hope is not going to be included in the ‘long term solution’ of which she speaks.

At any rate, I am sure they are working long and hard on this. I am so far pretty impressed with the relative seamlessness of this merger (unions not necessarily included) overall. I just hope that there is an equitible merger of the frequent flyer programs…and that loyal US preferreds don’t lose the benefits that help sustain that loyalty.

The American Upgrade Policy can be found here.

The US Airways Upgrade Policy is here.

What are your thoughts on the upgrade policy? 

Letter Follows:

In June, we began offering you the option to upgrade at the time of check-in when flying on American flights. We’ve received a lot of questions, and we want to take a moment to clarify the upgrade process. We know upgrades are one of the most important Preferred benefits, and we want to be sure you receive one when it’s available.While our current technology does not allow us to add you to the American standby list, you still have two ways to check for an upgrade on American:Upgrade at check-in If an upgrade is available, you’ll see the option when you check in on aa.com or at an American airport kiosk Upgrades on American are available on flights within and between the U.S. (including Hawaii), Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central America For the best chance of getting upgraded, we recommend you are the only passenger in your reservation Upgrade after check-in From time-to-time, an upgrade may become available after check-in. You can go to aa.com and enter your American record locator to see if an upgrade has become available any time before boarding your flight And don’t forget, as a Chairman’s Preferred member, you’ll receive these upgrades complimentary – just as they are on American today for AAdvantage® Executive Platinum members. We hope you have the opportunity to enjoy this benefit as we continue to work toward a long-term solution. And we’ll continue to keep you updated as we work toward a single loyalty program in 2015. Learn more about upgrades on American » Thank you for flying with us.

Regards,

Suzanne L. Rubin President AAdvantage Loyalty Program