Originally Posted by Snaggletooth
Anthony Mule . . . replied that I was only one of a very few who had a problem with upgrading and therefore he felt there was no problem. I got an apology and an assurance that it will be better in the future. . .
That is absolutely ridiculous.
First of all, if there is no problem, what's to get better?
But more importantly, they are too smart to believe that their aggressive sale of first class seats hasn't had a
significant impact on elite upgrades. "Very few having a problem" just isn't reality, for certain on the major business routes during typically heavy business travel times.
I'll bet that YTD
more than 50% of my flights are not available for elite upgrade when the Platinum upgrade window opens. There is frequently one or two seats open, but they're holding on to those "for sale" until some magical time prior to departure. Given that I had in the range of 125K EQM's (elite qualifying miles) last year, I know I'm one of the first to be upgraded and I have never had upgrade problems like I've had since this program took off.
To say that things haven't changed drastically in the elite upgrade arena is just plain insulting and they certainly have the data to prove that to themselves if they cared to look.
HP management should just
admit the truth, which is that they're doing everything possible to keep the airline afloat and the selling of those seats is a key element of the strategy. I don't fault them for that -- I'd probably do exactly the same thing and would have done it long before they did (although very differently). But don't try to pretend there isn't an upgrade issue for elite members.
