This is the first time this has happened to me and I am wondering how it could have.

I was booked on AC148 YVR-YYZ on January 31st. I was on an H fare and had called Monday the 25th to confirm my upgrade and be confirmed in seat 4A.

I ended up staying at the Fairmont at YVR on thursday night. Friday morning when returning from a meeting I thought I would check in and get my boarding pass. I inserted my aeroplan card and my reservation came up as assigned seat 4A. I went to check one piece and found out it was not possible so I had to go to the agents.

I cancelled the transaction and took my card back. When I checked in, my seat came up as GTE. The agent had no idea why and said I would get my seat at the gate but that I had previously been assigned 4A.

The gate was no help and I was bumped out of J class with what I thought was a confirmed upgrade. There was no change of aircraft either.

They rebooked me on 1144 which I took later that afternoon. A manager met me in the lounge and said that I never had a confirmed seat and that a J fare passenger travelling on a deleyed flight from HNL took my seat. He had not explanation as to why I would have been able to print a boarding pass earlier. I guess I should have printed it and then got the bag checked later.

I don't understand how I could get bumped from a confirmed upgrade. What is the point in calling if you can't confirm it or buying the more expensive upgradeable fares anyway?

I will seek some sort of compensation. The last excuse I was given was that it must be a system problem. Of course, isn't it always!!!

An AC system or just some random system somewhere? Probably the latter.

I am assuming a random error since I haven't heard of this happening before. The only instances where I have seen this is when there is an aircraft change which didn't happen.

I have never had such a horror story happen to me. AC has always honoured it commitment to me when I have requested upgrades. Still this seems like a break of contract to you and I would think you should take appropriate action.

Pretty creative crap from the manager:

31JAN04
AC034 HNL YVR
Scheduled Departure: 01:30
Actual Depature: 01:31
Scheduled Arrival: 09:00
Actual Arrival: 08:53

31JAN04
AC044 HNL YVR
Scheduled Departure: 14:00
Actual Depature: 13:59
Scheduled Arrival: 21:30
Actual Arrival: 21:31

31JAN04
AC048 HNL YVR
Scheduled Departure: 22:00
Actual Depature: 21:48
Scheduled Arrival: 05:30
Actual Arrival: 05:24

Btw, there was an aircraft change for AC148 on 31JAN04. It was operated with a B762 instead of the originally scheduled A330.

So 42J on the A330 -> 36J on the B762.

Thanks Empress. I was travelling on the 30th which was a 330. I watched it leave the gate on my way back to the lounge. An aircraft change I could have understood but I didn't know how it would have happened without one.

The gate agent probably reversed your upgrade to accomodate a nonrev passenger.

or a crew member

Once, my HNL-YVR was delayed which meant I would miss my YVR-YYZ flight. Before departure I arranged for confirmed J seating (with an U/G) on the next available flight. I also arranged for a concierge to meet me in YVR. When I arrived, there was no concierge. The flight I had arranged protection on was cancelled and AC had not provided me with protection on any other flight. The agent refused to provide me with a hotel and provided me with a middle seat on the red eye Tango. AC subsequently offered specific compensation, however, I am still waiting for it.

It was changed before I got to the gate. At check in.

Taupo, I was so pissed I asked the gate agent if I could go onto the plan to make sure there were no deadheaders!! Obviously they didn't comply.

In the industry AC was/is known as being very cheap with putting staff in J. After the merger when AC staff were flying on a pass they would hope the gate agent was ex-CP, since CP was far more liberal in upgrading employees.

Similarly a friend who works for United told me that they upgrade their employees far more than AC does.