Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: CO 1Pass since '88, WN RR, FL A+ Elite, UA M+ 2P, HH (D), BD*G
Posts: 490
Quote:
Originally Posted by newsmanhoss
This sounds about right for these flights since they are not long-haul.
It's always a lot tougher to score the upgrades on flights to the west coast. I try to use 4 credits the day before to upgrade those. Sometimes I pay the $20 for exit row instead.
No kidding about scoring West Coast upgrades, especially from ATL!
When the "free upgrades for Elites at 40 minutes" began, I usually spent credits on connecting tickets and either paid $ or hoped for a free upgrade on nonstop flights. Now that I've had some experience with the process, I often decide to hope for a free upgrade on connecting East Coast flights (e.g. HPN or LGA - ATL - Florida) as well as on the nonstops that I usually fly (HPN-ATL, HPN-MCO, LGA-MKE), only using credits to upgrade on flights to PHX and points West. As a result, my A+ credit balance has gone up, and the $ I've saved from free upgrades is rapidly approaching the $ I spent doing a credit run to qualify for Elite status a couple of years ago.
Well, I flew MKE-MCO and MCO-MKE this weekend and my experience is inconclusive.
At MKE on Friday, I approached the counter at 40 min. prior and get the upgrades me for and my wife. No numbering of boarding passes or anything like that.
On the return trip, it didn't matter, because biz class checked in full. Good for FL for selling all those seats either through upgrades, A+credits, or actual business class tickets.
My upcoming trips are on NW/DL and YX, so I don't think I'll be trying the upgrade process again until December.
Programs: air tran, US Air, United, Continental, American, Delta
Posts: 2
Upgrade changes
With elite status, my free upgrades have been about 75%. I fly two leg round trips, outbound Sunday/Monday, return Thursday night/Friday morning, generally 2 or 3 times per month, so am hitting peak times. One of the gate agents at an airport I fly out of frequently told me 3 weeks ago that AirTran has become 'more strict' about waiting until 40 minutes before flight time to assign free upgrades. However, I generally inquire at the ticket counter when checking bags about seats available in business class for both legs of the flight. If the free upgrade looks unlikely, I ask about exit rows (which they will assign for free at that point). If there are only a couple of business seats left and I'm tired, I often spring for the upgrade cost.
