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
New Elite Upgrade Procedure?
Today, when I went up to the GA to ask for a complementary upgrade (right at 40 minutes before scheduled departure), the GA noted my name and said he would call me up shortly. Two minutes later, he goes on the PA and announces "Elite passenger HPN-HRL, please come up to the podium". I went up, picked up my upgraded BP. The GA apologised for the announcement (actually, for having to identify me by name as an elite), but he said that he was following the new procedure for upgrades.
Right now, I'm waiting in ATL for my connecting flight. At ~85 minutes before scheduled departure, the GA here announced that the incoming flight to the gate would arrive soon and boarding would begin shortly thereafter. I took that as a cue to ask about a complementary upgrade for this flight; when I got to the podium, I prefaced my question with an acknowledgement that I knew it was too early to normally request an upgrade, but that her early announcement made me wonder. She took my BP, wrote the number "1" on it, and kept it, saying she would call me up once she knew whether or not it would clear. Since then, she has made one "business class up-sell" announcement.
I will edit this post once I know my upgrade outcome...
At T-42 minutes, the GA made a second "business class up-sell" announcement, then called me up a minute later & gave me my upgrade.
Programs: AA Platinum; AirTran Elite; Choice Privileges Diamond
Posts: 157
I think there has, indeed, been a change. On their web site I now see something that I don't remember seeing there before:
"How is Elite upgrade priority determined?
If there are more Elites waiting for upgrades than there are Business Class seats available, the gate agent will assign upgrades according to the order of check-in. The earliest Elite member to check in will receive the first available Business Class upgrade."
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 Drummer
I think there has, indeed, been a change. On their web site I now see something that I don't remember seeing there before:
"How is Elite upgrade priority determined?
If there are more Elites waiting for upgrades than there are Business Class seats available, the gate agent will assign upgrades according to the order of check-in. The earliest Elite member to check in will receive the first available Business Class upgrade."
I saw that as well.
My next question: does "the order of check-in" mean the order of check-in via online means or the order in which elite passengers present themselves to the gate to be upgraded?
My next question: does "the order of check-in" mean the order of check-in via online means or the order in which elite passengers present themselves to the gate to be upgraded?
If anyone learns anything about what "check-in" means, let us know. Is it:
The order that elites actually "checked in for the flight"?
or
The order of elites who approached the GA to request an upgrade?
If it's the first answer, that would certainly make the whole process more fair and predictable.
I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.
If anyone learns anything about what "check-in" means, let us know. Is it:
The order that elites actually "checked in for the flight"?
or
The order of elites who approached the GA to request an upgrade?
If it's the first answer, that would certainly make the whole process more fair and predictable.
I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.
I called to ask, and as expected check-in means when you first check in for your flight online, at a kiosk, at the ticket counter, etc. I guess they don't have a second definition of 'check-in' that means 'bugging the gate agent for an upgrade'. The airtran web site even says not to approach gate agents prior to 40 minutes before departure to ask for upgrades.
The elite upgrades are applied inconsistently station to station. Perhaps in the future this system could be automated to avoid having to approach the podium and ask during a specified period of time - seems easy enough to implement.
I called to ask, and as expected check-in means when you first check in for your flight online, at a kiosk, at the ticket counter, etc. I guess they don't have a second definition of 'check-in' that means 'bugging the gate agent for an upgrade'. The airtran web site even says not to approach gate agents prior to 40 minutes before departure to ask for upgrades.
Interesting. That would certainly make things a lot more predictable. I guess elites will now try to check-in right at the 24-hour mark.
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
Interesting. That would certainly make things a lot more predictable. I guess elites will now try to check-in right at the 24-hour mark.
...Just like those of us who fly Southwest, checking in online as close to T-24 as possible in order to snag an "A" boarding pass!
For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.
...Just like those of us who fly Southwest, checking in online as close to T-24 as possible in order to snag an "A" boarding pass!
For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.
Interesting. I wonder if FL will ever get to the point where they do confirmed elite upgrades in advance automatically, kind of like the legacies do. I reckon not, since they only do the free upgrades once they are sure they won't be selling any.
For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.
Perhaps PAX 1 and 2 were not elite upgrade eligible.
I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.
I'm looking forward to your mid-November report as I will soon return to FL for my MKE to SFO commutes - I can sleep in a bit later on Monday mornings and avoid MSP connections during the de-icing season (I've even booked some itins with an FL outbound Monday and a WN return on Thursday via LAS).
I will consider my most recent NW/DL experiment a draw at best. I’ve never found connecting through MSP on NW/DL to be particularly enjoyable, and it's all the more challenging with the current runway construction. My only upgrades were from taking a voluntary bump (both segments upgraded) and IROPS (MSP to SFO upgraded). Elite upgrades have been difficult due to several factors; FTers who read the DL board no doubt are aware of PL saturation due to excessive MQM give-aways, the combination of elites from two programs, and the legacy program "end of year" effect. The standard joke when boarding is that it would be faster to load the non-elites immediately after F because there are so few of them.
My own experience recently has been divided. Sometimes they call my name automatically, sometimes I have to go up at 40 min prior and request. If there is a new routine not all GAs know about it. At any rate I haven't had any problems getting an upgrade 90% of the time, and I don't rush to check-in at the 24-hour mark. Actually, I'm good if it's 12-hours before.
Usually if there are 6 or more unsold BC seats when I check-in I'm 100%. If there are 4 unsold I'm 50%. And if there are fewer than 4 I'd better buy an upgrade or I'm pretty much guaranteed to be sitting in coach.
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.
