Request that those submitting upgrade results w/ PNR (same or different) info, I'm not sure if this has any significance or issues when upgrading the companion, but perhaps we can correlate.
Request that those submitting upgrade results w/ PNR (same or different) info, I'm not sure if this has any significance or issues when upgrading the companion, but perhaps we can correlate.
I believe the companion must be traveling on the same pnr to receive the free upgrade.
Sep 25, 2009 New York, NY - LaGuardia (LGA) Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Sep 14, 2009 Atlanta, GA (ATL) New York, NY - LaGuardia (LGA)
Sep 08, 2009 Atlanta, GA (ATL) Houston-Hobby, TX (HOU)
Aug 16, 2009 Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Atlanta, GA (ATL) with companion
Aug 14, 2009 Atlanta, GA (ATL) Los Angeles, CA (LAX) with companion
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: Hanging onto BAEC(G); HH(D); SPG(G for now); no longer UA M+, WN A-, FL A+ Elite, BD G
Posts: 1,283
Today's flight #327 LGA-MKE: Successful upgrade!
I also just discovered an interesting quirk of the FL website. If you look at your booked flight more than one hour before the flight, you can access the seat map for your flight. As long as you don't close that window, you can refresh the seat map even after the flight has begun (via gogo).
For today's flight, at T - 1:05 the map showed 4 available biz class seats. At T - 0:40 I got my upgrade; a few minutes later I refreshed the seat map and it showed my seat as now occupied. Just prior to boarding, the seat map showed only two empty seats in biz class. On board, I noticed that only one biz class seat was empty; refreshing the seat map showed the same.
I also just discovered an interesting quirk of the FL website. If you look at your booked flight more than one hour before the flight, you can access the seat map for your flight. As long as you don't close that window, you can refresh the seat map even after the flight has begun (via gogo).
For today's flight, at T - 1:05 the map showed 4 available biz class seats. At T - 0:40 I got my upgrade; a few minutes later I refreshed the seat map and it showed my seat as now occupied. Just prior to boarding, the seat map showed only two empty seats in biz class. On board, I noticed that only one biz class seat was empty; refreshing the seat map showed the same.
Go figure I see this post 2 hours after I renewed my KVS subscription. Good to know I'm in Y tomorrow AM!
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: Hanging onto BAEC(G); HH(D); SPG(G for now); no longer UA M+, WN A-, FL A+ Elite, BD G
Posts: 1,283
Morning flight MKE-LGA on Sunday 4 October: successful upgrade!
The plane was less than half full - I sat next to a NRSA who said that the next flight that day was full, with a few standbys on the list 24 hours before the flight.
Programs: AS MVP, WN - A+ (by way of FL), Hertz 5 Star Club Gold, Goldpoints Gold Elite
Posts: 1,773
Didn't make it Wednesday MCO-PIT, flight was completely full, thought it was strange they were still selling Y seats @ $99 a few hours prior.
Didn't make the 1st PIT-ATL flight but did capture it on my ATL-RDU flight (95), saw the manifest and there were 10 or so Elites on the list. Thankfully I was the 2nd one to ask for an upgrade and got my seat preference.
Buddy @ FL said its safer to always ask at the gate podium at the 40 minute mark for the upgrade, as the gal in MCO did put Non-revs in Business while I was still in the exit row.
Buddy @ FL said its safer to always ask at the gate podium at the 40 minute mark for the upgrade, as the gal in MCO did put Non-revs in Business while I was still in the exit row.
I have noticed a lot of inconsistencies with how the elite up program is administered in different airports.
There are cases where I have approached the podium at the 40-minute mark and they already filled the elite ups that had requested it. Other times, I ask ahead of the 40-min mark and am told I'll have to come back up at 40 minutes before. Still other times, I go up and ask, and they have already processed my upgrade and hand me the boarding pass.
So, it's best to ask as early as possible to see what they say.
Still other times, I go up and ask, and they have already processed my upgrade and hand me the boarding pass.
I'm curious - where (which airports) have you had the upgrade processed prior to your request, and do you have a sense of the upgrade priority?
I took a week off from NW/Delta and flew FL this week.
10/5/09 342 MKE to SFO - Checked at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure; no BC available.
10/9/09 343 SFO to MKE - Called the elite line at 12:01am EDT to do the 4 credit upgrade and was told that BC was full.
I am now convinced that my FL travels are best served by short-haul routes where most PAX are too cheap to pay the $49 upgrade fee.
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: Hanging onto BAEC(G); HH(D); SPG(G for now); no longer UA M+, WN A-, FL A+ Elite, BD G
Posts: 1,283
Quote:
Originally Posted by MKE Sam
I'm curious - where (which airports) have you had the upgrade processed prior to your request, and do you have a sense of the upgrade priority?
I took a week off from NW/Delta and flew FL this week.
10/5/09 342 MKE to SFO - Checked at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure; no BC available.
10/9/09 343 SFO to MKE - Called the elite line at 12:01am EDT to do the 4 credit upgrade and was told that BC was full.
I am now convinced that my FL travels are best served by short-haul routes where most PAX are too cheap to pay the $49 upgrade fee.
I have been upgraded prior to asking once for certain, and I think at least one other time. The definite case was for PNS-ATL; the probable case (new BP handed to me 15 seconds after I walked up) was on LGA-ATL.
Replying to Newsmanhoss, I usually walk up to the podium ~45 minutes before boarding to ask when they will be ready to process complementary upgrades. Sometimes I get "come back in 5 minutes", sometimes they are already full, and sometimes they process me right then.
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: Hanging onto BAEC(G); HH(D); SPG(G for now); no longer UA M+, WN A-, FL A+ Elite, BD G
Posts: 1,283
A suggestion for this thread
Sorry to reply to myself, but I keep forgetting to bring this up.
I think it would help those of us trying to predict whether to "gamble" on a complementary upgrade (vs. paying cash or credits) if our posts to this thread would include whether or not Biz class was full on their flight. If I find out from this thread that MKE-LGA often has empty seats in Biz class, I will be more tempted to hope for a complementary upgrade. OTOH, the reports here that MKE-LAS never have free upgrades tells me to plan to pay for biz class on that route.
Does this make sense? If not, don't be afraid to say so!
Sorry to reply to myself, but I keep forgetting to bring this up.
I think it would help those of us trying to predict whether to "gamble" on a complementary upgrade (vs. paying cash or credits) if our posts to this thread would include whether or not Biz class was full on their flight. If I find out from this thread that MKE-LGA often has empty seats in Biz class, I will be more tempted to hope for a complementary upgrade. OTOH, the reports here that MKE-LAS never have free upgrades tells me to plan to pay for biz class on that route.
Does this make sense? If not, don't be afraid to say so!
Makes perfect sense. If you look at my post at the beginning of this thread, I try to post how many seats were occupied. I encourage others to do the same, and some of them have. It's a great tool for people like us.
I'm curious - where (which airports) have you had the upgrade processed prior to your request, and do you have a sense of the upgrade priority?
I took a week off from NW/Delta and flew FL this week.
10/5/09 342 MKE to SFO - Checked at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure; no BC available.
10/9/09 343 SFO to MKE - Called the elite line at 12:01am EDT to do the 4 credit upgrade and was told that BC was full.
I am now convinced that my FL travels are best served by short-haul routes where most PAX are too cheap to pay the $49 upgrade fee.
I used credits on my last MKE-SFO, partially based on your inability to receive a comp upgrade. Incidentally, my wife and I both got free elite-ups on our return flight SFO-MKE, but it was a red-eye.
As for where my elite-ups were processed before I even approached the podium, I don't recall for sure, but I think it happened at MSP, BOS and maybe DEN. Maybe once at MKE, but I dno't know for sure. Remember that all of this is anecdotal, and it there are a lot of variable that determine how it's done...including who is working the gate, how full the flight is, etc.
One other incident...I was at checking in at the counter (at BOS I believe) and the counter agent disputed that FL even offered comp space-available biz class for elites. Apparently she must never work the gate or was not informed of the policy, which started dang near a year ago if I remember correctly. Weird, because I ended up flying in Biz free that day.
Programs: Marriott Gold Elite, Delta Kryptonium Medallion, National Emerald Club
Posts: 1,467
I'll Play Along...
RDU-ATL - Sunday, September 13 - successful - gate agent upgraded without request, flight (including BC) full
ATL-FNT - Tuesday, September 22 - successful - submitted request to gate agent 40 mins prior - seats throughout (including BC) vacant
FNT-ATL - Wednesday, September 23 - unsuccessful - flew standby and was fortunate to get a coach seat, much less BC
ATL-FNT - Monday, October 5 - unsuccessful - submitted request to gate agent 40 mins prior and was told all the upgrades had already been given out, BC was full but main cabin was about 60% capacity, ended up in an exit row with a vacant seat next to me
FNT-ATL - Friday, October 9 - successful - flew standby and was also able to get upgraded about 1 hour prior to boarding. BC was full but the main cabin looked to be less than 50%
I'll be back on the ATL-FNT-ATL next week and I'll let you know what happens there. But I share in the frustration over when you should request the upgrade, particularly after getting beaten out on October 5th. I called the A+ Elite line and the agent told me to approach the gate agent ASAP and that the list is not limited to 40-minutes prior to boarding, despite what I've read on the FL website. Seems that will be my MO from now on. All in all, I've been pretty satisfied with the program.
