Automatic Upgrades Still Broken
Apr 22, 2015, 9:57 am
#121
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: AS 75K, BW Plat, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 10,724
) but pushed the upgrade without objection (^). Sorry to any 75Ks I leapfrogged.
Apr 22, 2015, 10:11 am
#122
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,641
Apr 22, 2015, 10:48 am
#124
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,641
Expert flyer has the advantage of setting alerts for U inventory that will email you when U0 becomes > U1. You can also check U inventory by making a dummy booking on Alaska website and choosing MVPG or similar upgrade preference, and looking for upgrade eligible flights. So EF is not required for monitoring U space, but it does make it easier in some cases.
Apr 22, 2015, 11:02 am
#126
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
GDS stands for "Global Distribution System," a catch-all term used for software designed for agents to use for booking hotels, cars, tours and other travel-related services in addition to airline tickets. A GDS serves as an intermediary between a travel agent or customer service representative and a myriad of travel products.
Sabre is one of several GDS systems. Apollo and Amadeus are a couple of others. Back when I went through Sabre training it was a cumbersome, ugly, DOS-based coding system that was not intuitive. For that reason, many agents-in-training quipped that GDS stood for "G-d Damned (piece of) ....."
I've been out of the field now for many years, but from what I hear from my friends who still own agencies, the Sabre GDS remains antiquated.
Apr 22, 2015, 5:36 pm
#128
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: AA (PPro/3MM/Admirals Club), AS, UA, Marriott (Gold), HHonors (Gold), Accor (Plat)
Posts: 2,602
Apr 22, 2015, 8:17 pm
#130
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: All over
Programs: MR, HH, DL, ALK
Posts: 136
Gold MVP Upgrades continue not to clear
Had to call again tonight as I was hawking a couple flights purchased a month ago with a gold upgrade fare (H class) and finally saw the U space available at purchase. Bogus! Should have auto-cleared whenever that became available. This same lack of Gold MVP upgrade happened approximately one month ago as well.
The Alaska elite line rep I spoke with didn't know anything about the issue and even after I insisted that she forward to the appropriate technical or customer care folks, I'm not sure she did.
It is NOT a passenger's responsibility to constantly re-check for upgrade space when upgrades should clear. Many folks in this forum have said "good job for checking," and sure that's right, but it isn't our job to have to check and re-check or pay for a monitoring service.
As a DL DM member, upgrades can be frustrating, but at least I can count on the system working correctly 99.99% of the time. My Alaska Gold 75K experience with upgrades has been tumultuous at best.
The Alaska elite line rep I spoke with didn't know anything about the issue and even after I insisted that she forward to the appropriate technical or customer care folks, I'm not sure she did.
It is NOT a passenger's responsibility to constantly re-check for upgrade space when upgrades should clear. Many folks in this forum have said "good job for checking," and sure that's right, but it isn't our job to have to check and re-check or pay for a monitoring service.
As a DL DM member, upgrades can be frustrating, but at least I can count on the system working correctly 99.99% of the time. My Alaska Gold 75K experience with upgrades has been tumultuous at best.
Apr 25, 2015, 8:34 am
#131
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Programs: Alaska Gold 100k
Posts: 959
I am constantly running into this now. I have PDX/DFW Monday AM and it shows 7 empty F seats. But as a gold I am not yet upgraded - two days out. This has happened frequently of late on other flights and I have even noticed empty seats a few hours before the flight and when I call in, I am told they are now trying to "sell first class seats up until the last minute". Is this a new rule?
Apr 25, 2015, 8:59 am
#132
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 759
Remember a couple things:
1. It's not number of empty seats that matter, it's how many are for sale
2. And even if they're genuinely available, it's U space rather than number of empty seats - if there isn't an U space available, what people are describing in this thread doesn't apply.
In this thread, people are saying there is U space and they're in the appropriate window for an upgrade (since U space is a prerequisite to be upgraded) but they're not getting it. You're saying you're in the upgrade window but haven't provided any supporting evidence to indicate it's the same problem.
1. It's not number of empty seats that matter, it's how many are for sale
2. And even if they're genuinely available, it's U space rather than number of empty seats - if there isn't an U space available, what people are describing in this thread doesn't apply.
In this thread, people are saying there is U space and they're in the appropriate window for an upgrade (since U space is a prerequisite to be upgraded) but they're not getting it. You're saying you're in the upgrade window but haven't provided any supporting evidence to indicate it's the same problem.
Apr 25, 2015, 10:38 am
#133
Join Date: May 2006
Location: TUS/PDX
Programs: WN CP/A-List, AS MVPG75K
Posts: 5,798
I am constantly running into this now. I have PDX/DFW Monday AM and it shows 7 empty F seats. But as a gold I am not yet upgraded - two days out. This has happened frequently of late on other flights and I have even noticed empty seats a few hours before the flight and when I call in, I am told they are now trying to "sell first class seats up until the last minute". Is this a new rule?
Apr 25, 2015, 1:08 pm
#134
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Programs: Alaska Gold 100k
Posts: 959
Thanks guys, I also learned that just because the seat map shows seats available, that mostly means F ticketed passengers haven't yet chosen a seat. I have been pretty lucky out of PDX last year but not so good in 2015 so far.
Apr 26, 2015, 11:09 am
#135
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan MVP Gold, Marriott Rewards Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 120
Just got an automatic upgrade for a flight on May 26
Hi All,
Sorry if this is covered in another thread, but wanted to share my experience here.
I have read some rumbles of auto-upgrades at t-120/t-24 out not working properly, and until recently had not experienced it myself. I fly SEA->OAK and back most weeks, and am almost always upgraded as a 75k. The past two weeks upgrades hadn't been clearing until I checked Expert Flyer to confirm upgrades were available, then call into Customer Service to have them upgrade me manually once they confirm I am at top of list.
These were all reservations booked months ago, with no changes to itinerary, when I was already MVPG75k. The customer service team was just as confused about this as I was, and when they email me with a write up of why it was happening I will share with the thread.
Just wanted to keep everyone here updated.
Best,
Dan
Sorry if this is covered in another thread, but wanted to share my experience here.
I have read some rumbles of auto-upgrades at t-120/t-24 out not working properly, and until recently had not experienced it myself. I fly SEA->OAK and back most weeks, and am almost always upgraded as a 75k. The past two weeks upgrades hadn't been clearing until I checked Expert Flyer to confirm upgrades were available, then call into Customer Service to have them upgrade me manually once they confirm I am at top of list.
These were all reservations booked months ago, with no changes to itinerary, when I was already MVPG75k. The customer service team was just as confused about this as I was, and when they email me with a write up of why it was happening I will share with the thread.
Just wanted to keep everyone here updated.
Best,
Dan