As a lowly Silver, I was getting used to the idea that under the new "unlimited" upgrades program I'd be in line behind every Gold and Chairman's on the plane, but now I've realized that every Gold and Chairman's on the plane is allowed to bring a friend along in front of me. Will I ever sit in front again?

Silvers make it up front on a relatively frequent basis on NW (less so on CO) so, depending on how popular the routes you fly are with elites, you may just make it up front.

CP is the only level where you can "bring a friend".

Sure you can sit up front.....Row 1, on all of the RJ's that'll be popping up this year!

All Preferreds can upgrade a companion.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dsingerUNC:
All Preferreds can upgrade a companion.</font>

This has been true for a while now. It is a very easy thing to do as a CP because of the unlimited upgrades. It is less easy as a SP or GP because you need to use a paper 800 miler (old) or a 500 e-upgrade out of your bank to support the companion.

I think the primary benefit for silvers will be the ability to upgrade B or Y fares anytime in advance at no charge. Silvers who fly these tickets will get upgraded most everytime, I suspect. On a standby basis at the gate, I think it will be rare. To maximize your chances, you would need to avoid popular flights.

My gut feeling is that it won't be all THAT different than it is now. CPs have been unlimited. As a Gold, I've been basically unlimited as I've never been short of upgrade certs - especially after the generous paper to e-upgrade swap, so I've never not upgraded when available (and its been available 95% of the time.) I feel as if many Golds have been in the same boat. So I'm not sure if Silvers will see all that much of a difference. We shall see - I hope it works out well!

I don't think it will make much of a difference, either. Silvers carefully allocate their e-upgrades currently, and don't put in to upgrade every flight. So now instead of trying to upgrade one out of every 3 or 4 flights, and perhaps succeeding 25% or 50% of the time, silvers will try to upgrade every flight. The success rate may decrease since there will be more competition on every flight, but the actual number of flights upgraded should stay about the same.

But what this does mean is that those buying the (often cheaper) UA codeshare tickets will likely have very little chance of upgrading day of departure. The silvers will probably fill out the cabin in advance.

Already hit that case just recently...at my advance window I would have been fine, but day of there wasn't anything available anymore. I guess GP/SP are filing upgrades without being as frugal as they were before.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by StSebastian:
[B]But what this does mean is that those buying the (often cheaper) UA codeshare tickets will likely have very little chance of upgrading day of departure. The silvers will probably fill out the cabin in advance.
B]</font>

This is a great point.

Looks like fewer upgrades for those people buying the UA codeshare tickets, as well as the UA preferreds who try to upgrade day of departure by purchasing upgrades.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by in31122:
Silvers make it up front on a relatively frequent basis on NW (less so on CO) so, depending on how popular the routes you fly are with elites, you may just make it up front.</font>

Yeah, but as a former NWA Silver, NWA First is not all that much to write home about. They cram an extra row of seats into First Class where there is practically no leg room. It might be marginally better than US' First, but not by much...domestically.

The new upgrade policy will not impact silvers much at all.

The big losers are UA elites who have to BUY upgrades at the gate. US is probably salivating at all of the unused upgrades sold to UA premiers.

The only real threat to silver is that through GOM and other promotions are that the ranks of the Golds and Chairman's are bloated far beyond proportion to F Class seats on mainline jets. Sure Silvers will get upgrades, but would not count on it every time. Travel midweek (as opposed to Friday, Sundays and Mondays) when you really want/need an upgrade.

I'm wondering if CP and Gold will shrink a little bit more this year. It seems to me they offered a lot less "double tier miles" promotions, and, correct me if i am wrong, GOM is done, that was last year, for people who have status this year. Ie if people Got out more for CP for this past year, and didn't fly it, they would be dropping down to gold/silver/or nothing based on their actual flying patterns.

Am I right? I actually think the numbers will shrink come 2/28/03.

I also think there are alot more US Preferred's who have defected to UA this year than the reverse. This could also bode well for US3's.

Regarding the UA codeshare tickets, I know they are working on implementing advance upgrades for US1/2/3's on UA tickets on US metal so that they don't get screwed with the day of departure deal only. Should be implemented soon I hope.

Is it really true that US CP and GP's companions get priority over SP when it comes to upgrades? This seems unfair to me as SP's actually flew to get their upgrades, whereas CP and GP companions have done nothing to deserve the upgrade.

It is true. The person they are rewarding in this case is the CP or GP. Not upgrading my wife brcause she is a SP (or has no status) but offering me the seat would be unhelpful (and potentially cause them the loss of future revenue when I turned up dead).

As I read it, the elite's companion is confirmed in First in the same window as the elite member. This means I'd probably be ahead of the person that the CP meets in the airport bar and decides to give an upgrade to (my upgrade window already having been opened), but behind the other CP's spouse who is flying with that CP on vacation.