So I am checking online today for a flight to Houston tomorrow. I was confirmed in 2C at the 7 day mark. I check in today, and the infamous "sorry, no upgrades are available at this time" pops up :confused: 26C is my seat. I get on the horn with the CP agent. After waiting 15 mins on the phone she said "I have been checking with my supervisor and it looks like America West had you confirmed but took you out. First class is sold out now, I'm sorry" :mad: I then asked can you see if there are any upgraded plats, golds, or silvers and if so can you bump one of them back to coach. "no sir, America West would have to do that". Well I then asked, can you please call them?!?! She did, put me on hold and came back and told me I don't know why "America West" had you confirmed and took you out. They can't tell who are upgraded passengers and who are paid passengers. Sorry sir, is there anything else I can do for you today" :mad:

What a cluster **** of an airline. Nice work towards your most important group of passengers. If I see Silver BP's tomorrow in line boarding for F, I'm sorry but I'll be pissed (at US...HP or whatever the hell they are, not the passenger obviously).

I took a shot in the dark and here's what the employee travel shows - 0 F/C available on flt 274 & 272 PHX-IAH tomorrow (11th) and 1 F/C seat available on 273.

It goes without saying that your specific seat could have become unavailable for a couple of valid reasons. Other than those, it's a bum deal.

Jim

I've never been downgraded myself, but based on other threads I've read on Flyertalk, it sounds like aisle seats in row 2 get the short end of the stick when a FAM shows up. Downgrades seem to be rare, but I usually try to get a window or row 3 and so far I've never been bumped....

Yes, but Row 3 has its own risks.

The only time I've ever been downgraded was when I was in Row 3 of an A319... and the aircraft was swapped for a 733 :mad:

Thankfully it was only SLC-PHX.

You'll almost always see me in 2A or 2F (when I clear, that is) for exactly this reason. I don't mind the window seat.

dollars to hockey pucks that's the reason as fam's (regardless of airline) "love to sit" :rolleyes: in an f ailse seat in rows 2, 3, or 4 so in your scenario:

bumped out of 2c so look for a fam there and in 3b as well. this is assuming at least 3 rows in f otherwise look for fam-2 in row 1 aisle or the first/second row of y-aisle (depending on the b/h configuration).

now as an aside-if your u/g was confirmed, i would not check-in on-line and ask the csr at check-in "what happened to my confirmed u/g" (show printout) and wait for the response followed by this is no way to treat a cp, etc, etc, and ask to be compensated. it worked with me on ua when i was fam'd and ended up with me being moved from my bumped y seat into another (although inferior due to restricted legroom but still more than y) f/c seat (too bad for the other pax moved to y as they had lower status) and 2 confirmed regional upgrades "for my trouble"-my whole argument was that folks truly need to be aware of the status of ther person being moved simply to put a fam in that seat and that this is no way to treat one of the ariline's best customers (and those were the words that i used)

now as an aside-
It never hurts to ask for some form of compensation when you're inconvenienced.

Now for the aside to your aside :rolleyes: , the airline has no control over which seats the fams get and I suspect the fams themselves have no say unless there's a problem with the seat (i.e. - broken seat that's unusable, last minute equipment change, etc).

Jim

the airline has no control over which seats the fams get
Jim

BUT, US could use my profile and see that "phillyphyler40 has a window as a preference, lets ug him to 1a/f 2a/f 3a/f 4a/f etc...." But no...they dont! Why have a profile if the ug doesnt take it into consideration!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

BUT, US could use my profile and see that "phillyphyler40 has a window as a preference, lets ug him to 1a/f 2a/f 3a/f 4a/f etc...." But no...they dont! Why have a profile if the ug doesnt take it into consideration!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:
In my experience, the profile is taken into consideration.

[QUOTE=PhillyPhlyer40;6825927]BUT, US could use my profile and see that "phillyphyler40 has a window as a preference, lets ug him to 1a/f 2a/f 3a/f 4a/f etc...." But no...they dont! Why have a profile if the ug doesnt take it into consideration!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:[/QUOTE

My profile is set to aisle pref, and I always get a preasigned aisle F upgrade seat whenever available. My ug is always taken into consideration. I'm Kinglobjaw and the Winstom-Salem resv center has 3 agents reserved for Kinglobjaw specifically(1 domestic resv, 1 intl resv and 1 dmsc agent just for Kinglobjaw). Maybe thats why I get my upgrade to an aisle seat 100% of the time.:D !

[QUOTE=PhillyPhlyer40;6825927]BUT, US could use my profile and see that "phillyphyler40 has a window as a preference, lets ug him to 1a/f 2a/f 3a/f 4a/f etc...." But no...they dont! Why have a profile if the ug doesnt take it into consideration!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:[/QUOTE

My profile is set to aisle pref, and I always get a preasigned aisle F upgrade seat whenever available. My ug is always taken into consideration. I'm Kinglobjaw and the Winstom-Salem resv center has 3 agents reserved for Kinglobjaw specifically(1 domestic resv, 1 intl resv and 1 dmsc agent just for Kinglobjaw). Maybe thats why I get my upgrade to an aisle seat 100% of the time.:D !

King...dont be that cocky...knock that off

BUT, US could use my profile and see that "phillyphyler40 has a window as a preference, lets ug him to 1a/f 2a/f 3a/f 4a/f etc...." But no...they dont! Why have a profile if the ug doesnt take it into consideration!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:
As far as I'm concerned, you are right and I'm sorry if I inadvertently implied otherwise. When a situation arises that requires downgrading an elite, status should be taken into account when deciding who to downgrade.

I was only pointing out that the airline has no say in which seats the fam's occupy (likewise if there is a mechanical issue making a seat unusable).

Jim

It never hurts to ask for some form of compensation when you're inconvenienced.

Now for the aside to your aside :rolleyes: , the airline has no control over which seats the fams get and I suspect the fams themselves have no say unless there's a problem with the seat (i.e. - broken seat that's unusable, last minute equipment change, etc).

Jimthis is true but in the name of customer service (what's that, hey who said that? :rolleyes:) the airline, oh, never mind... ;) sorry just being silly but you are right, it never hurts to ask :)

i'd love to know the op's outcome and observations once on board ;)

[QUOTE=kinglobjaw;6826051]

King...dont be that cocky...knock that off

But really, I'm not lying. I did, I did see Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night. And I'm gonna tell my Daddy.

But seriously, the upgrade I get is always in an aisle seat just like my profile. Does it mean that I am just lucky?

[QUOTE=usa18dca;6826241]


But seriously, the upgrade I get is always in an aisle seat just like my profile. Does it mean that I am just lucky?

No KING, not at all. Per the cp line, I was told that due to the fact that 'most' ff's like aisle seats, it automatically fills ug's aisle first. Years ago I would take the aisle, as I still prefer it. BUT, due to the waste of money FAM's taking them, I would rather not take a chance at getting downgraded!

[QUOTE=kinglobjaw;6826489]

Per the cp line, I was told that due to the fact that 'most' ff's like aisle seats, it automatically fills ug's aisle first.

Not only do they fill aisles first, according to several CP agents I've spoken with they ONLY fill aisles. If there are not aisles to assign, you will get upgraded but not assigned a seat. Hopefully this will be fixed in the future. I also prefer a window seat and everytime I get upgraded I have to call and switch to a window. The agents are always nice and happy to accomodate me but I wonder how much $$ is being wasted by CPs, Plats, Golds, etc. calling to switch seats. :rolleyes:

I wonder how much $$ is being wasted by CPs, Plats, Golds, etc. calling to switch seats.

A lot. And I mean a *LOT*.

Highly trained human phone reps located in the United States, regardless of industry, cost a ton of money on a per call basis.

A lot. And I mean a *LOT*.

Highly trained human phone reps located in the United States, regardless of industry, cost a ton of money on a per call basis.

So If I call just to ask what kind of meal will they have on ORD-PHL(which I know is none) it costs US heaps of $ every time?

So If I call just to ask what kind of meal will they have on ORD-PHL(which I know is none) it costs US heaps of $ every time?

In aggregate, yes.

So I am checking online today for a flight to Houston tomorrow. I was confirmed in 2C at the 7 day mark. I check in today, and the infamous "sorry, no upgrades are available at this time" pops up :confused: 26C is my seat. I get on the horn with the CP agent. After waiting 15 mins on the phone she said "I have been checking with my supervisor and it looks like America West had you confirmed but took you out. First class is sold out now, I'm sorry"

All the more reason why a few F seats should be held back for gate control. There is no valid excuse for a CP to get downgraded for a FAM while someone of lower status who was upgraded at their window gets to ride up front.

US and the other airlines should grow a pair and stop letting the government steal premium class seats.

When the government steals from the airline, the passenger should not suffer.

my profile has me down for window seat and that is was i get 99% of the time. 2 a is what i pick and seems to be what it gives me most the time.

In my experience Mrs Pieper (also Gold) and I both get aisle seats when flying together and upgraded, so always an issue to get the seats together. Mrs has the window seat in her profile. I have the Isle. Not that I care so much about isle, no advantage except maybe for easier reach of bathroom on long flights, but I would like to sit next to Mrs Pieper.

US and the other airlines should grow a pair and stop letting the government steal premium class seats.

I really don't think of it as the government "stealing" seats. Shouldn't the Air Marshall sit close to the cockpit? Arguably they could sit in jump seats etc.

Maybe they should install a lone coach seat up front for them...

Here's what happened. I was actually for the first time somewhat late for my flight. I didn't anticipate, even for a Monday morning that the F/elite line for Security would be backed up beyond the ropes. That being said, I was boarding within fifteen mins of door closure. As I handed my BP to the agent at the door, I of course asked one more time "are there any seats available for upgrade in F, I'm a Chairman Preferred customer". "no sir, first class is checked in full". So.....as I walk on I see 2C vacant. Hmmm...knowing at this point I could careless really b/c I see that it just so happens that one of my colleagues is sitted in the exit row next to me in row 11. As I'm chatting with her about something work related, I see the flight attendant ask a man two rows in front of me "we have a first class seat available sir for you". :mad: :mad:
I didn't feel like saying anything b/c I didn't want my colleague think I really didn't want to sit next to her, etc, so I just sat there and huffed and puffed to myself. FAM? Obviously not. They screwed up.

Ian

I really don't think of it as the government "stealing" seats. Shouldn't the Air Marshall sit close to the cockpit? Arguably they could sit in jump seats etc.

Maybe they should install a lone coach seat up front for them...

Oh, yes... let's clearly isolate that *IF* a FAM is on the plane, he/she'll be in one of the first few rows. That's really a brilliant idea. Really helps out with that whole notion of blending in. :rolleyes:

Really helps out with that whole notion of blending in. :rolleyes:

Aside from the preboarding or skipping the security lines... How well do think they blend in now? ;)

I lived in Ireland for 2 years and my 11 year old son (at the time he was 9) stayed in the US with his mom. Every holiday and summer he would come over to Ireland and stay with me. In June of 2005, I flew to Philly and was going to fly back to Dublin with him. I had TA Space Available upgrade certs and did the gate dance. Right before we boarded, I got the page to come to the desk. They bumped us both up to Envoy. My son was elated.

We got to our seats and I was explaining to him how the seats reclined, gave him the menu, drank our orange juice, etc. Literally seconds before the door closed, the GA came on board and came up to me and said that we had to go back to coach because 2 "Chairman" had just showed up and wanted to use their certs. Because I was only Gold, he had to move one of us back to coach (there was one open Envoy seat). I wasn't going to leave my 9 year old alone, so we both moved back to the bulkhead (row 8). My son was devastated.

The GA was talking to the FA about what had happened, and seeing how upset my son was, I ran up to the GA and asked if my son could at least sit in Envoy. They allowed him to do it, and he was in the aisle of row 7- I was in row 8 so I could see him the whole time. I wasn't amused that I was upgraded, then downgraded because someone showed up late.

The FAs were fantastic though. They thought it was BS (and they told me so). They even gave me envoy service in coach because of it! But, I still hear it from my son....about how he was in business class and I was stuck in coach!

Aside from the preboarding or skipping the security lines... How well do think they blend in now? ;)

Not very... which is my point entirely. The program is, IMHO, a waste of resources because it is poorly executed.

I really don't think of it as the government "stealing" seats.

Since the government does not pay for the seats and forces US and the other airlines to give them up or not operate the flight/lose their common carrier license, then what would you call it?

When one entity takes something from another entity at gunpoint, that's stealing, if not armed robbery.


Shouldn't the Air Marshall sit close to the cockpit? Arguably they could sit in jump seats etc.

Arguably, they could do the same fine job they currently do while seated in the first few rows of coach. Or, the airlines could individually decide for themselves whether or not they wish to employ air marshals.

Maybe they should install a lone coach seat up front for them...

Aren't there enough unfunded mandates?

... the GA came on board and came up to me and said that we had to go back to coach because 2 "Chairman" had just showed up and wanted to use their certs...

A quick glance, and I thought I was one of those 2 Chairman's Preferred involved :eek: .....my flight was also PHL-DUB but it happened May 2006.

Weather had significantly delayed our flight to PHL, and the Club agent found us the last 2 seats, in the last row of coach, on the next earlier "scheduled" flight which was also delayed. She could also not give us our onward BPs PHL-DUB becaus of "computer problems" and asked that we get 'em at the PHL gate.

At PHL, my CP companion, a long-distance runner, easily ran from the other end of the airport to A-West, while I took a brisk walk. When I got to the gate, boarding had already begun, and I saw my companion "in conference" with the GA and a Supervisor, because US had already given away our Envoy seats, booked on a "B' fare and upgraded at booking months before.....since we could not get BPs earlier, we had not "checked in" and US thought we were not coming.

What helped our case was that the Supervisor herself tried to issue our BPs the usual way, but couldn't too...something was really strange with the computer that evening. She had to tap, tap, tap, some more before she could pull our flight info up. Once she satisfied herself that we could not have checked in earlier, and that it was a close connection because of weather, she went ahead and authorized the GA to reclaim the 2 seats that were given away to others doing the gate dance.

I realize that the outcome could have been otherwise....i.e. the Supervisor could have been apologetic but firm in that once seats are given away, they're gone. We all had a nice, friendly discussion...to this day, I still feel that our CP status helped somewhat to tilt the decision in our favor. We continued chatting with the supervisor until she shooed us onto the plane and the door closed soon after.