So, I'm flying SAN-LAS-EWR (redeye) on US 219, exactly 7 days from today. I got an email, of course, saying that an upgrade was not available for both flights. Called the CP desk, and they tell me that there are 2 F seats left on SAN-LAS (US 199) - held back for purchase. SAN-LAS doesn't matter, being a short flight, of course - it's LAS-EWR that really matters (redeye). She checked it, and came back to say it was wide open - 8 F seats left, and she said that 4 F seats were released for upgrades this morning!? Apparently I didn't snag one of those and asked her why - she mentioned that it could have been that there were 4 CPs ahead of me.

That means, including me that makes at least 5 CPs on the flight - on a Thursdsay night redeye in the middle of October, going LAS-EWR?? The flight is only about 2/3 full in Y and before this morning's release of F seats, had 8/12 left.

Wow, if there were 4 CPs ahead of me on a flight like this there are a lot of us out there. Either she wasn't giving me the whole story, or perhaps there are GPs and PPs up there.

Not very happy ...

So, I'm flying SAN-LAS-EWR (redeye) on US 219, exactly 7 days from today. I got an email, of course, saying that an upgrade was not available for both flights. Called the CP desk, and they tell me that there are 2 F seats left on SAN-LAS (US 199) - held back for purchase. SAN-LAS doesn't matter, being a short flight, of course - it's LAS-EWR that really matters (redeye). She checked it, and came back to say it was wide open - 8 F seats left, and she said that 4 F seats were released for upgrades this morning!? Apparently I didn't snag one of those and asked her why - she mentioned that it could have been that there were 4 CPs ahead of me.

That means, including me that makes at least 5 CPs on the flight - on a Thursdsay night redeye in the middle of October, going LAS-EWR?? The flight is only about 2/3 full in Y and before this morning's release of F seats, had 8/12 left.

Wow, if there were 4 CPs ahead of me on a flight like this there are a lot of us out there. Either she wasn't giving me the whole story, or perhaps there are GPs and PPs up there.

Not very happy ...

I'm not surprised.

ex-LAS flights are very difficult to upgrade due to a variety of factors:

1. It is a top leisure destination that rich people who can afford F tend to frequent
2. It is a top business/convention destination that elite (CP) fliers visit regularly
3. As it is a US hub, it has a strong local loyal flier population with many many elites

Also, the Thursday night red-eye is a very popular flight - that's when people are either leaving for a long weekend or returning home after a week at work. It's not surprising that there are going to be many other CPs on the flight with you.

If the rest of F is wide open, chances are your upgrade will clear between now and when the flight leaves.

adding to jumpgate's post - not only is it a huge convention town, but we're in the middle of convention season there too. In fact, there are 3500 folks in town for the Document Management Industries Association/ Print Solutions Expo - add in all the casinos with convention space, and you could safely assume there are 10k business travelers there just for conventions.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, you guys (or gals) are right - I did a quick google search and the LV Convention Center is hosting the PACK expo (packaging and purchasing???) from the 15th-17th - expected attendance of over 22,000. I suspect that may account for the few extra CPs on my flight flying back out to the NYC area afterwards. :)

US doesn't seem to publish their numbers anywhere, but based on the CO numbers, a guess would be around 50,000 or so CP.

US doesn't seem to publish their numbers anywhere, but based on the CO numbers, a guess would be around 50,000 or so CP.

50K and falling via status match.....

I recently flew US9 from PHX-ORD. It's the last flight of the day getting into ORD at like 11:45pm. As a gold I didn't get upgraded on a flight with 40 people on it. Yes the A320 left with 12F and about 25Y passengers. Everyone in Y had their own row, so it's was better than F. I just can't believe I couldn't score an upgrade on that flight.

I've never been higher than gold, but back in the HP days my upgrade success was at least 75%. Now it's about 25% and most of my flights are not peak. I don't get it. Unfortunatly I don't really have any other options. I mostly fly within the west, WN does not fly to the smaller airports and UA requires a connection over 80% of the time.

50K and falling via status match.....

Yes... but I think I smell the bouquet of mass quantities of flowers ;)