AirTran Airways A+ Rewards - New Elite Upgrade Procedure?

Today, when I went up to the GA to ask for a complementary upgrade (right at 40 minutes before scheduled departure), the GA noted my name and said he would call me up shortly. Two minutes later, he goes on the PA and announces "Elite passenger HPN-HRL, please come up to the podium". I went up, picked up my upgraded BP. The GA apologised for the announcement (actually, for having to identify me by name as an elite), but he said that he was following the new procedure for upgrades.

Right now, I'm waiting in ATL for my connecting flight. At ~85 minutes before scheduled departure, the GA here announced that the incoming flight to the gate would arrive soon and boarding would begin shortly thereafter. I took that as a cue to ask about a complementary upgrade for this flight; when I got to the podium, I prefaced my question with an acknowledgement that I knew it was too early to normally request an upgrade, but that her early announcement made me wonder. She took my BP, wrote the number "1" on it, and kept it, saying she would call me up once she knew whether or not it would clear. Since then, she has made one "business class up-sell" announcement.

I will edit this post once I know my upgrade outcome...

At T-42 minutes, the GA made a second "business class up-sell" announcement, then called me up a minute later & gave me my upgrade.

I think there has, indeed, been a change. On their web site I now see something that I don't remember seeing there before:
"How is Elite upgrade priority determined?
If there are more Elites waiting for upgrades than there are Business Class seats available, the gate agent will assign upgrades according to the order of check-in. The earliest Elite member to check in will receive the first available Business Class upgrade."

I think there has, indeed, been a change. On their web site I now see something that I don't remember seeing there before:
"How is Elite upgrade priority determined?
If there are more Elites waiting for upgrades than there are Business Class seats available, the gate agent will assign upgrades according to the order of check-in. The earliest Elite member to check in will receive the first available Business Class upgrade."
I saw that as well.

My next question: does "the order of check-in" mean the order of check-in via online means or the order in which elite passengers present themselves to the gate to be upgraded?

I saw that as well.

My next question: does "the order of check-in" mean the order of check-in via online means or the order in which elite passengers present themselves to the gate to be upgraded?

If anyone learns anything about what "check-in" means, let us know. Is it:

The order that elites actually "checked in for the flight"?

or

The order of elites who approached the GA to request an upgrade?

If it's the first answer, that would certainly make the whole process more fair and predictable.

I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.

If anyone learns anything about what "check-in" means, let us know. Is it:

The order that elites actually "checked in for the flight"?

or

The order of elites who approached the GA to request an upgrade?

If it's the first answer, that would certainly make the whole process more fair and predictable.

I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.

I called to ask, and as expected check-in means when you first check in for your flight online, at a kiosk, at the ticket counter, etc. I guess they don't have a second definition of 'check-in' that means 'bugging the gate agent for an upgrade'. The airtran web site even says not to approach gate agents prior to 40 minutes before departure to ask for upgrades.

The elite upgrades are applied inconsistently station to station. Perhaps in the future this system could be automated to avoid having to approach the podium and ask during a specified period of time - seems easy enough to implement.

I called to ask, and as expected check-in means when you first check in for your flight online, at a kiosk, at the ticket counter, etc. I guess they don't have a second definition of 'check-in' that means 'bugging the gate agent for an upgrade'. The airtran web site even says not to approach gate agents prior to 40 minutes before departure to ask for upgrades.

Interesting. That would certainly make things a lot more predictable. I guess elites will now try to check-in right at the 24-hour mark.

Interesting. That would certainly make things a lot more predictable. I guess elites will now try to check-in right at the 24-hour mark.
...Just like those of us who fly Southwest, checking in online as close to T-24 as possible in order to snag an "A" boarding pass!

For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.

...Just like those of us who fly Southwest, checking in online as close to T-24 as possible in order to snag an "A" boarding pass!

For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.

Interesting. I wonder if FL will ever get to the point where they do confirmed elite upgrades in advance automatically, kind of like the legacies do. I reckon not, since they only do the free upgrades once they are sure they won't be selling any.

For the record, I did in fact have the first BP issued on my JAX-ATL flight the other day. For ATL-HPN, I think my number was 3, but when I went up to the podium at ATL, the GA wrote the number "1" on my BP - implying to me that she cared about "bugging the GA" order rather than OLCI order.

Perhaps PAX 1 and 2 were not elite upgrade eligible.

I don't fly FL next until mid-November. I'll report back then.

I'm looking forward to your mid-November report as I will soon return to FL for my MKE to SFO commutes - I can sleep in a bit later on Monday mornings and avoid MSP connections during the de-icing season (I've even booked some itins with an FL outbound Monday and a WN return on Thursday via LAS).

I will consider my most recent NW/DL experiment a draw at best. I’ve never found connecting through MSP on NW/DL to be particularly enjoyable, and it's all the more challenging with the current runway construction. My only upgrades were from taking a voluntary bump (both segments upgraded) and IROPS (MSP to SFO upgraded). Elite upgrades have been difficult due to several factors; FTers who read the DL board no doubt are aware of PL saturation due to excessive MQM give-aways, the combination of elites from two programs, and the legacy program "end of year" effect. The standard joke when boarding is that it would be faster to load the non-elites immediately after F because there are so few of them.

Maybe I’m just a fan of the LCCs.

My own experience recently has been divided. Sometimes they call my name automatically, sometimes I have to go up at 40 min prior and request. If there is a new routine not all GAs know about it. At any rate I haven't had any problems getting an upgrade 90% of the time, and I don't rush to check-in at the 24-hour mark. Actually, I'm good if it's 12-hours before.

Usually if there are 6 or more unsold BC seats when I check-in I'm 100%. If there are 4 unsold I'm 50%. And if there are fewer than 4 I'd better buy an upgrade or I'm pretty much guaranteed to be sitting in coach.

Spec - what airports do you usually fly out of? Your "6-4-under" rule is probably a good approximation at many airports.

Spec - what airports do you usually fly out of? Your "6-4-under" rule is probably a good approximation at many airports.

DCA, BWI, BOS, and ATL

DCA, BWI, BOS, and ATL

This sounds about right for these flights since they are not long-haul.

It's always a lot tougher to score the upgrades on flights to the west coast. I try to use 4 credits the day before to upgrade those. Sometimes I pay the $20 for exit row instead.

This sounds about right for these flights since they are not long-haul.

It's always a lot tougher to score the upgrades on flights to the west coast. I try to use 4 credits the day before to upgrade those. Sometimes I pay the $20 for exit row instead.

No kidding about scoring West Coast upgrades, especially from ATL!

When the "free upgrades for Elites at 40 minutes" began, I usually spent credits on connecting tickets and either paid $ or hoped for a free upgrade on nonstop flights. Now that I've had some experience with the process, I often decide to hope for a free upgrade on connecting East Coast flights (e.g. HPN or LGA - ATL - Florida) as well as on the nonstops that I usually fly (HPN-ATL, HPN-MCO, LGA-MKE), only using credits to upgrade on flights to PHX and points West. As a result, my A+ credit balance has gone up, and the $ I've saved from free upgrades is rapidly approaching the $ I spent doing a credit run to qualify for Elite status a couple of years ago.

Well, I flew MKE-MCO and MCO-MKE this weekend and my experience is inconclusive.

At MKE on Friday, I approached the counter at 40 min. prior and get the upgrades me for and my wife. No numbering of boarding passes or anything like that.

On the return trip, it didn't matter, because biz class checked in full. Good for FL for selling all those seats either through upgrades, A+credits, or actual business class tickets.

My upcoming trips are on NW/DL and YX, so I don't think I'll be trying the upgrade process again until December.

With elite status, my free upgrades have been about 75%. I fly two leg round trips, outbound Sunday/Monday, return Thursday night/Friday morning, generally 2 or 3 times per month, so am hitting peak times. One of the gate agents at an airport I fly out of frequently told me 3 weeks ago that AirTran has become 'more strict' about waiting until 40 minutes before flight time to assign free upgrades. However, I generally inquire at the ticket counter when checking bags about seats available in business class for both legs of the flight. If the free upgrade looks unlikely, I ask about exit rows (which they will assign for free at that point). If there are only a couple of business seats left and I'm tired, I often spring for the upgrade cost.