US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-2005 America West merger) - Rome upgrade scenario

Just ticketed a trip for myself and Mrs. Dingo on an upgradable Q fare. Could not immediately confirm the upgrade to Envoy, and will put myself on the wait list in 24 hours using the 30k/person/leg.

Outbound on 6/13, return on 6/27.

My question is for those of you who have traveled on this route. Should I roll the dice and flip my upgrade strategy to SWU's or stick with the miles? The CP rep I spoke with wouldn't divulge how many seats were open as of now but it is on the 330 so there are 42ish seats total.

[This message has been edited by dingo (edited 03-24-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dingo:
Just ticketed a trip for myself and Mrs. Dingo on an upgradable Q fare. Could not immediately confirm the upgrade to Envoy, and will put myself on the wait list in 24 hours using the 30k/person/leg.

Outbound on 6/13, return on 6/27.

My question is for those of you who have traveled on this route. Should I roll the dice and flip my upgrade strategy to SWU's or stick with the miles? The CP rep I spoke with wouldn't divulge how many seats were open as of now but it is on the 330 so there are 42ish seats total.

[This message has been edited by dingo (edited 03-24-2003).]</font>

Wouldn't divulge??? Call group sales and ask them--tell them you are interested in flying some business people over to Rome. They'll tell ya http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I'd personally never spend 60K RT to upgrade to Envoy...I'd much rather use the SWU's. It is rare that a Chairman's Member does not get the upgrade...just play it smart...check-in early on the day of departure.

I flew this run a few weeks ago.......there were 3-6 Envoy seats open on each leg.

I agree that you should be able to get the FC data......check a few days prior to your departure.

Don't burn 120k miles to upgrade...use SWU's!!

3-6 open would assume that everyone who wanted to, did get upgraded.

With respect to getting data, just be persistent as far as how many seats out of 42 are sold?

The last time I flew to LGW I was able to switch out miles for SWU's without losing my place on the upgrade list ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
The last time I flew to LGW I was able to switch out miles for SWU's without losing my place on the upgrade list ...</font>

Beckles, was that on a domestic or international route?

A non-scientific, non-perfect way of checking availability is to fake the website into thinking you are buying an envoy ticket and then looking at the seat maps when you 'select seats'.

Sure, some people havent received assigned seats yet, but its a pretty good indicator.

Switched my upgrade method from miles to SWU shortly after the original post.

Well, departure is tomorrow and I'm not liking my chances. I've called the CP line, xfer to international desk each day for the last three to see if they are going to free up any inventory. There are currently four seats available; don't know if that is including row 1 or not.

Rudimentary question to which I've received conflicting answers from internation desk folks: does me getting to the airport bright and early tomorrow do anything for me and Mrs. Dingo with respect to getting the upgrade? Our flight out of CLT is at 2:30 connecting through PHL at abour 6:00.

The return is looking pretty good, but anything can happen in two week's time.

[This message has been edited by dingo (edited 06-12-2003).]

dingo, I still give you good chances. Check in as soon as possible to help thy chances. Two things are in your favor - the unlikely scenario that they will sell 4+ full fare envoy seats between now and tomorrow and the likely no show of one or more business class passenger(s).

Enjoy Rome, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by geo1005 (edited 06-12-2003).]

Grazie!

Prego!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dingo:
The CP rep I spoke with wouldn't divulge how many seats were open as of now but it is on the 330 so there are 42ish seats total.

[This message has been edited by dingo (edited 03-24-2003).]</font>

I always thought the information on the Seat Map and Availability site ( http://www.cs.haifa.ac.il/~shuly/flight.html ) was accurate and useful in finding out what inventory is available. If you use the My Travel feature it provides seat maps that seem accurate, at least in the front cabin. It also has that Japanese site that shows inventory pretty well.

Am I wrong in trusting the data available there?

Pinhole,

Checked out the link you sent to http://www.cs.haifa.ac.il/~shuly/flight.html
Pretty cool.

Do you or anyone on this board have any suggestions for online resources where I can view the availability of fare classes for award tickets?

Don't know if this applies to international, but here goes. On domestic transcon this week, I missed on the 3 day out GP; was then told that my early queing up was irrelevant; once you don't clear ahead of time, the story I was given by attendants at the PHL Concourse B club was that upgrade sequence depends (by preferred status) upon when you started flying (I assume first checked in) that day, whether for the flight for which you are seeking upgrade or an earlier connecting flight. News to me; anyone else familiar with that arrangement?

I think that is the real crux of my question. Should I get to the airport in CLT eight hours early in order to have a better chance or is it irrelevant?

Correct. If you do not clear at your advance Preferred window (7, 3, or 1 day out) the time of check-in on the day of departure becomes key!

(This is within your Preferred level. That is to say a Silver checking in two hours before a Gold will not get the seat at the gate - the Gold will).

Geo beat me to the punch.

It's not so much "where/when you started flying" as it is "when you checked in."

Ideally, on a domestic e-ticket itinerary, you would check-in 24 hours (or whatever the limit is) prior to the flight and then ask to be added to the upgrade waitlist at the airport (I've been told your place on the list within your status category is based on when you check in not when you asked to be put on the waitlist).

For an international itinerary, the move is to check in as soon as you possibly can (I will admit that when PIT-LGW was downgauged I found myself running over to PIT to check in like 6 hours prior to my flight and then going back to work... Never can be too sure http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

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Saving the world, one clue at a time.

Well, just got back.

On the way over from PHL to FCO my wife and I were about the only ones that got upgraded. We got seats 5g and h on the 330; it didn't come through until the last second but it came through. Both of our seats had broken headrests and foot rests and just about every foot rest that I saw seemed to be broken. We were about 10 minutes delayed while techs came on to fix a seat that was leaning too far forward. It seems this particular aircraft has not been maintained that well at least in rows 2 to 5.

The FA's that were servicing our part of the cabin frankly seemed pissed to be on the flight. They were not so much as rude as they were apathetic and abrupt. One of them took our order for food and we chose the Express meal. She asked if we wanted it right after take off or at the regular time. We responded right after take off. She threw out something like 'we'll I don't know that that's even an option any more. So much has changed. I'll have to look into that' and she walks away. ok, you go do that, but why even ask if you don't know and why don't you know anyway? The other one covering our area was constantly rolling her eyes when anyone did anything such as: getting something out of the overhead, trying to get by her and her co-worker chatting in the aisle and blocking the restroom door...just bizarre behavior. I tried to strike up conversation with one of them when I realized how much they must dislike their passengers but that didn't help any.

On the return flight, Mrs. Dingo and I got Row 1g and h. Same service, just different seats. The seats are very nice and confortable. I don't know if this was the same plane I had on the way over, but the seat was completely functional.

The flight crew on this return flight was very good; what I would expect for Envoy.

The arrival lounge in Rome (at the Hilton) is very nice (it's a hotel room afterall) if you have the time. It is a heck of a walk and in the heat it can be very unpleasant. The departure lounge in Rome is nothing special in my opinion but is convenient to the gate in Concourse C.

I'm thrilled to get both upgrades, even more so to get Row 1. What a wonderful use of four system wides!

Dingo,

Glad you had a good trip!

I'm taking the whole fawmily to FCO in Dec. and have a couple of questions for you. How far was the walk to the Hilton? I thought it was about 5-10minutes. Did each of you get a room? There is going to be six of us and one room may get a little small.

Do you know how far it was to the train to Rome from the Hilton? We are going to take the train over a cab/van because we land on Christmas morning. Not sure if we can get a "limo" on that day.

We booked row 1 over and row 3 coming back because all the post I read said row was great to sleep in but not as comfortable to sit in for 8 hours. Any thoughts?

Row 1 is also in a "cabin" by itself and several folks said they preferred the openess of the main envoy cabin over row 1 Any comments on this?

Thanks for the info if you get a chance to respond

longing4piedmont, with respect to the Hilton, I'd put the walk at around 10 minutes counting elevator waiting time. Get a cart for your luggage. We got only one room but gave them only one card. I kept the other as a souvenir; you get one per person in Envoy so you should be able to get more than one.

We did take the train from the airport to Termini. It was 70 minutes late which threw my schedule off a bit. To get to the train, you pretty much re-trace most of your route back to the terminal, then take another walkway. All together I'd say it is about as far from the Hilton to the train station as it is from the terminal to the Hilton. Getting to the Hilton and changing/showering got our day going so much better than had we not. This was only our second trip out of the US and we didn't take advantage of this when we went to London last year...this was soooo much nicer.

Because the train was late upon arrival we took a taxi for our return. The fare was only 42 euro after a 7 euro tip.

As far as 1 vs. 3 for reading, I would take row 1 any day given the busted equipment I had on my flight. The footrest not working meant my feet were either on the floor or dangling on part of the rest. They fell asleep a lot b/c of the lack of working foot rest. Row 1 has a 'reading' setting in the chair which we used most of the time...reading, eating, watching movies, sleeping. I did notice that the movies were exactly the same on both flights; thought they rotated them but guess not.

With respect to the openess, I would say row 3 would be ok. Do try to avoid row 5 and 6 as they are right by the galley and this is where the FA's gathered to talk. I had a tough time sleeping b/c of the talking. I personally liked row 1 by itself. If you get a or b, or g or h you can stand up without ducking as there is no overhead bin by you. Very little food preparation goes on in front of row 1 so it is much quiter. Personal opinion, but I'd take row 1 over any other row even if the chairs were the same.

Sounds like you've got quite a trip planned; a very special Christmas.

Dingo

Thanks for the info!!!!

L4P

L4P - i would echo much of what dingo said. row 1 "cabin" is by no means claustrphobic, yet "cozy" and more private. (on a recent flight to cdg, i was ALONE in row 1 - not sure why, since only 2-3 empty seats otherwise). i have been in both seats and always prefer row 1.

also, a friend (with family of four in envoy) used the hilton at fco last december. they were given an extra room based on her HH gold status. it seems as though each envoy pax should be entitled to an individual room (as another poster mentioned) - but i have no experience as to whether this is the case.