India-based Airlines - Wonderful 9W Op-Up

So my father was traveling over the weekend back to India to visit my grandmother.

He's also a 9W Plt, so he ended up (somehow) getting a Y-award EWR-BRU-MAA, which I believe books into X-class. He routinely does the same trip in J for work as a revenue passenger, so this was one of the first times in a long time where he was in Y. Also, it's good to know that we both just made the renewal criteria, so we both recently got our new set of 5-vouchers, etc.

Either way, he goes to check in at the counters, gets his BP, and just casually enquires about J loads (fully knowing that 9W are never going to upgrade an X-fare). They tell him that J is moderately full, but give him the entire talk about him traveling on a non-revenue reservation, and how you can't use vouchers with X-class, etc. The station manager also tells him that there's a bunch of revenue pax waitlisted for upgrades against vouchers, miles, etc.

Fast forward to boarding. He goes to the boarding gate and gets paged. He goes on over to the desk and they ask him for the BP. He gives it, wondering if they're about to snatch away his exit-row, somewhat annoyed by the thought. Either way, they take it away and give him a BP for 6A.

Now, this is wrong on so many different levels:
1) There's revs still waiting for upgrades (several of whom were talking to the agent RIGHT NEXT TO HIM about the chances, with vouchers, miles, the gamut)
2) 9W should not be upgrading non-revs
3) They should at least be taking the vouchers or something

Nope. They just gave him the upgrade on a whim, without taking anything. This is extremely uncharacteristic of them, and really unfair, honestly, to the other folks there. He politely told them about that (since he's been on the reverse end before and knows the feeling), but they told him to "just keep the BP."

And we wonder why we sometimes don't get our upgrades on these sectors. Silly old inconsistent 9W... :rolleyes:

Who knows, maybe they upgraded the others too?

Yeah, I thought about that too. My dad said that nobody boarded in the forward cabin after him, and it looked like the rear cabin was already full when he got in. That isn't to say there wasn't necessarily a K seat open (sometimes can be hard to see over the divider)... But still... Weird, to say the least.

Maybe your dad has a magic 9W upgrade line that he isn't telling you about! :P

Darnit. I need in on that secret. I sometimes have trouble making revenue J reservations, let alone mysterious and random op-ups.

Yeah, I thought about that too. My dad said that nobody boarded in the forward cabin after him, and it looked like the rear cabin was already full when he got in. That isn't to say there wasn't necessarily a K seat open (sometimes can be hard to see over the divider)... But still... Weird, to say the least.

how full was business????

I have been flying 9W frequently between CCU - BKK since past 2 months..
Hv just reached silver level and thats nothing great since this sector usually has atleast 20-30 Plats and > 40-50 Golds on each flights ( most are traders/ couriers)..and the flights are almost always full..

So, I was pleasantly surprised when during boarding they upgraded me to J ..

Another time, I had one voucher ( sufficient for upgrade to J) and as I was travelling with wife, requested them to give another comp upgrade if possible .. We wanted to sit together so I told them if they do 1 comp upgrade, I will take the other by giving the voucher.. This too they did in the gates..^

change of heart at Jet?

I've had at least 2 instance in the past few months (domestic) where op-up should hv happened but they still collected the voucher since we'd asked for a voucher upgrade earlier.

change of heart at Jet?

I'd say this is a lot less likely and it's probably just more the fact that they were too lazy to follow protocol. Then again, I certainly won't be complaining if they ever "forced" me to take a J seat. :p

@Keyser - btw, it ended up being a full flight across the board. Really surprised that these flights are going full from May itself. Kids are still in school in the US...

Really surprised that these flights are going full from May itself. Kids are still in school in the US...

Why are you surprised? May has always been peak season for US-India directional traffic as most Indian schools are on vacation till June.

Rough guide to seasonality is below. Other than Feb/Mar/Nov, its pretty much busy in one direction or the other.

Jan : Ind-US
Feb : Quiet
Mar : Quiet
Apr : Ind-US
May : 2-way peak
Jun : US-Ind
Jul : 2-way peak
Aug : 2-way peak
Sep : Ind-US
Oct : 2-way peak (depends on Diwali dates)
Nov : Quiet
Dec : US-Ind

Thanks for that list. I'll try to keep it in mind going forward; totally forgot about the Indian school holidays.

Managed to sneak in a comp upgrade on HKG-BOM today..

Sweet talked the guy at the HKG transfer desk.. He kept saying it's not possible and I persisted a few times so he made a call and made the upgrade.

Seems like a change of heart! Fingers crossed it lasts :)

Guess new way of jet rewarding loyals, no business class redemption but free upgrades :p

...........
Another time, I had one voucher ( sufficient for upgrade to J) and as I was travelling with wife, requested them to give another comp upgrade if possible .. We wanted to sit together so I told them if they do 1 comp upgrade, I will take the other by giving the voucher.. This too they did in the gates..^

change of heart at Jet?

I've had at least 2 instance in the past few months (domestic) where op-up should hv happened but they still collected the voucher since we'd asked for a voucher upgrade earlier.

That's weird A2A, because last month i was travelling CCU BKK and had requested a voucher upgrade 2 weeks in advance. at the check in counter, the staff told me that they are making it a comp upgrade as the flight is full and won't take my vouchers even though I had requested an upgrade.. it seems to the exact opposite of what you have mentioned here...

Simz

That's weird A2A, because last month i was travelling CCU BKK and had requested a voucher upgrade 2 weeks in advance. at the check in counter, the staff told me that they are making it a comp upgrade as the flight is full and won't take my vouchers even though I had requested an upgrade.. it seems to the exact opposite of what you have mentioned here...

Simz

maybe my experience was before they had the change of heart ;) I've anyways reduced flying on them so I am less of a loyal I guess now :P

Same as A2A... it's the beginning of the end for our family with 9W. Either way, good to see that they're starting to do something for the (at least currently) loyal customers.

Maybe your father was the politest one at EWR - that's why they gave it to him...

I know the EWR staff well (not that I fly them very much), and they usually follow protocol, but as humans they might have reacted to pains in the a** who might have been demanding/insisting on the upgrade.

Maybe your father was the politest one at EWR - that's why they gave it to him...

I know the EWR staff well (not that I fly them very much), and they usually follow protocol, but as humans they might have reacted to pains in the a** who might have been demanding/insisting on the upgrade.

I guess this could be the reason. I detest the folks who hound the check-in/gate-staff for the upgrades.

Personally, I should admit that I've done it once (not hounding - just persistency), and that was just because I had already gotten the confirmation email from JP multiple days in advance, so I found it ridiculous that they weren't going to honor the email. After all, the miles were being taken from the account as well. Either way, a few persistent (but polite) requests to the check-in agent, station manager, and gate staff went a long way!

flying 9W - BOM-LHR tomorrow.. lets see if I can sweet talk them to op-up from J to F!! will report back.. but i have had no luck whatso ever with upgrades (op-up/voucher/miles.. u name it) on domestic sectors.. BOM-DEL, BOM-BLR, BLR-DEL.. none..