Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - How exactly do upgrades work?

I was just curious how upgrades actually work. I have a flight tomorrow and haven't been upgraded. There seems to be room in first (according to reservations on their website). At what point does Alaska upgrade me? How is the order decided (other than status)? I guess I bring this up because for what ever reason I thought that if there was room within 72 hour you would be upgraded.

I was just curious how upgrades actually work. I have a flight tomorrow and haven't been upgraded. There seems to be room in first (according to reservations on their website). At what point does Alaska upgrade me? How is the order decided (other than status)? I guess I bring this up because for what ever reason I thought that if there was room within 72 hour you would be upgraded.

Upgrade space has to be available. Just having first class seats open does not mean you will be upgraded. Also there may be higher level elites waiting for upgrades as well.

My two cents: If there are seats in the U bucket at 72 hours or closer to departure time, then you should be upgraded.

What's probably happening in this case is that open seat(s) in F are being held out for the possibility of being purchased. Hopefully at some point they will be released to U if they don't sell, and you'll be upgraded. The time for this varies from flight to flight based on yield management.

Suggest initiating the OLCI periodically and see if the Upgrade to First Class link presents itself. If not, then terminate the OLCI process and try again later. Some have reported success at the kiosk when arriving at the airport. Others have asked nicely when checking their bags and scored the upgrade. Still others have asked nicely at the gate and gotten the cherished F seat.

I can't remember the priority listing for "who gets upgraded when" off the top of my head, but if you want to try and search for it here, I bet you could find it. Or someone else can post the details.

The correct inventory for upgrades has to be available. Even though first class seats may be available for sale, they may not be available for upgrades. Alaska will likely open up more seats for upgrades closer to the departure mark, when they are sure they will not sell those seats. For the same reason, higher elites above you on the upgrade list may or may not have been upgraded yet.

Interesting. According to expert flyer there is 1 U seat available, but when I check in and click upgrade to first class it says there is nothing available.I'll poke around here and see if I can find a thread that explains how they prioritize the upgrade list. Thanks!

Have you tried calling in? My last two times my upgrade didn't process at the 72 hour mark despite apparent U availability so I called in. One time they went ahead and processed the upgrade manually. The other time they said that I should wait a couple of hours to see if the system would do the upgrade and then call back if it didn't. (It did). Couldn't hurt to give them a call.

Interesting. According to expert flyer there is 1 U seat available, but when I check in and click upgrade to first class it says there is nothing available.I'll poke around here and see if I can find a thread that explains how they prioritize the upgrade list. Thanks!

Hmm, so I bet they have either fixed the upgrade loophole, or are working on it. That upgrade link use to give you the upgrade, regardless of where you were on the upgrade list.

Hmm, so I bet they have either fixed the upgrade loophole, or are working on it. That upgrade link use to give you the upgrade, regardless of where you were on the upgrade list.

Nope. As I understand it he is talking about U space available at 72 hours before departure--which means he as a MVPG and is eligable for the upgrade if U space is available. Last month I to called in at 72 hours out seeing U space was available and they upgraded me over the phone since "the system" had not automatically processed the upgrade.

The online checkin upgrade happens within 24 hours before departure, when everyone on the flight can check in, and offers upgrades to elite members--and according to many, not always according to the upgrade list--thus the line cutting "upgrade loophole" :(

Nope. As I understand it he is talking about U space available at 72 hours before departure--which means he as a MVPG and is eligable for the upgrade if U space is available. Last month I to called in at 72 hours out seeing U space was available and they upgraded me over the phone since "the system" had not automatically processed the upgrade.

The online checkin upgrade happens within 24 hours before departure, when everyone on the flight can check in, and offers upgrades to elite members--and according to many, not always according to the upgrade list--thus the line cutting "upgrade loophole" :(

The OP mentioned that the flight is "tomorrow" so I'm guessing he/she is within the check-in window and therefore this does have to do with the former loophole, as opposed to not being cleared at 72 hours when space is available.

The OP mentioned that the flight is "tomorrow" so I'm guessing he/she is within the check-in window and therefore this does have to do with the former loophole, as opposed to not being cleared at 72 hours when space is available.

Is this really a confirmed former loophole now? When did it get fixed?

Is this really a confirmed former loophole now? When did it get fixed?

sometime in mid-July.