US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Help for newbie re: ITN website

Help me out here if you please. Newbie SP trying to maximize my chances of UG.

If I pull up a flight and see: F7 A7 P7 E5, what does that mean?

I am traveling CLT-TPA Thurs, returning Sunday - on my flight down, I (and my wife) are already confirmed in P, which I think means I paid full fare for that leg. On my return flight, we're in Q, which means I may upgrade starting Saturday at 12:01 AM, right?

Thanks for the help...and sorry for what I suspect are easy questions. I need to spend days reading this whole site before my next trip, but who has days?

Help me out here if you please. Newbie SP trying to maximize my chances of UG.

If I pull up a flight and see: F7 A7 P7 E5, what does that mean?

I am traveling CLT-TPA Thurs, returning Sunday - on my flight down, I (and my wife) are already confirmed in P, which I think means I paid full fare for that leg. On my return flight, we're in Q, which means I may upgrade starting Saturday at 12:01 AM, right?

Thanks for the help...and sorry for what I suspect are easy questions. I need to spend days reading this whole site before my next trip, but who has days?

First, welcome to FT, DeacDiggler.

The bucket that is most important to you for upgrade purposes for Q fares is the E bucket. P bucket is immediate upgrades from Y/M/H fares.
You should already have your F seat assignment for your outbound.

The US computer day actually begins at 1 AM EDT.

The US2 upgrades will drop on Thursday morning for a Sunday flight. Your eligibility starts at 1 AM on Saturday. If you don't clear in advance, the last seat upgrades are based on preferred level and time of check-in.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help...can you possibly explain those ITN codes? What does F7 A7 P7 E5 mean? Thanks again!

Thanks for the help...can you possibly explain those ITN codes? What does F7 A7 P7 E5 mean? Thanks again!

F, A, P, ane E are all First Class codes. F is full fare first. A is discounted first. P is upgraded from full fare coach. E is upgraded from discounted coach.

Of course, THAT part I had been able to find. It's the NUMBERS that have me confused. Should I interpret F7 A7 P7 E5 to mean that there are actually 26 seats open in F? Or does it mean that there are 7 seats available, to go first to people who pay for them (F/A), then to full coach upgrades (P), and then only 5 to go to discount coach upgrades (like me - in Q)?

Suppose no one buys those seats and for some reason no one upgrades from a full fare...does that mean that they would upgrade only 5 of us from discount fares and leave 2 seats in F vacant? That seems dumb, but then again, I am talking about an airline.... :D

Thanks again for the help!

Of course, THAT part I had been able to find. It's the NUMBERS that have me confused. Should I interpret F7 A7 P7 E5 to mean that there are actually 26 seats open in F? Or does it mean that there are 7 seats available, to go first to people who pay for them (F/A), then to full coach upgrades (P), and then only 5 to go to discount coach upgrades (like me - in Q)?

Suppose no one buys those seats and for some reason no one upgrades from a full fare...does that mean that they would upgrade only 5 of us from discount fares and leave 2 seats in F vacant? That seems dumb, but then again, I am talking about an airline.... :D

Thanks again for the help!

Ahh yes, the "how do I read these" questions.. this has been answered thousands of times and I know one of those times was myself asking, so I'm returning the favor back.

Lets take your flight, which is showing F7 A7 P7 E5.

Lets start with the basics. This CRS output has a ceiling of "7" - if the actual number is above 7, it will show you seven. If its below 7 it will show you the actual number. Some CRS's use 9's, some use 7's. US is 7, UA is 9 IIRC.

Now, about how to figure out the FC chances based on those numbers...

No, seeing F7 A7 P7 E5 does not mean that there are 26 FC seats available. F7 states that at least 7 F fares can be sold; likewise for A7.

Since US does not sell E or P fares these are used as upgrade inventory. If you are on a Y/B/M/H ticket on the outbound you can be immediately upgraded to FC if as long as there is availability in the P class. On the return since you are on a Q fare this can only be upgraded if there is E availability and during the ugprade windows or at the gate.

Theoretically US could still sell at least 14 FC seats (7F, 7A), upgrade at least 7 full fare pax, and upgrade 5 roach fares. But the occurence of this happening is VERY unlikely as most US FC cabins aren't that large.

What you'll see happen when they start to fill up the FC cabin is that they will zero out the E bucket in order to allow the F/A fare fares to be bought and get seats. For instance, the 757 with 8 FC seats will zero out the E bucket fast as they want people to buy the F/A fares and to have seat assignments. Then you just have to wait until you get to the gate or pray that inventory control goes through and clears people waiting for upgrades. OTOH the 321 typically does not forcefully zero out the E bucket unless they're expecting an aircraft substitution or other situation.

And then there's clearing at the gate. If I'm correct once its in the gate's control it doesn't matter what the E or P buckets were - as long as there's seats then people that can support the upgrade (via purchasing the FC Upgrade at the spot, via paper upgrades, or via Preferred Status) will get upgraded.

Hopefully this explains things. If I wasn't clear on anything, let me know. ^

The number that is shown in a bucket for US will never exceed 7. When it shows 7, there are at least 7 seats available in F.

Typically, on a 733/734/319, the following formula is used;
F-1=A
F-2=P
F-3=E.

This can vary based on prior and anticipated utilization and yield of a specific flight. Some flights will show no upgrade capacity at the windows due to an expectation of lots of last minute ticket sales.

In your case, F7 A7 P6 E5, there are probably 8 first class seats still available. If someone buys 2 FC seats, you'll see the information change to F6 A5 P4 E3. The same thing will happen if two US2s clear 3 days prior to the date of travel.

Thank you....that was exactly what I was trying to figure out. That "7 ceiling" was confusing me....it didn't seem to matter how far out I looked, there were always only 7 seats available in any class!

Interesting info w/r/t the "zeroing out" E seats. That's tough to follow, but I think I get it...if I'm on a plane with 8-12 FC seats, then my only real chance of getting an upgrade is to get it at the airport, right?

So final question (and thanks again for the patience) - how do I make sure I'm in the best spot on the UG list? Do I: 1) call at 1:01 AM the day before I leave? 2) Check in online? or 3) Check in at the kiosk at the airport? And 4) Do I need to ask the gate agent again to make sure I'm on the list? I hate to be a pest, but I really don't like cramming into coach.

Thanks!

Thank you....that was exactly what I was trying to figure out. That "7 ceiling" was confusing me....it didn't seem to matter how far out I looked, there were always only 7 seats available in any class!

Interesting info w/r/t the "zeroing out" E seats. That's tough to follow, but I think I get it...if I'm on a plane with 8-12 FC seats, then my only real chance of getting an upgrade is to get it at the airport, right?

So final question (and thanks again for the patience) - how do I make sure I'm in the best spot on the UG list? Do I: 1) call at 1:01 AM the day before I leave? 2) Check in online? or 3) Check in at the kiosk at the airport? And 4) Do I need to ask the gate agent again to make sure I'm on the list? I hate to be a pest, but I really don't like cramming into coach.

Thanks!

You can put yourself on the upgrade list ahead of time - even now. And when the 12:01 (12:20 usually actually in my experience) rolls around, you can check to see if your upgrade went through. If it did clear, check-in any which way you want. If it didn't clear, check in online at the 30 hour mark. When you get to the airport, check-in with the GA and make sure you're on the upgrade list. Then just hope.

F6 A4 P5 E0 Y7 B7 M7 H7 Q7 V7 L7 W7 S7 T7

^^^there are the buckets as of right now for my flight Sunday morning at 9:30 on a 319. Any thoughts as to how to interpret this?

My take: if there are 6 seats available in F, then I'm competing only with CPs and GPs for seats....considering how many seats are available on the rest of this plane. Am I off base? Thanks again!

F6 A4 P5 E0 Y7 B7 M7 H7 Q7 V7 L7 W7 S7 T7

^^^there are the buckets as of right now for my flight Sunday morning at 9:30 on a 319. Any thoughts as to how to interpret this?

My take: if there are 6 seats available in F, then I'm competing only with CPs and GPs for seats....considering how many seats are available on the rest of this plane. Am I off base? Thanks again!

Yes there're 6 F seats left available for sale. 4 of them are being offered at discounted F. 5 of them are currentlyopen if you're upgrading from Y or B fares (M too?). There are currently zero seats available to be upgraded from other fares. They might open some E seats in the next day or two, but more than likely, you'll have to wait until the airport to be upgraded.

My take: if there are 6 seats available in F, then I'm competing only with CPs and GPs for seats....considering how many seats are available on the rest of this plane. Am I off base? Thanks again!
You are also competing with other SPs - that's a reason to put yourself in the upgrade waitlist ASAP before your window, and if you don't clear at your window (which you won't if E bucket remains 0) to on-line check-in ASAP after the 30 hour mark to give yourself priority at the gate over other SPs who check-in later than you.

Then again, you are also competing with air marshals, people who actually BUY First Class seats at the last minute, people rerouted onto your flight from being bumped off another fligjht who might be given a courtesy upgrade, etc.