America West FlightFund (Pre-2005 US Airways merger) - Upgrading with Miles?

I booked a flight 2 weeks ago. I tried to upgrade the flight to First using miles. I was originally told that First was empty at the time of booking. I had to transfer a few extra miles to AW to book the upgrade. I called three times and they tell me nothing available. Sounds like they are playig games. Need some info. The flight is 30 days away. Are they trying to sell every seat before allowing a F upgrade? Need info I have not flown them in years....I think I know why.

In 2003 they told me there were no meals in (f) due to 911 security issues. Now thats funny :)

Rob

HP definitely has capacity controls on upgrades using miles, much more so today than used to be the case. (The tighter limits on upgrades using miles coincided with their aggressive push to sell discounted F seats.) I suspect the minimal number of seats they allocate for your flight got snagged while you were waiting for the mileage transfer. Keep trying. Someone who has one of the seats might change their reservation.

In my experience they don't open up more seats as the departure date gets closer. That makes it tough to get one in today's environment. They'll probably sell a few, if not all of the remaining ones at their discounted fares -- that depends upon the route, time and day of the week. Those that aren't sold will go to Platinum, Gold & Silver members at three days, two days and one day out, respectively. You might try again at the point the elite upgrades start, as they may give you one for miles. The upgrade seats will all come from the same "E" fare class, so you might be able to snag one with miles three days out, ahead of a Gold or Silver member, assuming it is a rare day when there are any left.

What route, day & time are you flying? That has a lot to do with your chances.

I booked a flight 2 weeks ago. I tried to upgrade the flight to First using miles. I was originally told that First was empty at the time of booking. I had to transfer a few extra miles to AW to book the upgrade. I called three times and they tell me nothing available. Sounds like they are playig games. Need some info. The flight is 30 days away. Are they trying to sell every seat before allowing a F upgrade? Need info I have not flown them in years....I think I know why.

In 2003 they told me there were no meals in (f) due to 911 security issues. Now thats funny :)

Rob

I don't know the exact flight you are on, but most likely, at the time you inquired upon first class availability vs. the time you were ready to redeem the miles for the upgrade, the availability was no longer there. Availability can change at any moment, regardless of the number of seats actually available.

HP, like any other airline, does not give away all of its F seats away via mileage and/or elite upgrades. Various threads show that HP is selling a large number of its F seats as well, which is going to limit the availability for upgrades. You just have to keep checking until availability *might* reappear.

In my experience they don't open up more seats as the departure date gets closer.
Strange, that is exactly opposite my experiences. I always see seats opening up about 5 days prior. As a lowly silver, when flying PHX to EWR, I certainly will not be upgraded, so I always upgrade with miles on this long-haul. If I cannot get it at time of booking, I have always been able to do it at the 5 day mark.