America West FlightFund (Discontinued Program) - What's your experience with 30-hour upgrades?

Note-- thread title edited to reflect new merger info

I'm on a Friday morning JFK-LAS flight in a few weeks, and want to upgrade. Has anyone had any luck with upgrading starting 30 hours in advance (which in this case would be 3 am)? Is there usually availability and do the AWA customer service people know what they're doing? Thanks

I'm on a Friday morning JFK-LAS flight in a few weeks, and want to upgrade. Has anyone had any luck with upgrading starting 30 hours in advance (which in this case would be 3 am)? Is there usually availability and do the AWA customer service people know what they're doing? Thanks

I guess I need clarification please. Do you mean as an flight fund elite? I would assume most of these seats do infact sell out, and there is usually probably only a few at most seats available for elites, with Plats probably getting them first.

Ian

Sorry-- I was referring to paying for upgrades under the "First Rate Today" program, as described here:

http://www.americawest.com/awa/content/travelplanning/firstclass/firstclassupgrades.aspx

I have no status other than Silver Preffered on US. I don't think that will matter as this flight is in early Oct.

JFK is a tough route to do that on, as a lot of seat sell. LAS is typically ligher than PHX, though, so you have that going for you. Is it the overnight flight? That increases your odds, as it is not a popular flight with elite flyers.

Don't be so sure about US Silver not getting you a free upgrade, if available. Based upon what they've said, I won't be surprised if elite benefits apply right away. It might require making phone calls to make it happen, but I suspect they'll be making that part of the program on both sides as quickly as possible.

Thanks for your reply. The flight is a Friday a.m. flight prior to Columbus Day weekend, so I'm sure that won't help. As for Silver Preferred, it will be interesting to see how AWA approaches it. The merger will be only about a week old at that point; I'll definitely be agressive in trying to do it either way.

JFK is a tough route to do that on, as a lot of seat sell. LAS is typically ligher than PHX, though, so you have that going for you. Is it the overnight flight? That increases your odds, as it is not a popular flight with elite flyers.

Don't be so sure about US Silver not getting you a free upgrade, if available. Based upon what they've said, I won't be surprised if elite benefits apply right away. It might require making phone calls to make it happen, but I suspect they'll be making that part of the program on both sides as quickly as possible.
At this time US elites will NOT be able to upgrade on HP flights...however that will probably change with the next policy change in November.

The upgrades are pretty easy to do..you can call and I think you can also do it on the internet if you check in there. Also the kiosks offer it if it is still available. Yes most agent know how to do it....though some new ones don't ...lol.

At this time US elites will NOT be able to upgrade on HP flights...however that will probably change with the next policy change in November.

The upgrades are pretty easy to do..you can call and I think you can also do it on the internet if you check in there. Also the kiosks offer it if it is still available. Yes most agent know how to do it....though some new ones don't ...lol.

Not true. US elites wont automaticly get upgraded, but you can put in a special service request and then it will get auto upgraded with in the allowable period. After day one US and HP elite members will be able to get free upgrades.

Not true. US elites wont automaticly get upgraded, but you can put in a special service request and then it will get auto upgraded with in the allowable period. After day one US and HP elite members will be able to get free upgrades.
That's news to me, we just got trained on the day one procedures and they told us upgrades were not available yet for US elites. I'll check on it though...

Under the new policies released today, US Silver Preferred can get upgraded starting 2 days in advance on HP flights starting October 5th. I'm flying JFK-LAS on October 7th, so I'll call HP tomorrow and see if I can "substitute" my US Silver Preferred number with my FlightFund number (no status whatsoever).

I have a feeling this will be a pain. Any other ideas?

Under the new policies released today, US Silver Preferred can get upgraded starting 2 days in advance on HP flights starting October 5th. I'm flying JFK-LAS on October 7th, so I'll call HP tomorrow and see if I can "substitute" my US Silver Preferred number with my FlightFund number (no status whatsoever).

I have a feeling this will be a pain. Any other ideas?

You just give them your US number instead of your HP number and they can upgrade you.

You just give them your US number instead of your HP number and they can upgrade you.

I called Am West on 9/27 with this request and the customer service rep told me she tried but the compute would only accept freq flier numbers in FF form. I'll try again after 10/1 when the reservation systems are supposed to be integrated.

I called Am West on 9/27 with this request and the customer service rep told me she tried but the compute would only accept freq flier numbers in FF form. I'll try again after 10/1 when the reservation systems are supposed to be integrated.

There you go. It is going to be working really soon.

I called Am West on 9/27 with this request and the customer service rep told me she tried but the compute would only accept freq flier numbers in FF form. I'll try again after 10/1 when the reservation systems are supposed to be integrated.
The upgrades for US elites will be effective 10/5. The reservations systems will not be integrated for a while yet. On 10/2 you can book US flights on HP's website and vice-versa, maybe that's what you mean?

The upgrades for US elites will be effective 10/5. The reservations systems will not be integrated for a while yet. On 10/2 you can book US flights on HP's website and vice-versa, maybe that's what you mean?

Yep-- that's what I mean. I thought it was 10/1. And even though the upgrades were effective 10/5, I thought that was for flights starting 10/5, so they would be able to start processing upgrades for elites prior to that. I guess I'll just try 10/2 and then again on 10/5.