MilesBuzz! - Which airline still offers unlimited upgrades for Platinum?

After millions of miles almost totally on Delta, I now realize that I am not all that current on upgrade benefits for top level flyers on the other carriers. DL, as most all know, is going to start rationing upgrades in 2004. Even if they back off this terrible idea, upgrades will be effectively rationed due to increased use of RJ's as well as all coach Delta Shuttle equipment in many markets, effective April, 2003. Thus, options need to be considered.

AA would be my first choice, but even at the top level they also seem to restrict the number of free upgrades. It appears that CO is still unlimited. Is this correct, and does anybody know about their plans re all coach equipment? Any thoughts regarding any major domestic carrier would be appreciated. Thanks

I believe CO, NW, HP and AS offer unlimited free upgrades for even lower-level elites.

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Vasant

Just to clarify for AS Mileage Plan Members:

MVP Unlimited Upgrades:
Anytime on full Y or YAS fare, OR 48 hours prior to departure for all other fares

MVP Gold:
Advance confirmation for First Class travel using the Unlimited Upgrade benefit: Anytime, Any Fare

The caveat here for MVPG's is that for SEA-BOS, IAD, MIA and EWR flights, sometimes it's a major challenge to get an upgrade... even when booking four months in advance!

USAir still gives unlimited upgrades for their top tier. May be inconvenient for you out of Portland http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BigLar:
USAir still gives unlimited upgrades for their top tier. May be inconvenient for you out of Portland http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif</font>

Although, not so with the UA code share.

AA will only upgrade for free if you are flying FULL FARE coach. You do however get 4 500 mile upgarde certs every 10.000 miles flown.

If you want unlimited free upgrades AA is definitely your worst choice

NW is by far the best at it (though F class is maybe the worst?)

Unlimited upgrades regardless of ticket class purchased.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnG:
AA will only upgrade for free if you are flying FULL FARE coach. You do however get 4 500 mile upgarde certs every 10.000 miles flown.

If you want unlimited free upgrades AA is definitely your worst choice </font>

Close, but technically not exactly correct. You have to be on a Y (full fare economy) or B (moderate discount) fare. Deeper discounts are not eligible for this benefit (which, as of two weeks ago, applies to all elite levels but with different request windows.)

Top-level elites also get eight one-way systemwide upgrades per year, called VIPOWs. These are capacity-controlled on overseas itineraries but not on trips entirely within North America.

On balance, I'd say AA is not the best if your goal is free upgrades, but probably not the worst either. If you're comparing with Delta, in my experience the lowest AA fare plus the cost of purchased upgrade credits ($40 per 500 miles, if you get them on the Net or over the automated phone system; $50 per otherwise) has consistently been less than the cheapest upgradeable DL fare, without the risk that your upgrade won't clear and you'll have paid the higher fare for nothing.

I'm Plat with AA and I've never heard or gotten 4500miles for 10K flown
All I get for 10K flown is 4upgs worth each 500miles=2000miles..............
anything I'm missign?

Thanks all. That's what I was afraid of, even though I was hoping that you could tell me some good news I'd missed. There may be a lot of CO and NW in my future, although you have to wonder , now that DL is matching AA etc., if CO and NW will join the trend,especially in view of their deal with DL. Thanks again

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Colombo:
I'm Plat with AA and I've never heard or gotten 4500miles for 10K flown
All I get for 10K flown is 4upgs worth each 500miles=2000miles..............
anything I'm missign?</font>

Colombo -
What John was saying is that for every 10,000 miles flown, you get 4 of the 500 mile upgrade certificates (ie. 4 500 mile upgrade certificates, notice no comma between the 4 and 5). There is no 4,500 mile bonus.

Hope this helps
Mark

I am mainly a domestic flyer and switched over to NW from AA when NW was willing to comp me to the equivalent level.

So far this year I've flown 10 domestic segments on mainline aircraft (i.e., no upgrades possible on the 2 CRJ segments) and been upgraded 9 of the 10 times.

F on CO and NW is not quite as nice as AA, but it's only a modest amount less and so far I've been extremely happy. Especially since, even if I hadn't upgraded the short ORD-MCI types of legs, I would have spent $720 on upgrades so far (18) and earned only 4 back.

But I admit that 1) I fly heavily domestic, and 2) I am big enough across the shoulders, especially, that I really hate flying in coach.

Steve

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Colombo:
I'm Plat with AA and I've never heard or gotten 4500miles for 10K flown
All I get for 10K flown is 4upgs worth each 500miles=2000miles..............
anything I'm missign?</font>

JohnG never wrote 4,500 miles. There's a space in there, or 4x500 miles.

As Mrs. Robacker told us in high school, punctuation matters! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Efrem:
JohnG never wrote 4,500 miles. There's a space in there, or 4x500 miles.

As Mrs. Robacker told us in high school, punctuation matters! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Thanks Efrem, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ....While we are at it, surprised nobody picked up on my typo in upgrade (upgarde)....i.e. "I only get upgrade certs, what are those upgarde (pronounced up-guard) ones ? Are they only issued to Air Marshalls ? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">JohnG never wrote 4,500 miles. There's a space in there, or 4x500 miles.

As Mrs. Robacker told us in high school, punctuation matters! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

Just to pick nits with a fellow nitpicker (and not that I was confused by JohnG's upgrade explanation, mind you), JohnG should have written "four 500 mile" upgrades instead of "4 [sic] 500 mile" upgrades.

Shame on Mrs. Robacker for not telling you to spell out numbers from one to nine!

And that's the English lesson for the day.



[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited 01-28-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cAAl:
[b] Just to pick nits with a fellow nitpicker (and not that I was confused by JohnG's upgrade explanation, mind you), JohnG should have written "four 500 mile" upgrades instead of "4 [sic] 500 mile" upgrades.

Shame on Mrs. Robacker for not telling you to spell out numbers from one to nine!

And that's the English lesson for the day.
</font>

No, it's not.

If one is truly going to nit-pick, it should be "four 500-mile stickers," with a hyphen. Adjectival phrases that modify a following noun should be hyphenated to avoid the confusion that results from usage such as "a well trained dog," where it is unclear whether the dog has been trained well or if it's been trained a bit and is also healthy. The exception is when the first word of the phrase ends in "ly," as in "badly trained dog." There is such a thing as a well dog, but there is no such thing as a badly dog.

And now, we return to our regularly scheduled programming ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Efrem:
No, it's not.

If one is truly going to nit-pick, it should be "four 500-mile stickers," with a hyphen. </font>

Umm ... No, it shouldn't, because they don't give out stickers any more. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Right back at'cha ...

Mook

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The future of US domestic air travel:
"Please watch your head as you exit the aircraft."

Sounds like we "road warriors" are screwed regardless of carrier. With DL's new plan, I'll be over 200 segment-upgrades SHORT!!

They want me to pay $8-10K additional for upgrades, pay a higher fare, AND get a much lower level of service than just a few years ago...

Airline CEO's must go to the same business school as ML Baseball owners. MLB owners need protection from themselves against paying the players too much. Airlines need the road-warriors to prop up their business model of selling seat to infrequent travellers for less than the cost of operation.

I will take my instant gratification with Continental - 98 % upgrade regardles of fare basis - Platinum 100K+ actual/year

Nothing comes without a cost - you need to budget your redemptions at the higher rate, the just are not available at the reduced "advertised rate"

Moved my but off of Delta due to the LUser policy on upgrades - I just hope that not many people accept the most recent changes

I was under the immpression that no airline upgrades Transatlantic flights for Platinum.

Does someone consistantly upgrade?

The real question is where do you fly and how much is international instead of USA domestic. As an example for 60%+ international to Europe or South America and the rest US domestic then AA would have you in the Business or Domestic first cabins most of the time for the least amount of money overall. For 50%+ international to Asia or Australia and the rest USA domestic the UA would be the lowest overall cost. For primary USA domestic then NW, AW, AS, or CO is probably depending on you home airport and routes traveled. To understand the cost of upgrading you must consider not only the cost of individual upgrades but also the cost of fares and the rules associated with those fares. I flew CO some last year and while the upgrade was free, the cost of fare higher than UA or AA and the value of the miles earned was lower, i.e. poor redemption ability. So when looking for the best program for upgrades, which I do, you must look and the total package that any given airline is offering and how that fits your particular flying pattern. So what is best for me may or may not also be best for you. IMHO. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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dallasflyer

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by slawecki:
I was under the immpression that no airline upgrades Transatlantic flights for Platinum.

Does someone consistantly upgrade?</font>

Yes. A few small international airlines that fly 3-class planes over the oceans often give free FC upgrades to top elites booked into business class.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by slawecki:
I was under the immpression that no airline upgrades Transatlantic flights for Platinum.

Does someone consistantly upgrade?</font>

You are correct, all this "automatic" upgrade stuff solely applies to domestic travel.

Obviously, the higher your status and the fare class paid, the better your chances are of being upgraded to a higher class on an international 3 class plane, should the plane be heavily overbooked.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnG:
You are correct, all this "automatic" upgrade stuff solely applies to domestic travel.

Obviously, the higher your status and the fare class paid, the better your chances are of being upgraded to a higher class on an international 3 class plane, should the plane be heavily overbooked. </font>


We're not talking Operational Upgrades here, but walk on as a Platinum.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by slawecki:

We're not talking Operational Upgrades here, but walk on as a Platinum.</font>

Huh ? My answer is a response to your question.
No "automatic" or "walk on" upgrades on long haul international flights., however your status CAN get you upgraded if the flight is overbooked.