tomptomp

Couldn't find another thread about this.

I'd like to know other people's experience of always getting upgraded being a Star Alliance Gold (Eurobonus Gold/Diamond) with different Star Alliance airlines.

The only one so far I've found out is a guaranteed upgrade from Economy to Economy Extra (Or plus, or whatever it's called) on United flights. It is subject to availability of course, but you can request it directly after booking via their Customer Service.

Any other airline where you've had the same experience?

Mattyb44

There is no such thing as a guaranteed upgrade...

fassy

If you consider Eco to Eco+ on UA an upgrade than this is the only Airline which does it it for Gold elites. I wasn't even aware they do it for all *G card holders, I thought only MilagePlus elites...

Anyway, probably you get bumped from that Eco+ seat to 52E on a 747 if a UA 1K or GS comes along claiming the precious seat.

SK2751

UA is quite accommodating about it, but then the difference between eco and eco+ seat is almost ignorable for me. Besides when flying westbound, it does give you a chance of going through immigration a bit faster (I think this is a much better benefit than the few centimeters of space).

livious

I would be curious to see a link showing what you claim. UA might guarantee upgrades for their own elites, but I am skeptical that UA guarantees upgrades to other partners elites. Upgrades are becoming harder to predict as each company has their own protocols. Take LH for example, they are now upgrading based on booking class instead of status. There has even been speculation in the SAS forum that upgrades could be based on alphabetic order (which I personally don't believe). Likely there is a lot of misinformation due to most people not knowing how the upgrade instruments work (or that the airlines simply don't apply them consistently). Most forum have a dedicated thread on upgrades, so you can get a feel how some airlines work.

Btw, welcome to FT.

kullis

My last United flight (Newark-Stockholm) I was the only one in my company (we were 3 people flying together) who had Gold status, and I was the only one who did NOT get upgraded to Economy+.

UltraRant

First of all, I have never heard of an airline that always upgrades their elites. It would be an incentive not to buy expensive ticket anymore for the best customers, wouldn't it?

There has not been any proof whatsoever so far that SK is actually giving their elites (or from anyone else) any preferred treatment. I've only been upgraded once this year (outside OptionTown), despite having flown dozens of times with them and despite being one of the highest ranked elites.

The last business upgrade with LH has also been aeons ago. From LH it's known that they only look at booking class and don't care about status. AC didn't upgrade me either, but my sample pool is too small to be conclusive about their opup policy. On the other hand, TP, OS and LX have been kind to me in giving me upgrades. UA hasn't upgraded me at all, but I can imagine that there is a big chance of getting opups if they also have a policy where *G is next in the hierarchy, just behind their own highest elite ranks. I haven't flown enough UA either to be conclusive on their opup policy.

Maybe you should check the UA board to find out if your suspicions on opups are true?

fassy

UA and other US Airlines offer complimentary Eco+ seating to at least THEIR Gold elites. As said before I'm not sure they extend this privilege to other *G. I was able to get the seating confirmed a couple of times, some other times it didn't work. Not sure if it is based on general availability of those seats or the phone agent your are talking to.

Anyway, I would hardly call it an "Upgrade". The Eco+ seats are just located at the front of the Eco cabin with I guess an inch or two more legroom.

Offical rule:

But I have heard from a lot of colleagues SEN, EBG are usualy granted access to those seats, latest at checkin at the airport. Interessting enouigh I was told by friend with Aegean and TK Gold they have been denied every single time they asked.

Yes, here we are again :/

As said, it is technically not an "opup", rather more "preferred seating" like you also get your selection of the better eco seats on LH as SEN or SK as EBG. The only difference is that these preferred seats are really a little bit better as they have more legroom.

SK2751

I do not think that there is any official policy of UA extending Eco+ to non-UA *Gs. The online check in system does not allow to choose the Eco+ seats for *Gs, as far as I remember. However, several times, when checking in with a UA desk on both sides of the atlantic, I hear "oh you are gold, let me see if I can't give you a better seat" and a new BP popped up. Once they even got me to J class for the domestic feeder flight on this occasion, which was quite a disappointment. I was thinking that I wasted my upgrade luck on this thing

tomptomp

My experience with UA from Eco to Eco+ has been extremely positive so far. As you all mentioned, my assumption was also that they only give it to their "own", but here are my experiences so far:

1. Flight JFK-SFO July this year. Did not even ask for it as I thought it was only for their own members. After just passing the boarding gate with my wife (not gold) the agent stopped us, said that she missed I was gold and give us new Eco+ seats

2. Flight LAX-LGA July this year, while waiting at the gate I asked for Eco+ and got it for both me and my wife.

3. Long-haul EWR-PVG (Shanghai) for later this week. Called a week ago with Eco tickets and asked for Eco+, the agent did that instantly and confirmed.

For the rest: Thank you for your responses!

Yes, I agree it maybe shouldn't be considered real opups, but a shorter line off the plane, usually less people sitting around you, etc - that's pretty much better than having a 52E seat....

UltraRant

I'll have a few (long haul) flights with UA planned in the coming months. Can I just walk up with my LH or Sk gold card and try at check in or gate? Wouldn't that be seen as extreme DYKWIA-ing?

Furthermore, I still think it's a bad practice to automatically give your best customers upgrades, as it sort of takes the incentive away to buy more expensive fares. So far I've seen that on domestic short haul the fare difference with eco and eco plus can just be as low as $9 per leg, but still... one million passengers using this privilege instead of buying it would mean a loss of $9 million.

fassy

it is an US airline... they at least pretend to value loyal elite customers. DYKWIA is much more common and actually works much better compared to European carriers. Of course you can try at the check-in but if that is not handled by UA but e.g. LH staff they probably won't give you those seats.

Best option is to call them and get a Eco+ seat assigned before check-in. In the US walking to the desk should be good enough as it will be UA staff.

About the incentive and loss of money:
I think UA understands it as a service to loyal customers flying UA instead of LH or even Delta etc and thinks it will make customers select their flight over the competition if schedule and price are quite comparable. It is better to have somebody flying and do not get nine bucks for the Eco+ seat than have then wander off to the competition and loose more money.

jfidler

I fly UA domestic a fair amount, and I always put in my OZ*G. OLCI and the kiosks at the airport do not let me choose Eco+ seats, but will happily sell them to me for $60-90 depending on the seat.

I've never had the UA agent put me in Eco+ automatically (i.e. without my asking). I've never thought to ask, but given the high load factor on all the UA flights I take, I think I'd end up with a middle seat in Eco+ and I'd prefer my window seat in Eco-.