danman421

I know there have been tons of these but this is a big deal to me and I would appreciate any insight you guys have real quick. I am very familiar with the US Airways program and how it works.

I am Gold Preferred with US Airways and purchased 2 tickets (me and my wife) to go to Costa Rica (Liberia, LIR) this Saturday. We are connecting through Charlotte and its straight from CLT - LIR. My question is this, my wife doesnt fly a lot and I would like for us to get first class (who wouldn't?) but I obviously do not know if we will be upgraded. I know they are offering upgrade with mileage for 15k per person per trip but our first segment there is no mileage upgrade available, so it would be 30k miles to be upgraded for only 1 segment. A bit steep if you ask me especially when I have a good potential to be upgraded anyways.

They still have several mileage upgrades available and I have gotten out of the representatives at the preferred desk that there have been 2 FC seats actually sold.

My questions are these:

-Can I really infer anything from the fact that they still have mileage upgrades available or no?

-It is a Saturday and I cant image there are many Platinum or Chairmen flying that leg on Saturday. Maybe I am wrong?

-Does anyone have any advise they can give?

Also any other comments? I obviously want FC but dont want to eat the 30k miles just to find out I would have been upgraded anyways. Just looking for insight here...

Thanks guys!

thomwithanh

CLT-LIR should be a relatively easy upgrade as a GP ... Its a leisure route.

danman421

My thoughts exactly, I just wanted confirmation from the gods!

geo1005

[KVS Availability Tool 7.0.2/Diamond - Sabre: Availability/FS/US]

CLT Charlotte Douglas NC US [KCLT]
LIR Liberia CR [MRLB]
SAT 07 Jul 2012

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
US 1859 CLT 11:29 LIR 13:34 319

F4 A4 P4 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 N9 V9 W9 L9 S9 T9 G9 K9 U9 E9 R9

Looks like lots of coach seats left and 4 in FC.... good luck!

PHL

There are 4 seats left to sell(out of 12) on this flight. Are you at least confirmed in an exit row? I wouldn't blow the points to upgrade on an A319.

danman421

Geo, where is that information from? That is awesome! This means Chairman has gotten their upgrades and Platinum got theirs today correct?

PHL, I am in the preferred seats. Row 5. The exit rows are funky and I dont like those really, they dont have cushioning, reclining is bad usually, the seats are off center of the windows and arm rests are messed up.

Biggie Fries

You said Saturday, right? So Silver would be Thursday, Gold on Wednesday, and Platinum on Tuesday. But it is still Monday. Also, as you can see on the automatic upgrade thread, lots of CPs reporting that upgrades no longer come through at T-7 (Saturday, in this case). You may know more about this if you have been watching the seat chart in Coach and have seen preferred seats that just emptied out (i.e., got upgraded).

All this said, you are doing the right thing in waiting, and I concur with others that your chances are still good.

KVS

Don't forget to use the correct Copy option to ensure proper formatting:

[KVS Availability Tool 7.0.2/Diamond - Sabre: Availability/FS/US]

danman421

Thanks, yes I have seen some seats open up but only the front row in coach and they block those off anyways. My chances are still good even though there are 2 people to get upgraded?

PHL

Honestly, if you don't see an upgrade by Wednesday (your T-3 day mark), you might be concerned since there are only 4 seats left to sell. You can find specific inventory by subscribing to KVS (Windows only app) or expertflyer.com. These services (which cost $$) show specific fare buckets. That's how Geo was able to see that there are a lot of coach seats and only 4 F seats available as of now.

What's likely is that US held back some seats from free upgrades hoping for a few last minute full fare coach bookings (which would get first dibs at elite upgrades). They may even get some people who buy a last minute F fare (not likely).

So, if you have desirable seats in coach and are ok with flying in them, then there's nothing else to be done other than wait and see. If your wife will divorce you for not securing F seats in advance, then....maybe 30K points isn't such a bad deal.

Insiderdude

Shouldn't be a problem on the upgrade seeing it is all leisure, as others have mentioned.

No guarantees, but I wouldn't worry too much about 4 left in F.

07JUL-SA-1017P CLTLIR ET ** AC1 END
1*A#US1859 F4 A4 P4 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 CLTLIR-1129A 134P 319 0E

danman421

Thanks for all the help guys. I know this doesnt represent the seats available exactly because they do some weird stuff in the background but when I pick my flights and look at the first class seats available, here is what I see:



My first leg, ILM - CLT at 7:25 shows almost all the seats open, does this mean anything?

Then when I log in and look at my seats available, here is what I see:



Obviously I will know tomorrow, this more to help us understand when the chart actually represents.

higgies

Sorry guys, stupid question, but Central America/Mexico is considered domestic for upgrade purposes? Meaning, elites are eligible for free upgrades?

GNVGator

Unless you're hellbent on a window seat, you might want tot think about moving into 4B and 4C. Those are bulkhead seats and actually 4C gets some pretty good leg room on the 319.

Go Gators

Edit: although now looking at your other seat selections it appears that you are hellbent indeed on those seats...

kudzu

Yes. Also Canada/Caribbean

danman421, F4 availability still showing this morning (Tue). US does not oversell F as a rule, so from the screenshot you provided it looks like 3D and 3 other row 1 seats are available (row 1 seat selection is routinely blocked online).