bossku69

I've had silver status with US Air for about 4 years now (reaching platinum hopefully this year with a lot more travel) but I've never seen so many people having silver status before than this year.

I was just at PHL this morning and the line of people at the desk waiting on standby for SP was crazy. On my flight alone, there was 4 people within arms reach that were all SP asking the FA's if everyone has checked in for first class.

No wonder why there are no upgrades left. I remember even last year being on flights with empty first class seats. Not that is a bad thing for US to get more loyal customers, but just allowing anyone to become SP for a few bucks seems a bit unfair to the rest of us that have to deal with the crappy $7 box meals and half a dozen people asking if they can have your exit row seat so they can sit near a friend.

I just went to call to get the trial upgrade to GP or PP but I guess somehow I was in a trial last year and not eligible... looks like ill be doing some runs to rack up 20k miles ASAP to get to gold

geo1005

I'm not Silver.

charlotteimmigration

I am silver the old fashioned way (not free with ticket purchase) and am pretty upset, because...well, I never get upgrades anymore....most likely because of all these new silvers.
if you flew 25k to get it thats awesome, but if US gives it away, I cant blame the pax...only the airline.
Boooooo

charlotteimmigration

also before I am attacked (inevitable)

1) my job no longer has be traveling over 25k a year

2) im charlotte based

3) I refuse to pay $200 for gold simply because...why should I?

ariyo15

Just to clarify: If you're SP and there are open F seats, you are eligible for a free upgrade? Is that what you're saying? I always thought they were paid.

bossku69

if you only travel every once in a while then i wouldnt worry about it. i make about 10 or so trips a year to LA and 2 to Vegas. On that 5 hour flight, i like to be able to get some work done and is very hard in coach

if you think about it, to pay to upgrade will probably cost you MORE than what it costs to do the trial program. I believe its $150 or more at the gate to upgrade ONE WAY first class

plus if your like me... 6'3" and a big guy, those tiny seats are not that comfortable for long trips

as long as you buy them from US Air directly (not from a broker site or something like cheaptickets dot com) then if there are open seats you can request the free upgrades. if they are open 48 hours before your flight, their system will automatically try and upgrade you... you'll get an email.


In any case, just irritates me what US does. I know from a business stand point they need more loyal customers but hosing everyone else who has been loyal to them for years is a kick in the balls IMO

GotCalcio4

For what it's worth, if there are more silvers than there are open seats in F, the system will process the upgrades based on miles flown in the previous year. If you flew 45,000 miles last year and someone else flew 10,000 (but got Silver due to the free promo), you'll get upgraded before them.

dcpatti

Please keep in mind that a Silver who has qualified on actual Butt in Seat miles will trump a Silver who has qualified on a promo who hasn't flown as many BIS miles. As long as there's elites (of any level) with a higher number of miles, then the "paper Silvers" won't be getting the F seats.

The only exception as far as I know is someone who pays the "Preferred Instant Upgrade" fares which is going to trump even the CP's and if they're willing to pay, they're entitled to the seat in my book. Those Y-up fares are not usually cheap. Or possibly a Silver who books very close to flight time, when F is already full and other, lower-mileage Silvers have the seats, but now you're talking about booking the day before travel; the window for the lower-mileage Silver to take a higher-mileage Silver's seat is pretty short, so I am not sure how often that's going to happen.

So the "paper silver" who bought a $200 ticket for a 700 mile trip and hasn't flown any other US flights isn't going to take a seat away from a Silver who qualified on flying last year and has flown more. The impact might not be as bad as it sounds.

PA Pilot

Yep you beat me to it dcpatti

bossku69

Yes, but if you are any preferred member you can call and request the seat if it is open 48 hours prior to the flight.

The last flight I was on from LAX to CLT the guy sitting next to me said he called at 4am and got the open FC seat for a flight that left at 11am. I had mine (luckily somehow) on the upgrade list but I cant imagine how many other SP let alone gold, plat and CP didn't get the seat.


The whole thing that started this rant was on a flight today from PHL to LAX where a lady sitting 2 rows in front of me was flirting with the FA to get an open first class seat. He even said "i'll put your name on the list and let you know if they show up." A bit taken back, as well knowing I was probably towards the top of the list, I also inquired to which he responded that I was the 10th person so far to ask.

Right before the doors closed the last two people showed up and sat down in their FC seats and the FA came back to the woman and apologized there was no seats, to which she responded about why did she buy this Silver Preferred membership if she doesn't get upgrades lol

dcpatti

As of a few months ago, you couldn't call in to force an upgrade any more. I have heard in this forum that an agent sometimes pushes the upgrade through against policy, but I don't know the magic words to make that happen. The CP desk won't do it for me and I've found the sweeps do what they're supposed to do. How recently did this happen for you?

neotope

I think the old saying holds true more today than ever, if you want to sit up front you need to pay for it.

This year I started out as Silver and was fairly lucky with upgrades and one my first flight with Gold that has F I got upgraded to CLT and then to DFW. Of course this makes me happy but if I did not upgraded I would not be upset. If I really wanted to sit up front I woud have paid for it or I would have tried to book the ticket using miles.

bossku69

this was back in mid May. if i could find a flight with open FC seats within 48 hours, I would buy it and try it myself... but slim chance on that

neotope

I am flying CLT-DFW on Thursday and my flight still has 6 empty first class seats. By this time all Silver members should have been upgraded.

bossku69

is that a pretty popular flight?

my flights from PHL/CLT to LAX are almost always completely sold out so its really rare to find an open first class seat, let alone aisle seat