Weird thing was said to me yesterday at SeaTac that I thought I would share with everyone. I kind of take this with a grain of salt, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

I purchased a ticket SEA-DTW-xxx-DTW-SEA last Thursday for travel on Tuesday. Obviously I was within the 5 day EUA mark for Plats but the SEA-DTW leg was already P0 F0 and Y0! (I bought the last seat on the plane - in fare bucket 'B').

When I checked in at SeaTac (thanks very much to the no fly list, I am guaranteed to have to talk to an agent every time), I asked where I was on the standby list. The check-in agents face went from smile (he always seems happy) to weird to astonishment to "holy cow". He never told me where I was on the list but said the platinum wait list was LONG. I reminded him it was the day after a holiday.

I apologized in advanced that he had to go off and call the powers that be to let me on this flight and he made a comment to me that he was going to call someone and see what he could do about a seat in F. Long time goes by and he comes back with bag tags and boarding passes and tells me he got me moved to #1 on the list. Odd as I thought I should have been #1 or 2 on the list anyway as I'm a Plat on a B fare (yes, I know golds & silvers on Y fares would have beaten me - but let's assume there were none of them). I have NO clue who he called to get my position moved.

So I inquired about this and said I was curious about how the process he worked. He told me, "Well, there's an A and B list for the upgrades at the airport. Everyone goes into the B list but I was able to get you onto the A list." Huh? Excuse me? I have no idea what he means by this and maybe the "A" list is really for employees who snag upgrades from some elites who are waiting patiently. I don't know. Either way, all 24 F pax showed up and I got no upgrade, but I happily enjoyed my exit row seat in row 40 Since I was way in the back, I have no way of knowing if they actually upgraded anyone from the plane.

Anyone else ever hear of this "A" and "B" standby upgrade list?

-RM

No, I have not heard of an A or B list, but there is some leeway, and it would make sense to have two lists if employees or others have a different order.

But I did have an experience once in DTW where the agent "re-arranged" the list. It was a while back, so things may have changed some. But I was connecting in DTW and was U/G on the first leg. Got to DTW and asked at the Gate if my U/G had cleared or where I was on the list or something of that nature. The agent got one of those funny looks on her face. And said, "You are second, but the first position is a silver, so we are going to move them back to where they belong and put you first" She also happened to have one seat open up and printed me the boarding pass.

The agent said a possible scenario was that the silver had misconnected on an earlier flight and the previous agent was trying to be nice and moved him up. However, she said that was not allowed and they had to go back in the que where they were supposed to be.

So, apparently there is a way to move people around on the list, but ultimately the gate agent has the final say.

There are several different codes for upgrading, for example Plat Elites are ahead of Gold Elites, Gold Elites are ahead of Silver Elites, Companion upgrades (even for Plat Elite Companions waiting for a gate upgrade) are after silver elites, and "mishandled pax" are after companions, then non-revs are last, in a predetermined order.

However, all these pax are put on the same list, just in a different sequence. I asked Beth about this and she emailed me in May with a more detailed explanation. It is all one list.

RC

Can a specific station create their own list system? Perhaps NW's SEA station just created this A & B list?

share, share, share

No, all stations use the same system...but placing a passenger on the list with the correct priority is up to the agent.

The priority codes are as follows:

A - Full fare F26 - standby earlier/later flight (only used if P/F sold out)
B - YUP and Plat Elite
C - Seldom used - if memory serves me it involves Biz class international certs
D - Gold Elite
E - Mileage upgrade tickets - standby on earlier/later flts (I could be wrong)
F - Silver Elite
G - Plat and Gold Companion Upgrades (no differentation btwn the Plat/Gold)
H - Used for various standby upgrade certificates (often Alaska MVP certs)
J - Used for various standby upgrade certificates

Again, the agents placing someone on the list can enter any priority they wish. In most cases, elites not upgraded in advance by EUA are already on the list in the correct priority and just must be "verified" when they check-in which activates their name on the standby list.

Vegas Agent, thanks for the list. I can't state my appreciation for the info you, and your colleagues, bring to this forum. ^

1. For the nwa.com check-in and self-service (SSD) if the Elite member (SSR ELITE in Gfax) is not already upgraded, we will offer to upgrade to First class. If we are not able to upgrade, then the passenger is placed on the PPL with the correct elite tier status.

2. The Worldspan PPL process puts passengers on the waitlist based on the time of the check-in and within type/Class. Examples of Types are Platinum, Gold, Silver, etc...) So first on within a Type/Class will stay on the top of that grouping. But since there are multiple groupings a members position on the /SPAN>PPL can and often will change. For example a -H is a confirmed psgr on the =light and they go to the top of the list, followed by -X who are mishandled psgrs, etc.

3. There isn't a history to the PPL and everything is kept in Time order (last column) of the last update.

My family took a World Vacation Package to PEK in March.

On the return flight from PEK to NRT, our daughter was told she was upgraded as her boarding pass was scanned. She was GE when the ticket was purchased, but SE when the flight actually happened. My husband and I, both PE, were on the same flight and we did not get upgraded.

Any explanations?

Wow.

And I thought every last shred of info regarding upgrades had been posted and reposted and discussed to death.

Thanks for this VA, as I said before your posts are always great!

Perhaps the OP was on the "B" list as he should have been (YUP and PE) and got moved to "A" (F26 fares) as a courtesy to give him every possible UG chance.

Was your daughter on a separate PNR? Did they only need to upgrade one person?

Yes, she flew from SFO, we flew from MSP.

I didn't question her upgrade as it happened as she boarded--she was behind me.

My husband and I were on the same PNR. There were empty FC seats--I don't know if coach was overbooked.

Do you think they had her listed as GE, which she was when the ticket was issued? This flight was at the end of March and she was SE.



If 2 PE are on the same itinerary, do you think that they would call you to the podium and ask if you would like one upgrade?

Possible that even though you and your wife were both probably listed on the upgrade PPL (passenger processing list), your names were never verified...it has to be manually done via a seperate entry from your check-in entry if done by an agent. (I mentioned this in my earlier post this topic).

My second guess is that your daughter might have held a needed seat in Y, such as one needed for a person with a disability or mother and small children, therefore it became convenient to upgrade her...she was qualified for the upgrade, no doubt, but likely not at the top of the list.

Third and final guess: the gate agent noticed you and your wife shared the same last name and only one seat was available in C so you were bypassed...granted, IF this was the case, it should have been offered to one of you first.

Fourth, and distant last guess: If your daughter booked her ticket as a Gold Elite (although you stated she was Silver when the trip actually occurred), her PNR was flagged at the time of booking as a GE. If you and your wife were GE when you booked but were PE when you made the trip (I don't know that this was the case given your info), your PNR was likely still flagged as a GE record...if she checked in .01 seconds ahead of you, she would be offered the upgrade first.

Only guesses...but one of them is probably right.

Vegas Agent
Let me join the chorus to thank you for your contributions to the list. Don't know if you worked last Saturday night. I was on an MR and flew into LAS on 525 and out on 1194. I'd have thanked you personally if I'd known who you were.
tom

I would also like to send my thanks out to Vegas Agent and the rest. Awesome info and great work.

Vegas Agent's post clearly shows what the "A" and "B" list is I was talking about - it's not actually a list at all but my priority on the standby list.

It makes perfect sense now too as the agent in SeaTac told me that since I'm on a full-fare, I should be higher up on the priority queue. Some agents at NW consider "B" full fare At least I get 150% EQM for it.

Separately...Vegas Agent has mentioned twice that you the agents need to do something manually to activate your name on the standby list. Is there more info regarding this? I'm assuming if you check-in online or check-in at a self-service kiosk, that your name is activated? This is more interesting to me for possible op-ups on an int'l flight because I think we're all pretty convinced you can still get a battlefield upgrade if you check-in online and never talk to an agent before your flight.

Thanks,
RM