Originally Posted by
abcxyz
Do you get upgraded in your status as soon as you achieve the miles or do you have to wait? Are domestic and transcont upgrades (viz. Asia) difficult on CO without paying? Or can you just use miles?
The effects of the status kick in the day after the flights credit. If you are going from nothing to elite you have to have your OP number re-added to your existing reservations to make the automatic upgrades start working 100% correctly.
As an elite there are no co-pays on domestic mileage upgrades. There are co-pays on international mileage upgrades for everyone, regardless of status, unless you are on a full Y fare.
If you are flying a lot out of EWR you will not see a ton of free upgrades as a Silver elite. Nor will you see many (any, really) upgrades as as silver on transcon routes. You will likely see upgrades on destinations that are more leisure traffic, but there is no guarantee and all the higher elites will get them ahead of you.
Try reading the FAQ sticky at the top of the forum; most of this information - and lots more, too - is in it.