Originally Posted by
channa
West Coast based CO Elites fare very poorly for upgrades. I got 33% last year as Plat, and some of the flights I managed to do well on no longer exist (e.g., SJC-EWR, OAK-IAH). But as of recently, even SFO-IAH doesn't clear anymore.
The worst flight I experienced was a SFO-EWR with 66 Platinums in coach. They had to do boading by status -- Plats, then Golds, then Silvers, then Rows.
Yes, CO would not be my first choice of program for top tier if I were based in California. I probably would do 1K as my primary and AS or AA as a secondary program.