Originally Posted by
MKE Sam
I'm curious - where (which airports) have you had the upgrade processed prior to your request, and do you have a sense of the upgrade priority?
I took a week off from NW/Delta and flew FL this week.
10/5/09 342 MKE to SFO - Checked at the gate 40 minutes prior to departure; no BC available.
10/9/09 343 SFO to MKE - Called the elite line at 12:01am EDT to do the 4 credit upgrade and was told that BC was full.
I am now convinced that my FL travels are best served by short-haul routes where most PAX are too cheap to pay the $49 upgrade fee.
I have been upgraded prior to asking once for certain, and I think at least one other time. The definite case was for PNS-ATL; the probable case (new BP handed to me 15 seconds after I walked up) was on LGA-ATL.
Replying to Newsmanhoss, I usually walk up to the podium ~45 minutes before boarding to ask when they will be ready to process complementary upgrades. Sometimes I get "come back in 5 minutes", sometimes they are already full, and sometimes they process me right then.