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 used credits on my last MKE-SFO, partially based on your inability to receive a comp upgrade. Incidentally, my wife and I both got free elite-ups on our return flight SFO-MKE, but it was a red-eye.
As for where my elite-ups were processed before I even approached the podium, I don't recall for sure, but I think it happened at MSP, BOS and maybe DEN. Maybe once at MKE, but I dno't know for sure. Remember that all of this is anecdotal, and it there are a lot of variable that determine how it's done...including who is working the gate, how full the flight is, etc.
One other incident...I was at checking in at the counter (at BOS I believe) and the counter agent disputed that FL even offered comp space-available biz class for elites. Apparently she must never work the gate or was not informed of the policy, which started dang near a year ago if I remember correctly. Weird, because I ended up flying in Biz free that day.