Originally Posted by
jimrpa
I saw a reference to "phantom upgrades" and I've seen prior references to them. I know they were some kind of Northwest program, but exactly what were they? Were they essentially op-ups for elites? Were they only used in oversells? Were they just "Gee, the business class cabin has a few open seats, and Mr. JimRPA is standing here in front of me, so I'll just hand him a business class boarding pass and make his day because I'm in a happy mood" thing?
As was explained to us at the RTW/DO last year, the first rule of phantom upgrades is you don't talk about phantom upgrades. The second rule of the phantom upgrade program is, you DO NOT talk about phantom upgrades ...
Basically, if there were empty seats up front on int'l flights, they'd sometimes take the top 3 or 5 medallions and give them gate upgrades. It wasn't a published benefit, and wasn't anything you could ever count on, but was a really nice bonus thank-you gift for those medallions. Many of us feel that would go a long way towards making us happy, without the downside that terrifies revenue management, i.e. cannibalizing premium sales.