Originally Posted by
enesem
That stinks, it really does - empty seats yet they won't allow a points upgrade.
I feel your pain. The counterargument is that BA doesn't gain very much by letting you upgrade against the chance that it might sell those seats...and there is a strong philosophy at BA (and others, including LH) that CW shouldn't be filled to the gills with Avios upgrades at the airport. It discourages people from buying CW tickets in the first place. I have a (reasonably recent) email from a senior BA executive I know well basically spelling this out.
Interestingly, as I didn't take that last flight, I didn't get credited my avios which left me 5 points short of Silver status - even though the flight was paid.
Actually, that's pretty much a universal truth of airline FF programmes. You don't fly the leg, you don't get the points/miles. If it were otherwise, imagine how many people would book cheap and ridiculous itineraries they never intend to fly, purely for status.
It's just unacceptable to expect someone to phone in daily to see if an upgrade is available. Sometimes the wait is half an hour to even get through.
You can check online each day. It takes all of about five minutes.
It's the airline equivalent of Monty Python's cheese shop sketch.
No one around the BA board is super happy, but no one ever will be, I suspect. I wish there were better ways for me to use my millions as well.