Originally Posted by
intuition
I always thought gate agents chose op-ups
Yesterday, the gate agent at Arlanda specifically said "you have been upgraded to business", not "we have upgraded you to business". And it would be odd for non-Finnair ground staff to deal with this, Admittedly, I could just be overinterpreting.
However, I was once upgraded at HKG. The transfer desk agent could not believe it when I said "oh I got upgraded", and checked three times that my passport, customer number and ticket matched. So it definitely was not his doing!
Originally Posted by
intuition
(...) on one onversold CKG flight, I overheard conversion between a couple and gate agent [who] kept repeating "the computer chooses, we can't do anything about it" and "it is a better seat".
Yeah, I think it's normally done by AY, not gate staff. I guess their upgrade algorithm is under-implemented.
Originally Posted by
intuition
In theory I agree, but in reality there are some issues even if they do op-up by a strict order. If they keep overselling massively on certain routes and/or seasons, op-up will be a safe bet and elites will just stop buying J tickets.
I doubt that. Most passengers who can afford to buy J, will continue to do so (unlike people on FlyerTalk). And for passengers with economy travel policies, then higher chances of upgrades is actually making the loyalty program work.
That said, it would seem to me that elites do get upgrades before status-less. It just so happens that on some routes, there are not enough elites to upgrade.