Hi everybody!
I need to fly from LAX to ITO by the end of the year. The only carrier that offers a non-stop flight is United. All the other carriers are either LAX to HNL to ITO or LAX to OGG to ITO. All of my friends have told me to avoid United and just fly the carrier that has the inter-island business for a more pleasant flight experience.
The last time I flew on a commercial flight was in 1974 from LAX to HNL on United in first class. I was minor at the time on a family vacation. Back then, flying first class was a nice, pleasant experience. It seems that times have changed for the worse over the past 40 years, especially at United on domestic first class.
A friend told me about FlyerTalk and I have been avidly reading the various threads to learn as much as possible about the booking/boarding/flying process. I cannot imagine the ordeals that some of you FlyerTalk frequent fliers have been put through. Thank goodness in advance that I don't have to fly often.
There have been several threads recently about passengers booked in the first class cabin being downgraded at boarding time into the Economy/Coach cabin.
I had been planning on flying (first class cabin) LAX to ITO by booking a P or Z fare. I have no status and I would pay using cash, no miles, etc. The several recent downgrade incidents have given me pause about booking on United.
I have watched the United Flight Status & Information for flight 1004. There is a tab that shows United First Upgrade Standby List. Sometimes there are only 3 or 4 on standby into First Class. Other times I have seen 11 or 12 folks on standby into First Class. Several times I have seen some of the standby folks not get upgraded (I assume no seats were available) and get left behind in Y? You can see this after the flight has taken off if folks got upgraded or not.
There seems to be a lot of Golds, Plats, 1K's, Star Alliance, Global Services, etc fliers and let's not forget the FAM passenger from time to time.
So my question is that if there are more status upgraders wanting to move up into the first class cabin than seats available, could I be downgraded to the regular economy/coach cabin since I bought a P or Z fare and have no status?
