Originally Posted by
LWkitty
I have found that to be the case this year as well that upgrades aren't being processed until right before boarding. The exception being if an instant upgrade fare is purchased with U inventory available. No big deal to me, really.
I did have an unusual experience yesterday, though. Traveling with my husband to Puerto Vallarta, and I was added to the upgrade waitlist, but he was not, despite our being on the same PNR. Luckily, the nice gate agent in LAX fixed it for us and we both cleared. No one was sure how that happened.
The problem is that the fact that they aren't clearing until the gate means that there are no U available during the auto upgrade window. And from what I've seen lately they aren't available for a long time before that window too. So now those gold guest upgrades are really hard to use. You have to basically agree to pay the higher price in the hope that when the flight takes off the first class seats haven't all been taken.
In the past you could watch out for U inventory and only pay the difference in fare then (but still way in advance of the flight). This is another thing pushing me to look at AA this year. I will have several Qatar airways business class flights where each R/T will give me a new status level. Combine that with Jetblue having Mint JFK->Sea in the near future and I may be ditching Alaska soon.