Originally Posted by
helvetic
I'm getting pretty frustrated by the sweeps. Today, I was flying SEA-SFO booked in Y, and got upgraded as part of a sweep that filled the F cabin. They upgraded a bunch of Golds etc., too. I had to cancel and rebook my ticket 24h out, and ended up back on the same flight, 2nd on the list with F2. They sold 1 TOD and someone squeeze past me in the front of the list. Missed the upgrade being
#2 on the list.
So here I am, 1K sitting in the back, while a bunch of Golds are enjoying F up front (almost the entire F cabin was upgrades). It's kind of BS that they've designed a system that treats last-minute elite bookers like this. I miss most of my upgrades because of this lately.
I wish they'd just abolish all the sweeps and upgrade everyone at the gate based on their status—it'd be much more fair.
Completely disagree with you. There is value in being upgraded in advance and knowing you have the upgrade. I would hate to see that go away.
Making last minute changes (often by using your elite free same day change benefit or through other means) and losing upgrade priority is just part of the game.
As an elite I've lost upgrades to lower-level elites by doing last minute changes. Never bothered me for a second because I chose to make that last minute change.