Originally Posted by
jsloan
Why should UA care if people are SDC'ing to get upgraded? They were going to upgrade somebody anyway. The only reason an SDC would net an upgrade is if the SDC'ing passenger has a higher status / fare class than somebody on the waitlist; UA presumably is happy to reward that person's loyalty.
But that's the thing: United doesn't actually want to upgrade anyone. If a person in E+ who doesn't believe he'll be upgraded SDCs at T-1 to a flight 3 hours later, as per an example someone mentioned above, that's one less upgrade and/or seat United can sell on the later flight.
And, the "sell more TODs" sword cuts both ways -- people are less likely to strive for UA status if they feel they'll never be upgraded. You can see that attitude already on this forum, especially from SFO-based passengers. Presumably, UA would rather keep their business than lose it to the competition.
SFO-based passengers are seeing fewer and fewer upgrades because the Bay Area is absolutely awash in cash. If the airlines have their way, the SFO situation will be the future systemwide, not a problem that needs fixing.
Again, I'm not trying to be an apologist for United. I noted my objection to the changes a couple days ago. But anyone expecting the current upgrade model to get any better over time is dreaming. Everything airlines have been doing in recent years has been with the goal of fully monetizing F and J.