Originally Posted by
Doppy
For me the benefit was choosing which international flight to take when there were multiple options, or deciding if I should upfare to Premium Plus to get up to the top of the list. Worked pretty effectively.
Originally Posted by
zman9119
Only benefit I could see was for INTL flights or transcon and whether or not you want to buy the upgrade or risk the chance of MUA clearing. Or depending on your fare, whether or not you want to change it to increase your odds of a CPU.
Having it available farther out would save the phone agents from taking multiple calls per day from people asking where they are on the list, which I see as an efficiency (but my opinion on that aspect does not count).
If you are choosing between multiple intl flights, you won't know where you'd end up on the list unless you actually booked each one. I suppose you can book and cancel within 24hrs, but not close in.
I always figured that the further out, the lower the value of the list. Don't many business travelers (booking PP or J) book last minute or within a day or two? Wouldn't you need to be looking pretty close in for the flight for the data to be useful? If I look a month or even a week out, I might be at the top of the list, but if I check the day of the flight or even the day before, I might suddenly be alot further down the list. Or the cabin will start filling up in which case even being near the top doesnt help.
How many times have we been #1 on on the list up until an hour before departure only to find 5 people suddenly ahead of you? I rarely even look at the list on the flight status page anymore.