By gosh, you're right (about the F0 part, not the lying part)!

What's the impact? As PM on Delta I could confirm an upgrade 360 days in advance (when paying a mid-level discount fare or higher). Now they've taken that away from me, so I've been flying AA. I haven't taken a close look at CO because I'm not willing to pay their hub premium at EWR.

As I understand it, unless you're buying a full-fare Y, CO Elites don't clear until 5/3/1 days out anyway (and it's been that way for a while). Unless A-code availability dries up, you're going to be in line for an upgrade until 5/3/1 at the earliest, when they (theoretically) clear.

From the posts I've read here, unless you're Plat you're a longshot for transcon, hub to hub is difficult unless you're on the widebodies, and everything else is pretty decent (my standard would be 95% for Plat, 75% for Gold, 50% for Silver).

Are my standards for decency not met, or too low? Does CO hold a lot of A-class sales? Is there a lot of domestic "employee class?" In other words, more than a week ahead of travel, what does A9F0 it mean to a CO elite?

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...or passengers swim.