<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jude:
Per CO's Rev Man, one of the driving forces for the hated 72hr rules was the lost revenue from false "john doe" bookings in J, made by folks looking to insure upgrades would clear at the gate. They tried a few others ideas first, such as a group of people who called out and reconfirmed all BF res, but I guess this still wasn't enough. Given that CO has only a J and no P cabin, the BF seats ended up with a wall around them.
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If false booksings by pax truely were a significant problem, why couldn't CO make and clearly post a rule that any cancelled BF seat would not be returned to reward inventory. That seat would become 'dead' as far as last-minute upgrades are concerned.
That would eliminate any incentive for pax to make phantom bookings, to be cancelled later. Those cancelled seats, if not subsequently sold, could then be released to non-revs, who would NEVER do such a thing as a false booking.
Any unsold seats could be "sold" at the gate (or at 24 hours or whatever), for miles, OR cash, rather than both. Priority could be based on Elite status/fare paid as it is for domestic upgrades.
I can't imagine that very many travelers with the expense account or means allowing for BF travel would prefer to gamble on last-minute seat availability. It would be a great incentive, however, for those of us who must travel on the lowest available fare, or upgrade on our own, to choose CO.