Originally Posted by TheMan
I ALWAYS put myself on waitlists for upgrades as the flights I want are NEVER available for milage upgrades. I normally ask about the upgrade process at the end and I have been told DOZENS of different things, from the fact that your upgrade could clear right up until the flight to the fact that it drops off 3 days prior to the flight and all in between. Needless to say, I NEVER get an upgrade when I am on the waitlist if it hasn't cleared before the platinum upgrades start to hit. PERIOD. So I ALWAY ask them to take me off of the list and refund my miles and they NEVER charge me.
How can it be that TODAY, in this COMPUTER AGE, a HIGH TECH(or low tech) company that flys big planes and has web based ticketing systems, etc. CAN'T TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE ON THE WAIT LIST?????!!!!!!
Anyone else ever have fun w/this?
There seems to be a lot of confusion on this point. Perhaps I can clarify.
There is a difference between the "Wait" list for reward upgrades and the "Standby" list for Elite upgrades. If you have not cleared the "Waitlist" by the day before travel you will NOT clear it at all. As you know standard mileage reward seats are capacity controled inventory and can be difficult to get. These rewards even when you take the mileage out are not technically eligble for "Standby" upgrade....either you clear pre day of departure or redeposit the miles.
Day of departure is where the "Standby" list comes into play. The "Standby" list is ordered by Elite status with the exception that a full PAID fare FC passenger going to the top of the list. The "standby" list is where the "Battlefield" upgrades cvome from. When you buy the upgrade with miles on top of a low fare think of it as using a certificate that is only vailid if a certain fare is available. The "coupons" are NOT eligible for getting on the "Standby" list.