<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by venk:
CO is clearly unmatched for domestic upgrades especially if you fly bargain fares. The upgrades are free and automatic. However, you really need to be at Platinum level to get upgrades most of the time. Silver is pretty much useless for upgrades unless you fly an almost empty flight. Even at platinum level it is not 100% guaranteed for some routes unless you pay full fare in which case it is automatic.
CO uses some rules on when they release the first class seats. For most routes, you get upgrades on the published schedule for different elite levels. On some routes, the last two or four first class seats are not released until the last day. To their credit, they almost always fill up the first class seats by the time the flight leaves.
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Individual experiences are always very different. As a silver, I saw 70% upgrades and as a gold, 100%.
FWIW, Golds also receive automatic upgrades for full-fare coach tickets.
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Within each level, your upgrade chances appear to be based on fare paid and not on how early you booked so if you fly on cheap fares, upgrades are not guaranteed for the last one or two seats available even at Platinum levels. CO flies a lot of 737s on their routes and so do not have too many first class seats on some routes.
Fare class does not matter, with the exception of a full Y fare.
See:
ITYT | Library : Airlines : Continental Airlines (CO) : All about EUA
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