Originally posted by MRJ1964:
Lots of times, 15 minutes prior to departure when we start to clear the PPL, we call someone's name only to find that they have already boarded. Since we don't have time to run down to the plane, see if they still want their F upgrade, then run back up to the desk to clear them off the list and run back down to the plane to give it to them then run back up to call the next person, we bypass them and call the next name.
This is exactly the sort of thing that annoys me the most. I mean, even Continental seems to possess the advanced technology to print out the list and go find the appropriate people on the plane. This has happened on nearly every CO flight I have been on, but NW is baffled. So many "policies" only seem to exist at the whim and convenience of the agent. If the agent is busy, which is
always, policy goes out the window. What is the point of it all?
I had a
supervisor at DTW tell me that regardless of whether I am already checked in, that I must present myself to the gate agent if I hope to get an upgrade. The reason being that the gate agent will invariably be
too busy to call out names, and will give the upgrade to anyone firmly known to be in the gate area. Another time, apparently even this process was too fraught with uncertainty, as I watched (from the back) an agent finish working the flight and promptly appropriate for herself a vacant seat up front. I guess I didn't make much of an impression.
I mean, come on. I seriously don't mind not getting an upgrade if it is going to someone with higher status, since those are the rules. Unfortunately, I've come to learn that I can't trust NW to abide by even the simplest of its own rules if doing so should require a modicum of effort, and that is sad.