Originally Posted by
sbm12
My last name starts with an M, so I'm not winning that way. For the majority of my Florida trips the tickets were purchased no more than 2 weeks in advance. Only very few were purchased 2-3 days out. So on average it was 6-10 day advance purchase fares. The rest of the trips (IAH, UIO, ATL, ANC) were purchased 1-6 months in advance, but still on very low fares, and the flights that upgraded mostly came through at 5 days out. If anyone boutght their seats after I did they were probably buying a more expensive fare, so they would've received the upgrade ahead of me, assuming they were platinum. I'm sure I was lucky this year, and past performance is no indicator of future results, but this was a good year for me and proof that statistics only mean as much as you want them to, especially when evaluated in isolation and/or without all of the statistics available. I'm sure that CO could run a report on the number of EUA seats granted based on fare class purchased very quickly. I think that it would trend towards higher percentages on the higher pare buckets overall (I know I'd never get upgrades on the transcons or most mid-cons on an X fare), but the bottom of the scale isn't so small a collection of upgrades as to be a statistical anomoly either.
S.
Maybe you could distribute a limited edition sbm12 lucky charm and some of your mojo could rub off on the rest of us...
But seriously, you mention that it has been a "lucky year" but if the stated criteria for upgrades actually apply then luck should only play a very small part in your upgrades.
It does seem odd that, given the fact that you're buying low fares and not necessarily with much advance purchase, that your upgrade percentage is so much higher than the other EWR-based plats who have responded here.
After all, does it not seem likely that there are many other plats whose travel fits precisely the same pattern and yet they appear to be scoring a much lower rate of upgrades? What would you surmise the explanation is?
I certainly don't find it surprising that you are being upgraded (and I'm happy for you!), but the much higher percentage of upgrades seems inconsistent with the stated criteria regarding upgrades, given the fact that many of your fellow plats seem to be upgraded much less frequently.