How to request and eUpgrade questions
 

After reading through this thread, I have some questions/concerns.
http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/howto.html

1. If I want to upgrade someone at the gate, currently I can upgrade anybody. Can I still do that, or will these people need to be either on my PNR or one of the four I designate?

2. Today as long as I am confident that I will have the certs when needed, I can upgrade as many flights as I want as soon as I want. It now looks like as soon as I request an upgrade (whether it clears or not) the eUpgrades are taken from my account. If correct, that means that our ability to upgrade flights far in the future is likely to be severely constrained since most of us won't have that many eUpgrades in our account at any given time.

3. If I cancel a waitlisted eUpgrade, how quickly will my points go back in to my accounts (see 2. above)

4. Given that Aerolotto upgrades normally don't clear until after a flight closes, how does AC expect the gate agents on a domestic 777 flight to be able to board all the passengers and have the time to do all the keystroking required to upgrade a dozen or more passengers within a half hour of departure - I assume there will be a lot more work for the GA than simply lifting a Cert. My concern is that there will be a lot of flights leaving with empty seats in J because the GA didn't have the time/desire to process all the upgrades.

5. Noticed this little ditty: If you cancel an upgrade, "Note that if your originally purchased Economy booking class is no longer available, you may need to pay the applicable fare difference." In the past, my only punishment for declining an upgrade because I decide to use the Cert for something else was that I probably lost my orginal seat and could get stuck in a middle seat at the back of the plane. Now I get that and could end up paying hundreds of dollars for the pleasure of not upgrading. ...???

The more I read the fine print, the better I like this program. :rolleyes:

1. You will no longer be able to upgrade anyone flying on the same flight. After February 28, 2011, you will only be able to sponsor the upgrade of one other traveller on the same reservation with you.

Source: http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/share.html

2. If you want to sponsor upgrade for more than one traveller on the same reservation or someone not on the same reservation with you, you will have to add them as your Nominees.

3. For Nominees who are non status and not travelling with you on the same reservation, the earliest that you can request an upgrade is 7 days in advance with a Latitude fare.

Source: http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/howto.html

4. It’s my understanding that the eUpgrade Credits will be deducted from your account as soon as the upgrade clears, and simultaneously re-credited back into your account when you cancel. Therefore, you will no longer be able to hedge multiple upgrades as in the past unless you actually have the eUpgrade Credits in your account.

If my understanding is incorrect, please advise.

On point #4 - I guess people who are still flying AC will have to wait and find out the hard way! Let's see what happens starting in March. Hopefully things will be smooth but one never knows ...

#5 has always been true I think. I'm not sure how many times it's actually happened mind you (I certainly don't recall anyone here posting that this happened) but I suspect that in 2011 we'll see much more stringent application of this "rule".

Your credits would be deducted as soon as you requested for upgrade and be placed on the WL. I had a request made on YYZ-FRA-MXP when R=0 for the YYZ-FRA segment. My credit disappeared as soon as I requested the upgrade. It took a few days for them to open up the YYZ-FRA R seat and my upgrade cleared a few days after my credit were deducted.

This is worse than I have thought.

In the past, if I have only one cert. left, I can request an upgrade on both the outbound and the inbound to see which one clears first. Alternatively, so long as I can find someone on the same flight (but not necessarily on the same reservation) willing to use one of his/her cert. for my upgrade, I am fine.

Another convenience discontinued. Thanks to those who insisted on electronic upgrades.

Clipper your point #3 is incorrect (bolded section is the correction):

Here is the official verbage:

Your eUpgrade Nominees

As an Air Canada Top Tier member, you will be able to share your eUpgrade Credits with other travellers, known as eUpgrade Nominees, even when you are not travelling with them. Your nominees must be Aeroplan members.

The number of eUpgrade Nominees depends on your Air Canada Top Tier status.

Air Canada Top Tier Statuse / Upgrade Nominees
Air Canada Prestige/ 1 nominee
Air Canada Elite / 2 nominees
Air Canada Super Elite / 4 nominees

If you qualify for a higher Air Canada Top Tier status during the year, your list will automatically be updated and you will be able to choose additional nominees, on top of those you had previously selected.

Selecting your eUpgrade Nominees

To select your Nominees, simply:

- access your eUpgrade account, or
- contact Air Canada Reservations.

You will be asked to provide your Nominees' name and Aeroplan Number. This information will be used to authenticate them as eligible nominees when you request an upgrade for them.

Once you have completed your list of eUpgrade Nominees, you will not be able to change it. However, you will be able to deactivate a nominee if you no longer wish for them to use your eUpgrade Credits, and reactivate them if you change your mind later. Please note that deactivating an eUpgrade Nominee does not enable you to add an additional nominee.

If an eUpgrade Nominee is not currently an Aeroplan Member, they can visit aeroplan.com to create an account. If your Nominee prefers to accumulate mileage with another frequent flyer program, they should add their Aeroplan Number to their reservation prior to the upgrade being requested, then change their frequent flyer number upon check-in. This will not affect their upgrade request.

Validity of your list of eUpgrade Nominees

Your list of eUpgrade Nominees will be valid until February 29, 2012 (inclusively), which marks the end of the 2011 Top Tier benefit year.

You can request upgrades for the nominees appearing on your list expiring February 29, 2012 until that date (inclusively), regardless of when travel actually takes place, so long as you have valid eUpgrade Credits in your account.

Requesting upgrades for your eUpgrade Nominees

As an eUpgrade account owner, you will always be responsible for requesting an upgrade for your eUpgrade Nominees. The eUpgrade Nominees themselves cannot request upgrades using your eUpgrade Credits.

Make sure you complete your request ahead of your nominee's travel date while remaining within your applicable booking window. We also strongly recommend that you complete the request:

- by accessing your eUpgrade account, or by
- contacting Air Canada Reservations.

To request an upgrade at the airport for an eUpgrade Nominee, you as the account holder will need to be present at time of check-in.


http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/share.html

Please refer to this link for Upgrade Booking Window, not how to register a Nominee:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/howto.html

The following chart displays your booking window, based on both the fare class purchased and your eligible Top Tier status.

Upgrade Booking Window

Latitude Booking class:
Y, B
Super Elite Anytime
Elite Anytime
Prestige Anytime
No statusWithin 7 days
Customers who do not have Top Tier Status can request an upgrade within 7 days of departure.

Tango Plus
Booking class:
M Super EliteWithin 7 daysEliteWithin 4 daysPrestigeWithin 2 days Tango Plus

Booking class:
U, H, Q, V, W, S, K, L, T Super EliteWithin 7 daysEliteWithin 4 days

But your section does not talk about "Nominee", just a person with no status (and dont even ask how they have eupgrade credits to being with). Perhaps someone should fire an email or message to AY

Here is AC's definition of a Nominee

"As an Air Canada Top Tier member, you will be able to share your eUpgrade Credits with other travellers, known as eUpgrade Nominees, even when you are not travelling with them. Your nominees must be Aeroplan members."

http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/share.html

The only non status flyers who are entitled for an upgrade to be requested are the Nominees, and it only matters when they are not on the same reservation as the sponsor.

Who else?

What non status flyers could AC be referring on that web page?

All eUpgrade Credits expire on the last day of February, 2012, regardless whether you re-qualify for 2012 in much the same way as the current paper cert.

I am thinking Latitude / eupgrade credits / no status.... would that be designed to replace those paper Regional upgrade booklets people could purchase before?

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin.../upgrades.html

I see where you are coming from, it is a conflict of info from AC.....

This is indeed an unexpected wrinkle - not only have upgrade opportunities been dramatically cut, but in addition, the credits will be taken out of play merely by making a request. It's a real double whammy when you have so few to play with in the first place.

Andrew?

Don't supposed we could get an official explanation for this?

Question:

If a nominee has no status how do we upgrade them? Can we upgrade them according to our status?

If a nominee is not travelling with us, does it affect when we can upgrade them?

IMHO the new system is fair and in line with other carriers. United pulls the electronic cert once the upgrade is requested confirmed or waitlist. This process ensures multiple upgrades are not requested with member having only one cert.
I am one of those who wanted AC to go to Eletronic upgrades.

As I have posted before, for my travel pattern, the new e-Upgrade is a major enhancement, first in since 2004,when I moved some of my travel to United.

Agreed that this is the way that it should be.

My reaction is more of a sigh..... another loop hole has been plugged.

Agreed. This is definitely fair and how the system should have been. I'm just a bit concerned about the speed in which the credits are deducted/returned. If it's instant or near-instant to get them returned if you choose to cancel the upgrade or WL, then there won't be any concerns.