With a bit of planning I should end up with zero in both my account and Mrs. Lynchpin_yyz's account (she isn't travelling much this year so she's generously sponsering me). She started with 45, I started with 35, and she'll certainly hit zero. Of course YMMV.

+1!!! omg, a wiki on how to upgrade and how to use the eupgrade system is definitely in need. this thread is so confusing.

Arguably a good thing.

At least for those of us who figured it out.

Andrew explicitly addressed that situation in post #100.

Yes, it was a few years ago but once bitten twice shy.

It was the way how AC handled it that upset me to this day.

Learnt from it and started a work around plan to avoid similar situation for myself. Worked well. However, buying Latitude on international routes to secure an instant upgrade is something of the past now with the cheap Z fare on AC and freqently even cheaper discount business class fares on other airlines.

Thank you for the responses telling me that if I decline one upgrade (mine) at the gate because my travel companion (read spouse) is not upgraded, I will not have to pay the fare difference to go back to Y. Agreed.

But the rest of my scenario remains, ie, losing the preferred seat next to my wife or upgrading without her unless the GA recognizes the problem and asks if "we" want one upgrade or leave things as they were. However sensible I think that is, it's obviously not in AC's sights.

Post 100 also says that nothing has changed in the changeover from certs to eupgrades, which I accept, along with the realization that I have never in fact done a 4 day upgrade for both of us before. So as the flight approaches when we will try this out, I am merely curious as to how it works.

I have upgraded both of us many times in the past using Latitude fares and instant upgrades. I have not done that this year (and don't have any plans to), which may be one of the unintended consequences of AC's eupgrade program (essentially more travel and status for us at the same cost as before, even if there are less upgrades).

Andrew, i dont want to challenge you but it seems to me that the following excerpt taken directly from AC.com contradicts your interpretation:
"The eligibility criteria (for the upgrades) that apply to your Top Tier status will be the same for your eUpgrade nominee."
There is no fine print.
No distinctions are made on the "transferred" upgrade eligibility criteria morphing pre or post departure day; no warning that a nominee travelling on a separate PNR foregoes those priviledges for the reservation waitlist.

Eligibility criteria = eligible fare classes + when you can upgrade; it doesn't have anything to do with the business rules of how we clear upgrades (which I can't post the full details other than what I've mentioned above).

would be great if you could post the full details, but clarification regarding your post on #127 (if you can)

airport waitlist is the one that gets resorted from the reservation waitlist which is now moved over?

and i guess the waitlist is then moved to the gate after check-in closes where there's no more different fare classes (and one could refuse the upgrade if their companion can't be moved together without paying the fare difference)

So, Andrew, this means that people we nominate receive the advantage of upgrading on the fare classes we can (the same for everyone anyway), and then our upgrade booking window however, their placement on the wait list isn't connected to the nominating member's status at all?

So, if I nominate a basic member then waitlist them at 7 days they have the advantage of being on the list 3 days before any Elite members or anyone that they nominate which means they may be cleared into R by AC in advance of the 4 day window, otherwise they will compete with the Elite members+nominees?

I think that makes sense, although the wbsite certainly gave the impression that the people we nominate continue on as having our status. By the sounds of it, this systems would work out well for nominating colleagues/family/friends who have their own status but not so much for those that are basic members.

if SE sponsors an E, will the E be on the reservation waitlist as an E? or as a guest of SE and rank lower than an E?

I interpret Andrew's responses as that if you're on a waitlist without being attached to someone else's PNR you are ranked by your own status. So for your scenario (E nominated by SE) they will be ranked as an E, not a basic.

Thought I would revisit disillusionment since I thought there would be more issues than there have been.

I think eupgrades have worked OK.

Only beefs I have are a few IT issues (usually able to overcome--e.g. problems with using 2 eupgrade accounts on same PNR) and lack of rolling 12 month window but even that hasn't really affected me. Hope to get rid of my credits and most of my partner's expiring 2012 credits by Feb 28 and then start new year with a big whack through judicious planning and good luck.:-:

over the last year have burned 26 credits from my partner's account and 117 from mine. Hope to use last of 2012 expiring ones (54 mine and 19 partner's) as well as start burning 2013 expiring ones on upcoming Argentina/Arizona trips.

So for 2012-2013, it is currently 137 eupgrade credits for me and 35 for her to start off 2013. She was only Prestige last year but made Elite for 2012 so will make hers even easier for me to use for domestic flying this year.

Summary:

Upgraded from FROM MY ACCOUNT

YUL-YVR
YYC-YVR
YOW-YUL-YYC
YUL-YVR
YOW-YUL-YYC
LGA-YYZ-YYC FOR TWO
YYC-YVR-HKG FOR TWO
HKG-YVR-YYC FOR TWO
YYC-YUL-CDG FOR TWO
CDG-YUL-YYC FOR TWO
YYC-YOW
YOW-YYC

Upgraded FROM SO ACCOUNT (all my flying domestically):

YVR-YUL
YYC-YVR
YVR-YOW-YUL
YVR-YUL-YOW
YYC-YOW
YOW-YYC
YYC-YEG (Yes really!)
YYC-YVR
YUL-YVR
YYC-YVR

Only missed upgrade request once on YVR-YOW flight that I had no choice due to other tight connections (could have flown otherwise on different route/time). All cleared by flight time although once they had to come and get me from the back of the plane to move me up.^

Tricks of the trade:

• Use my SE status to confirm upgrades
• If lots of R space and booking fare class at 4 days, cancel and use partner's credits
• Split PNRs when travelling on same ticket when can't upgrade at 7 day window so I can upgrade partner first then SE priority kicks in day of flight
• Use One-way tickets to avoid IT problems (where possible, works great on domestic

but not so great on transoceanic where Saturday stay required).

Other tricks I am aware of but not used (keep checking for R space on day of since there are issues with upgrades not clearing and going to unintended parties over SEs!)

great summary- and similar experience to mine.
not sure if the 'R on day of' has been dealt with as I haven't seen it during my holiday flights.

Having leftover fractions in your account encourages you to fly.

"If I just get this next tier, I will get 15 eUps, plus the 3 left in my account, then I can upgrade a long haul international... hmmm."

This kind of thing.

If you work it down to zero, you have less incentive to fly than if you feel you can extract a bit of extra value from the account.

I think this is the reasoning behind the awards and charges being very difficult to balance to zero.