Really, really basic question that I don't want to start a new thread for:

I request an upgrade for a flight at the 4 day mark, upgrade doesn't clear. Do I keep my original seat in the back?

Bonus question:

Does the answer to the first question change if I try to upgrade at the 24 hour mark for online check-in?



We actually have decent seats in the back for our flight, I don't want to lose them and/or have to pay a fee just because my upgrade doesn't clear.

You will keep your seat assignment unless your upgrade goes through.

However, if you change your mind and refuse the upgrade at the airport (?!), your seats could be picked up by any other traveller and you'd be on your own.

Excellent. A 15 hour flight is a 15 hour flight, I can't imagine us changing our minds!

Where this becomes a problem is if you get upgraded on a short connector flight followed by a longer flight.

For example, flying YVR->YYC->FRA. In the old days, I would decline the upgrade on the YVR->YYC portion if my YYC->FRA upgrade hadn't cleared. No way was I going to waste an SSWU on a 1 hour flight. In the new system, this becomes more difficult, though in my case I don't even bother putting in for an upgrade YVR-YYC

In reality this should be a moot point on many routes. If you decline your upgrade, there will often be someone else waiting for an upgrade. In effect, you're just trading seats.

But it's not a moot point. As has been pointed out in several other threads, if you actually get the upgrade and then try to downgrade again, you will have to pay a fare difference if there is nothing left in the fare bucket you originally bought from. That difference can be pretty harsh if you are forced to go from W to Y or B.

I think that one also has to pay the "fare difference" if the original booking fare is no longer available. For example, one is booked in H but only Y is available when one changes the mind, one must pay the fare difference between H and Y. Changing mind can be expensive. It's more than just losing your originally assigned seat.

I guess I wasn't clear. I was trying to imply that it *should* be a moot point, even though it is not. I understand the economics behind various fare buckets and the like in the lead up to a flight's departure (even though I think most of it is barnyard droppings) but the fact remains that you have purchased an economy class seat on that aircraft for that flight.

This is especially true if someone else gets upgraded because you decline your upgrade. In effect you're trading your business class seat for their economy seat. The net cost to the airline is nil, the net benifit to the airline is increased because they now have two happy passengers rather than one happy one and one angry one.

The only situation where I can see this being a problem is where economy class is full, and there is no one on the waitlist for upgrades. How often does this happen? I don't know, but in that case I think the option should be to either take the next flight or just keep the upgrade.

I could see refusing the upgrade if travelling with my spouse and only one of two upgrade requests comes through. I would try to pass it to my spouse, but there is achance we would want to travel together, and thus the possibility of turning down one upgrade when two had been requested.

I can't believe AC would do this! In the cert days, I had seen people who had booked upgrades and had them come through, only to show up at the gate without a cert, or more often, with the wrong colour cert. There was never any doubt - they would be bumped to the back (economy) but they were not asked to pay an additional fare.

Is refusing a cleared upgrade request covered in the eUpgrade T&Cs?

Just to clarify (hopefully last time ) - this has ALWAYS been the policy. If you choose to downgrade prior to departure, you would have to be rebooked in your original booking class; if such booking class is no longer available, you will be booked in the next available one hence the fare difference. If you choose to downgrade at the gate, it would be a simple seat change back to Y since all the transactions at the gate are not based on booking class (just like even if it's R0, all available J seats are made available at the gate for upgrades). Obviously your original seat won't be guaranteed and it'll most likely be gone. This topic has just never came up on FT as I don't recall more than maybe 1 or 2 posts here in the past 10 years where one of you have chosen to downgrade prior to departure date after the upgrade is confirmed; now that the policy is put in writing, some of you think it's new when in fact it's not.

And what happens if you choose to downgrade but Y is oversold at that point (at the gate) ?

Being a troll is a good suggestion?

I have not been successful on many occasions on M fares doing the E upgrade window. The only thing I hope is that AC (with the exception of the concierge override for an SE) is following proper protocol for the pecking order of upgrades. Sometimes I have a sneaking suspicion that things aren't done properly, but I hope I'm wrong in this regard.

But having said that, I have been pleasantly surprised once NRT YYZ when I got my ug at the gate after going on the waitlist at the 96 hour window.

What harm would there be in changing the policy such that if there was someone who would be upgraded if you were to decline the upgrade, you simply trade seats? this way AC winds up with two happy customers, and it costs the airline nothing. The person who declined the upgrade is getting an economy class seat, just like what they paid for, and the person who winds up with the upgrade gets a business class seat like they were hoping for.

Andrew. Please clarify the waitlist priority as to SE,E guest if same
Nominee of SE and E, both in the initial process and at the gate