True, this will facilitate the step of moving from a WL for confirmation to R class (in PNR) prior to check-in, to the gate control standby list for upgrade.

Remember, there will always be those who will only apply to be placed on the WL at the airport (e.g., those who booked under another marketing carrier's code/codeshare, etc.), and others who may choose to be placed on standby to voluntarily downgrade back to the Y cabin at the gate and give up the R-class confirmation without having to pay any additional fare (e.g., original booking class no longer available; avoids having to pay additional fare collection to return the eUpgrade credits and revert back to Economy).

So the mix can remain volatile right to the end.

Yes, but this is not the same thing as there being one single waitlist. According to Andrew, "Beginning with the launch of eUpgrades in the airport on March 1, 2011, all waitlisted upgrade requests will be automatically transferred to our airport standby list. This means that you will no longer have to re-request your upgrade upon check-in if it hasn’t already cleared." (Source: OP in the thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...m-changes.html).

In other words, the waitlist transfers to the airport automatically, but this does NOT mean that the same rules/priorities apply before and after said transfer.

^ Hence the requests for a comprehensive answer from an official source. I agree with Andrew that they can't win -- someone will dislike whatever AC comes up with. But I also agree with Allvest -- whatever those rules are, can we please just know what they are?

Sorry, I mixed you up with Allvest.

Andrew's answer is clear in the case where the companion has no status on his/her own. In which case companion is lower priority.

One might read it as meaning that if the companion has status, it's that status that counts even if the credits come from the companion? But the answer was not really detailed on that point.

(Not that it matters to me. My wife has currently no status.)

thanks for the improving clarity, but i still look like this :confused:

That may be the rule but not necessarily the practice at the gate.

In my case, I didn't think that person was a deadheading captain. The reply from customer relation to my subsequent "complaint" was simply that AC employees in certain stituations might have priority over a confirmed upgrade. It appeared to me that it's more than just deadheading captain were entitled to this privilege and GA had discretion on who to be upgraded first and last.

No, I did not receive any compensation, not even in miles.

How long ago was that? It currently seems that gate agents no longer have much latitude to help their friends anymore.

(Could have been high level AC executives. But I would think in more recent times they would be smart enough not to let themselves indulge in this either.)

Let's hope this one clears it up:

Prior to departure day:

- If SE and basic on the same PNR, both will get SE priority on the reservation waitlist and you will only clear if there are 2 R seats and you're next on the list.

- If SE sponsors a basic on a seperate PNR, the basic member will NOT get SE priority on the reservation waitlist.

Airport waitlist:

- EVERYONE clear according to their own status. There's no such thing as guest of SE ranking higher than guest of E.

And we have a very comprehensive audit process in place especially since the introduction of eUpgrades so the chances of a GA jumping the list is very very unlikely.

Thanks Andrew,
I think I've got it figured out now - although you didn't explicitly cover one case: an example of which would be Elite and SE on the same PNR, using the Elite's eUpgrades, waitlisted for an upgrade prior to departure day.

I think that the result is: both will get E priority on the reservation waitlist and you will only clear if there are 2 R seats and you're next on the list.

If that interpretation is correct then I think it's easy to summarize the waitlist ranking as:

Prior to departure day:

- If two on the same PNR, both get the priority of the upgrade credit's owner on the reservation waitlist and you will only clear if there are 2 R seats and you're next on the list.

- If one person on PNR, priority is based on their own status no matter whose credits.

Airport waitlist:

- EVERYONE clears according to their own status, no matter whose credits.

Sorry if I'm incorrect and have further muddied the waters!

That is really a shame. I was lead to believe by AC staff that i could sponsor my wife and daughter (who have no status) and they would benefit from my SE status for upgrades.
Andrew states this is incorrect; so what is the big deal about the "new" sponsoring feature if my non-status guest pax will end up being last in line for upgrades anyways?
Wrongfully lead to believe that i had been granted an SE perk that actually had value to me...

What I read in Andrew's answer is that if there is R inventory available when you request an upgrade for a non-status nominee, then it will be confirmed. However if there is a wait list, the non-status nominee sits at the bottom.

If there is R space open when you request the upgrade, then your non-status nominees can claim it as if they were SE themselves. Seems like the issue is on the waitlist only, when the R space is all gone. So I think this is still a significant benefit... it's just a matter of how to balance off the benefit of upgrading your non-status companions against the drawback of SE's and E's being bumped to the back by non-status pax getting upgrades.

Clearly we need an authoritative, comprehensive FAQ to deal with this. I'm inclined to start on it but it's complicated and I just don't have the knowledge to complete it myself. There are too many complicating factors (what are the many possible tie-breakers between 2 SE's vying for 1 last seat, etc.) As you point out, the value of the nomination benefit hangs on how the upgrades are prioritized.

You are correct and it is what it is...apparently.
We are 6 week into the program and 2 separate agents "confirmed" to me this week that the upgrade system for sponsoring worked as follows: the sponsored guest is assigned the SE's aeroplan number for upgrade purposes. Special classes they just went through to learn the new system it seems.
Listen, i'm quite disappointed since as far as i was concerned, this was a very well thought out perk for SE's.

With all due respect, if the perk worked out as you thought it should, there would be a whole lot of SE's who would think it was very poorly thought out. As many have noted before, the perspective on what is and is not a properly-designed upgrade system is overwhelmingly coloured by the class of seat one's bum is occupying at the time of the observation...

I still don't have an answer to my previously posted questions, viz:

"At airport WL time, it seems very possible that I (as an E) could get upgraded but not my spouse (no status). From what has been posted here, I can't refuse the upgrade without paying any Y fare difference and losing my seat next to my spouse. Right? AC - not good for relationships! Can an escape clause be built in? Would a sensible GA ask me first? Can I put my spouse in the J seat instead of me?"

This has been answered: at the gate there is no need for original inventory, just a seat in Y.