Clearing of the waitlist
 

Hey Guys,

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but did AC recently changed the procedures to clearing the Upgrade waiting list at the gate? I am pretty sure in previous years, the fullfilling of the upgrade requests were done prior to the start of boarding. However, the last few weeks, I've noticed that has changed.

- Gate agents don't start processing the Upgrade list until 10 MINS AFTER boading has started
- I was told if I board the plane before they determined who gets upgraded, that would take me out of the Aero-lotto draw (ie they no longer find you sitting in Econ and move you up).

Can any explain why this is done? Now if you do lose out on Aero-lotto, since you're now boarding after a good number people have boarded, you're at risk of having no bin space to place your luggage. Who is coming up with all these policy changes?

You are SE so clearly you travel a lot and have seen the change.
Waiting to see if LMU purchasers will buy last minute before giving R seats to all of us holding UG credits?
Interesting that in past posts there were no replies by Andrew. Silence = we will sell LMU before clearing the list of E-UG folk? System has major flaws!

While I can't give an answer as to how this is officially handled, I have noticed the same thing happening on a flight where I was waitlisted. Requested the upgrade at T-96 and it did not clear until at the gate in YYZ. At the gate five minutes prior to boarding, I asked the GA whether or not my upgrade had cleared. This was his reply- "My colleague is handling the upgrades and he doesn't like to be bothered". Well, par for the customer service course I suppose. However, the gentleman I asked did tell me my chance of an upgrade "looks good" as seemingly everyone left on the waitlist had cleared.

Then, boarding started, but no upgrades called/handed out yet. I continued to wait, as half the plane had already boarded, and finally went up to the "untouchable upgrade-clearer", who asked me for my name in a very put-out manner. He handed me a new boarding pass in J without making any eye-contact, much less a smile. It had been sitting on the podium the whole time, along with about five others. I wonder what would have happened if I had boarded when the initial announcement was made. Would I still have been upgraded? Somehow I doubt it according to what the OP had been told.

I sure hope this isn't a new standard procedure. Previously, if waitlisted, my name was always called anywhere from half an hour to fifteen minutes prior to pre-boarding. I say a big :td: down to this new trend.

Well written. Hopefully AC reads this and learns this is not the road to loyalty/keeping faithful AP fliers coming back. Appreciate the insight.

I am not sure this is 100% accurate.... I think they can only start clearing upgrades after the flight closes which would be 30 minutes prior to pushback, or around the same time they start boarding.

I was informed this morning on my flight by the concierge that my flight was oversold, and I would most likely be moved to the J cabin due to my status, and would be the second on the list. Only 1 J ticket sold... So either 5 other people bought LMU, or the gate only started calling out upgrades after I boarded because there where 6 in J...

The only consistant CS you will get in AC is either the concierge or FA flying QK!

This happened to me today as well. My upgrade cleared but by that time general boarding had begun. Not sure if they do this if there are too many upgrades to clear... apparently there were 20 people on the list for 9 spots.

Perhaps this is simply AC preparing for the introduction of LSU (Last Second Upgrades). Oh you have handed me a credit card with your passport and Y boarding pass...

I've noticed this on some occasions too. The announcements call for priority boarding and those needing assistance. Following that, general boarding for the back rows, and only then do we hear names being called. I got the upgrades, but I too wonder what would have happened if I just boarded with the priority group.

Was this always domestic flight?
 

I am waitlisted on YYZ-TLV and just wonder if I should stick around or go with priority boarding... Make you wonder how many times I missed the upgrades this year from YYZ (in TLV, if you attempt boarding while upgraded, they switch your boarding pass and let you in - even if they didn't announce your name yet).

I'm not sure what protocol was/is, but I can only speak from my experience. In the past- that is, up until eUpgrades were introduced- I always had a new J boarding pass in hand at least ten minutes before priority boarding was announced, if I had been on the waitlist up until the gate. Usually had plenty of time to hit up a rest room or make a phone call before priority boarding was called. However, more recently, I've experienced the opposite.

To me, priority boarding is important as I travel with a musical instrument worth in the 6-digit figures. Getting it in the overhead bin at or as close as possible to my seat is not optional. What has troubled me by my recent experience, is not being able to take advantage of boarding early for the above mentioned reason, only because I am waiting to see if the upgrade I requested had cleared. Granted, this wasn't a problem as I was upgraded, and the seat I was assigned in J had plenty of overhead bin space, even on the A330 (which can get tight in the forward J cabin- thank goodness I had seat 11G in the smaller cabin with overhead storage in the middle).

However, had my upgrade not cleared and I had missed boarding early, this would likely have become an issue. As I snuck a peek in to the Y cabin, I noticed that the overhead bins were already at or near capacity once I settled in late. It would be nice to at least know if an upgrade has cleared shortly before boarding commences. That certainly can't be too much to ask!

No kidding, I hear you there! Is it too much to ask for consistency?! This is what would make everything much more tolerable. I don't mind playing by the rules, as long as I know what they are, and can count on them being applied across the board. Heck, in the end I don't even mind if the GA's can't bother to smile or treat customers with a caring attitude. What would be nice is to simply understand the system and what to expect. Seems AC's employees can't even do that though, so we're all the more SOL....

At YYZ for international flights, upgrading appears to now be done in the MLL where people are called up shortly before boarding.

There cant be two active boarding passes for the same person. If your j pass had been printed, an error msg would have popped up when you tried to board using your y pass.

Good to know, I'll remember that if I find myself in that situation again.

3 times in the last 6 weeks I have received my upgrade from the gate agent (including one on a capacity YVR-HNL flight). One of these times I had yet to be called and, to get that coveted overhead space I went to board Y. I was unable to board with my Y pass and the GA went to the other podium and found a preprinted J pass in my name.

I suspect those who have had upgrades clear will be given J passes at the time of boarding. I am going to continue to board early and hope to be handed the J upgrade at that time. Too big of a risk to miss out on overhead space anyways!

Correct. Having said that, last week I was flying from YVR-YYZ and hung around the lounge until about 15 minutes prior to departure. Went up to the desk agent to ask if my upgrade had cleared. I noticed a long list of names (I believe of people requesting upgrades) and six names had a tick beside them. Mine was the last one ticked. He told me J was full. Then I went to board and the check-in agent got the above noted error message, so he went back to the desk agent (at which point I thought I was gonig to be upgraded), only to have him come back and tell me i'm in Y. My guess is that "my" upgrade was given to someone else.

Last month flying from FRA-YYZ I was told the flgiht checked in full in J so no upgrades. Took my bulkhead seat and about 15 minutes later the agent came on board and moved me to J - not sure if they'd do that for domestic though.

I do think AC has an issue they need to address for domestic flgihts in that boarding typically starts before the flight closes. I think they need to be more proactive in clearing upgrades when it is obvious there is open space.