It was not that long ago.UA 863 use to originate in JFK as late as fall of 2011 as PS service.

I always take the PS service to SFO to connect to my SYD flight. I use to take the PS flight before the 863. UA discontinued it just recently.

AC could do a sterile transit at YVR without requiring those YYZ passengers to go through CBSA formalities at YVR if it wants but it just couldn't be bothered with it.

In the old days, YYZ passengers on CP8 from HKG and CP4 from NRT did not have to clear immigration and customs at YVR. They cleared when they arrived in YYZ.

Ok then...

Jane is flying A to C via B. Jane requests upgrades for segment A to B and segment B to C. Segment B to C clears, but segment A to B is waitlisted. Jane "paid" to be upgraded the whole trip.

Jane originated at A, so can she be a "connecting passenger"?

Wow, 6 pages in less than two days, in the dead heat of summer. Who would have thought?

For all those who missed the YYZ FT DO back in June, we did cover this EXACT topic and had some interesting discussions (especially from some very seasoned fliers). Since many of the people commenting on this thread are (or near) YYZ, based I would suggest making an effort to come out to the next DO and hash out some of these answers.

Oh and btw the consensus was that connecting pax have priority. Just like connecting pax will be accommodated during IRROPS leading to hotel/food vouchers, while point of origin pax will not.

So, when I am originating in CDG, then connecting on to AC33 from YYZ to SYD, as an E50 do I have a slightly better chance of upgrading than people originating in YYZ? I hope my question makes sense. It will be a long way in Y if I am not successful with the e-up.

Yes you'll likely be at the top of the E-50s upgrading for the flight, only someone connecting for South America would come out ahead, but of course below the E-75s and SE-100s.

Do we actually know that? Everything on here is either speculation, or "the concierge told me so". And if, as we assume, the computer runs the upgrade process, I'm not convinced the concierges would know what the priority is.

For all we know, connections could trump status.

I seem to recall a story on here where a concierge noticed an SE was low down on the upgrade list, so "forced" the upgrade, preventing someone else with lower status, but higher on the list, from getting an upgrade.

My theory is that as soon as someone starts making adjustments to the list (which, from my experience, seems to happen more often than I'd like), all bets are off.

Well her B to C (i.e. connecting segment) cleared, so who cares? But even if it hadn't, she wouldn't be connecting. Again, the reasoning behind the connecting "rule" is so that someone doesn't feel ripped off. I.e. paying 6 credits to upgrade YYC-YVR, and then not being able to upgrade on the longer YVR-PHX flight, for only four credits more - that sort of thing.


How do those work? How would they know which passengers needs to go through customs at YYZ and which don't? I'm very curious as to how this would work.

Not sure about that particular flight, but "in the good old days" there were some direct flights where this was indeed the case, however the airline would fly a half empty plane on the domestic route and no new pax would board at the intermediate airport.

Nowadays this only happens where the airline has no traffic rights for the domestic leg. E.g. TS used to fly XXX-YVR-YEG and people just got off at YVR, and whoever stayed onboard would go through customs at YEG.

So if I fly AC34 YVR YYZ I am put through customs too? Or do we show our itineraries as we exit the aircraft and they sort us there.

Regardless, in both directions, deplaning all passengers is the most effective control for ensuring passengers will fly with their luggage. I support this.

Not sure about that particular flight, but "in the good old days" there were some direct flights where this was indeed the case, however the airline would fly a half empty plane on the domestic route and no new pax would board at the intermediate airport.

Nowadays this only happens where the airline has no traffic rights for the domestic leg. E.g. TS used to fly XXX-YVR-YEG and people just got off at YVR, and whoever stayed onboard would go through customs at YEG.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I think UA still does this going DEN-YQR-Saskatoon, or at least they used to as recently as a year ago. I don't think anyone would support AC flying a half empty plane from YVR to YYZ though, I certainly wouldn't.

All the SYD-YVR passengers clear customs at YVR, so the flight is 100% domestic from YVR to YYZ, so no clearing customs or anything there.

I always thought the GA manually cleared the waitlist. The computer might automatically rank travellers, but the GA goes in to clear the list. Therefore, it would be possible for the GA to have person 1 on the list skipped.

Of course, I'm speculating too!


If Tedgrrrr flew SYD-YVR-YYC and YVR-YYC cleared but SYD-YVR was waitlisted, wouldn't Tedgrrrr feel ripped off if SYD-YVR did not clear?

Not really. There was no local boarding at YVR but other international arrival could connect to this flight bypassing Canadian immigration/custom formalities at YVR until they arrived at YYZ. For the half dozen or so CP4/8 that I flew, they were >90% full.

On arrival, those going on to YYZ were directed to a secured transit area until re-boarding was announced. There was no security check. Frequently, the equipment was downgauged from a 744 to DC10 on the YVR-YYZ segment. One would get 2 boarding passes at HKG or NRT. One for the segment to YVR and the second one for YVR-YYZ. There would also be other international connecting passengers. I had flown about half a dozen times in the 1990's before the demise of CP. It was necessary for CP as CX (ironically an Aeroplan partner airline) began flying non-stop HKG-YYZ with 744 and later A340 equipment. The westbound YYZ-HKG required a technical stop at ANC. (AC was still a student pilot learning how to fly across the Pacific.)

This makes a lot of sense (holding YYZ-bound pax in a secure transit area at YVR and combining them with other international pax). All these pax would have to clear customs in Toronto, no problem. Heck, the "secured transit area" could even be the plane itself. But what about domestic pax going YVR-YYZ?