KenHamer

YBYL applies to all AC flights no matter how full.

yyznomad

Haha.

RangerNS

I've been upgraded after boarding at least once in ~230 segments in the last 2 years. I knew the back was full before boarding, I knew there was space up front, I knew they had a bunch of standby's. I don't know why they did not know this and opUp me pre-Zone 1.

I suppose if there was competition for that opUp between status PAX, the guy showing up to the gate (even if slightly less status than someone sitting on board) when the GA happens to be dealing with the STBY might just get the new BP out of some combination of laziness and expediency.

yyznomad

What is the actual protocol?

BL has given us the eUp protocol. What is the gate protocol in handling eUps, OpUps, etc?

Vancouver Guy

About two weeks ago I was on YYZ-YVR in PE. The plane was very full. Just before takeoff the GA came to our row and moved the fellow in the middle seat next to me to J. I wasn't on the list so I don't know if anyone else got upgraded.

I'm not doubting that YBYL may be an unwritten (or written!) guideline, but my recent experience was to the contrary.

yyznomad

I have seen the GA come on board after I've settled in my J seat, near the end of the boarding process, with new J BPs in hand for Y pax. They are promptly retrieved and brought up front.

I have also seen the SD, without the GA, pluck pax from Y and bring them up to J on near-full Y/near-empty J flight (320/321 aircraft). This happens often on transcon redeyes.

Having flown other *A airlines, I have also been the recipient of upgrades after seated in Y.

Sean Peever

That's a lot of experience with this very specific situation for someone who flies once a year to see grandma.

Ps: hold my mail for awhile, don't have any flights booked back to YVR yet so not sure when I'll be there.

The Lev

I've been upgraded from row 12 to J a couple of times for "weight and balance" reasons.

Have also had GA or Concierge come on board and give me a "last minute" upgrade. Other times I believe I've noted YBYL.

flyquiet

YBYL is consistent with my virtually null op-up experience, as I'm preboarded in Zone *. Another way they treat disability and status as incongruent if not mutually exclusive.

canopus27

I asked this very question via email, earlier this year.

There is an automated tool that processes standy pax, e-ups, etc. that runs five mins after the flight closes (so 40 mins for domestic, 55 mins for international/US). I asked about no-shows in J, and how the priority is managed as/when boarding closes - and I was told that for e-ups, you do not come off the upgrade list when you board. You do come off the onload list, but assuming there is a J seat that is still left open when boarding completes, the SOP is that the agents will look at the upgrade list and come onboard to find the next eligible pax to move up.

However for "courtesy upgrades" (op-ups like weight & balance) there are no rules preventing agents from processing the upgrades ahead of time, even before the flight closes. In addition, while they try and ensure that top tier customers are taken care of first, for courtesy upgrades that is not a guarantee; for example, the agent may call your name early (canopus27 note: this is what happened to me) and if you are not at the gate to collect the new boarding pass they are allowed to move down to the next pax on the list in the interests of expediency.

balexis

On a BRU-YUL flight, I ask before boarding for paid upgrade options. I get quoted a reasonable price, but then GA comes back and says sorry cabin is full. So I board.

Boarding is completed but the aircraft door do not get closed due to some unspecified delay. Pax in PY notices an empty J seat, asks FA about it and is told to exit the aircraft and talk to the GA still busy at the gate. Comes back with new boarding pass and takes his new seat.

Clearly, had I waited to board last and re-enquire about J availability, I would've had chances to get that seat.

RatherBeInYOW

When I used to fly to/from FRA frequently a couple of years back, YBYL was very very common. The FRA gate agents were very strict about not clearing the eUp list until T-30, and boarding would usually have started by then. Multiple times when the gate agent (or the FRA concierge when she was around the gate would always help) told me that I was going to get an upgrade or was just on the edge of getting an upgrade, depending on connections who showed, etc. they would also always tell me not to board until they'd processed the eUps or I'd miss out and the next person on the list would get mine.

Now maybe things have changed with a published eUp list, and with what canopus27 described above, it doesn't seem like that would happen? Or maybe that is the way they handle it in Canada but at overseas stations YYMV? This year every eUp I've done has cleared ahead of time, and I got one op-up and that was done by giving me a new boarding pass as I was getting on the plane.

YYT82

Within NA, on widebodies (especially the B77W/L, YBYL is the common protocol. One time I was at the gate at YYZ and enquires about my upgrade (I was #1 on the list), and I was told not to board with Z1 as they hadn't processed the eUp by the time boarding began.

The SOP may be that the GA would come onboard to upgrade whoever is next on the eUp list, but if they are up against their KPI of OTP vs following recommended SOP, most would opt for keeping with KPI.

robsaw

I've been upgraded once after boarding - add that to the datapoints.

yyznomad

So not only YBYL, but now it's also Gate Late You Lose (GLYL).