YBYL (You Board You Lose) on AC?

Adding another data point from my recent flight last night YVR-YYZ red-eye AC 126.

SE this year. Booked in Flex (company policy) but using the app could see 16/21 booked in PE with me in the top three and 21/30 booked in business with me in the top 8.

Had a moment of hope when they upgauged from a 787 to 777-200LR which then made it 16/24 and 21/40 with me still in the same positions respectively. Thought I would sail through into J.

At the gate, GA told me that it was unlikely I would make J even with 19 open suites. Sure enough, somehow while the boarding started, the app lists instantly ballooned from 21/40 booked to 39/40 booked in J, even though the waitlist still unchanged, somehow. No idea how that happened.

I boarded and took my seat in Y.

As boarding ended, me and another SE in my row were approached by the GA who basically handed us new boarding passes for PE and moved us up.

I am trying to figure out what happened; the list didn't move at all. I hypothesize they op-uped a bunch of PE passengers ahead of people on the eUp list and then op-uped us. (of note, by boarding, my credits went back to my account so it looks like I ended up sitting in PY on their account, not mine.)

But also, making the point that I was despondent that I had definitely "YBYLed" it but still ended up with the wider seat and the parsley omelette at the usual godawful hour 90 minutes to landing.
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Yes, it really does seem that the opportunity cost of 'cabin of service' means that jumping from Y to J is almost impossible. My experience from last night leaving me wondering if they moved up PE folks to J ahead of SE in Y placing an offering of eUps on the Aerolotto altar.

A recent data point.

AC304, I ended up the first place loser. Too tired from an early flight from Sydney, I just boarded a bit grumpy

Seated in PY. Had a nap for about 1 hour. The plane did not move. FA came over with a new BP crossing out my PY seat and a J seat handwritten in.

Slept in J for another hour and then everyone was kicked off the flight due to some engine issues.

Ended up rebooking myself to a flight via YYZ. When I boarded the new flight (was given J outright), AC304 was still awaiting its engine to be restarted.

Oh 304.

I wonder what happened to my J seat when I got off: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36487622-post425.html

But glad you got the upgrade.

Interesting! I had something similar on a .. actually I don't remember. Maybe YYZ-YVR. I was #1 on the list for PY, but someone else got the upgrade but as I was boarding an agent or concierge made a comment as if I had been upgraded but double checked and I wasn't. Then after about 15 minutes in Y, an agent came on board with a new PY boarding pass for me and moved me up to a PY seat. Was a nice surprise, but maybe they are trying to make the effort to handle these situations better now.

At which point should I board if I want to play the YBYL game?
I don't want to be the person holding back everyone either.

I'm on Paid Flex PEY fare and after the upgrades were processed, I become #1 on the list, I think there's a non-zero chance I can get it if there's a no-show... At which point should I cut my losses ?

I don't think you're holding anyone else up, the advice is not to block or delay the boarding process for others - you simply stand aside and let other people board.

The worst risk is that you'll lose overhead bin space, and the impact of that is really dependent on how much luggage you have.

The question to ask the gate agent, is whether or not the J cabin has *boarded* full. You can explain that you're waiting to see if there are any no-shows. Once J has fully boarded, there's no point delaying your own boarding any further.

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Thanks! Unfortunately business class is completely full and everybody showed up, so there's no point waiting, I guess I will have to settle with PEY this time. Unless it returns to the gate and cow get rescued by a concierge again...

But for sure I will do that next time.

I had this happen with AC140 last week. Just before boarding the app showed me as #1 on the upgrade list however Booked and Checked-in indicated flight was full so my upgrade didn't clear.

AC140 had a mechanical issue (brakes?) while taxiing and after significant delay we returned to the gate. and they deplaned us. At least one J cabin passenger departed, I presume to jump on another YYC-YYZ flight soon to depart. I checked with the gate agents about whether or not they would re-run the upgrade list when it came time to re-board. They didn't have a clear answer however thought it might require them to manually process upgrade requests.

In the end I don't know the outcome because AC140 had multiple posted delays so I switched to another flight that had upgrade space and that upgrade did clear.

Oof.

2 experiences to share.

#1. YVR - HKG, I was upgraded to J. There's some mechanical issue with the aircraft after pushed back so we were on the tarmac for 30 minutes. Then pilot announced that they would return to the gate and offload all pax. There was 10 hours delay. When flight finally took off, I noticed one of the J pax sitting next to me was not there. (Perhaps he decided not to fly that day or made alternate arrangement). Instead another pax sat there. So not sure if they run the U/G list again. The app still showed the original U/G list.

#2 MAD-YUL. We were upgraded. One to J, one to PY. We were the last to board in case there was a no-show for J and the other one could get lucky. Shortly after we boarded, the captain said boarding completed. I noticed there 2 J seats, one behind me and one to the left of me. I asked FA and was told that there were 2 deadheading pilots flying today. My partner flying in PY noticed that someone from PY and also someone from Y went up to J, presumably sat in those 2 empty J seats. I noticed there were about 12 staff on standby list for Y and PY and J U/G list. My suspicion is that there since boarding was completed and they were 2 empty seats, the staff on standby end up with those 2 empty J seats. I didn't help that you could only be U/G once otherwise my partner could have taken one of those J seats.

I witnessed an unbeatable YBYL the other day.

I was on the early morning YEG-YVR on a 7M8 and was seated in 2C. The original onload list showed 15 for capacity; 2A next to me was marked as innop.

The entire plane is boarded and the gate agent rolls on and asks the SD if 2A is actually innop because it just opened up on his system right before he closed the flight. The SD said it was innop on the way in due to a stuck footrest but it looks like someone fixed it so its good to go. GA says great, heads back out and puts the next guy from the Y standby list into 2A.

There was no way to win this YBYL unless you were willing to miss the flight.

Data point from last month. In FRA waiting for FRA-YVR, J was booked full, I was #4 on the list, but late getting to the gate (not really, bus gate, boarding started early). Concierge came along the line looking for any SE on the upgrade list. Had the conversation that once boarded, opportunity for upgrade was lost, but that there were several J passengers connecting on short connections who might not make it. So I waited, moved to #1, got regular updates on whether J was fully boarded , until the final booked J passengers came just as they were filling the last bus out to the gate. Didn't get the upgrade, but did get very clear direction to always wait until J was fully boarded.

[QUOTE=canadianidol;36659820]2 experiences to share.

#1. YVR - HKG, I was upgraded to J. There's some mechanical issue with the aircraft after pushed back so we were on the tarmac for 30 minutes. Then pilot announced that they would return to the gate and offload all pax. There was 10 hours delay. When flight finally took off, I noticed one of the J pax sitting next to me was not there. (Perhaps he decided not to fly that day or made alternate arrangement). Instead another pax sat there. So not sure if they run the U/G list again. The app still showed the original U/G list.

Canadianidol,
Would you mind to share your experience regarding YVR - HKG?
No matter which day I check, it always says 'waitlist' and R=0.
Did you get upgrade to J from Premium Economy or Economy?
How many days prior to your flight, did you get your upgrade? Or did you get it at the gate?
Thanks!

Yesterday AC112 YVR-YYZ I was #5 on a very long list, we boarded, no upgrade, too bad so i sat in 17H settled and then I see some guy in 13H get up grab his stuff and enter the J cabin, I said good for you and then as my phone buzzed that I was upgraded to PY, the gate agent came to me to move me into 13H, OK, it's freshly used seat, water bottle has not been opened dumped the can of juice that was this is better than 17H on a 777.

I bought a cheap flex fare and all of my flights to EZE are full, flew painfully in 27H to GRU and then onto EZE.

In SIN (AC020), the waiting area is *after* the agent desk (which is immediately after the gate security). This means everyone is "boarded" when entering the gate area. It would seem that YBYL doesn't exist here. My upgrade hadn't cleared yet and the agent insisted I scan my BP anyway. The computer rejected the BP and was asked to sit down to the side. A few minutes later, the upgrade went through and I was given a new BP and could head to the plane immediately.

5 seats available in J with 7 people upgrading from PY.
6 seats available in PY with 5 more available if the above upgrades go through. I was #1 and #3 (companion) on this list.