Technical Question about Upgrades
 

As a newly minted Elite I have never had the opportunity to use an upgrade certificate. I'm heading to Vancouver in October and will be using one if the God's of the I Class deem it appropriate.

My question is - does the 4 day window open at 48 hours prior to scheduled departure or at 12:01 am 4 days prior to the departure date?

I tried a search but couldn't find an answer to this.

Thanks!

The window opens for Elites at four calendar days prior to departure.

The four day period begins at 0000hrs Eastern time where the AC computer resides.

So if your flight is Friday at 3p, you'd call up to confirm I-class at 00:01am on Tuesday or Monday?

According to the official rules, it would be 00:01AM on Tuesday. That said, you may get lucky and got hold of an agent who may upgrade you the day before.

It's 0001 on Mon, not Tue.

Using Shareholder's example of Fri at 1500:
1 day prior Thu 1500
2 days prior Wed 1500
3 days prior Tue 1500
4 days prior Mon 1500

So 4 days prior is Mon and you can officially U/G at 0001 on Mon.

Thank you Andrew for setting the record straight.

So I wasn't as lucky as I thought for that one time when I called in earlier...

Officially, so it can be arbitrary or discretionary at times - just wondering?

FYI, if you are travelling (originating in a time zone ahead of EST. eg LHR), you may be able to get away by calling 0001 LOCAL time (-4days obviously) - I called Canada direct as LHR offices was closed and it was 7pm EST and just indicated to the CSR that it was 0001 -4days where the ORIGINATING flight was - she said that it was OK and gave me the upgrade - it was a packed flight out back so my wife and I were lucky.

As opposed to "you have to wait until 1500".

Simon

My input on internationally originating flights: I called Canada at midnight local time 4 days before Sep. 5 for HKG-YVR, and I wasn't questioned at all. I read that it was all right on FT, so I hope I haven't been blacklisted or anything. It's been J5 C0 for several days, so I've stopped being optimistic anyway. :(

Thanks for the info!

I used this approach when booking returns from NRT. My TA in YVR did the upgrade after midnight Tokyo time of the 7th day [I'm SE] prior to the flight. She was able to ascertain the local time in Galileo with a simple entry.

Work the phones!
 

As a lowly E, I've discovered over the past few years that the best way to get an upgrade is to work the phones until you get an agent that will do it! I've had one agent reject the upgrade request because I called too early, then hung up, called back, and scored the UG with another agent. Hit or miss..but if you want the big seat, be ready to invest the few minutes it takes to make a few calls!
Good luck.

Follow-up Question
 

2 Elites are travelling YYZ-YVR on a Wednesday morning 3 weeks form now. According to Expertflyer.com AC131 is I9 with only 4 J seats currently occupied (Expertflyer is not showing J Inventory numbers, apparently due to a dispute between AC and Sabre). AC105 is showing I9 with 6/20 J seats occupied. Which offers a greater likelhood of getting an upgrade when their upgrade window opens?

Similarly, coming back on Friday am, AC142 is I9 and wide open in J, as is AC116.

Thanks for the advice.

From my many experiences flying YYZ/YVR (on many different flight numbers on many different days) when it's I9 three weeks out it usually is also I9 (or I8/I7) seven and four days out as well. IMHO I don't think they will have any issues. Since YYZ YVR is a Wednesday morning, their chances are really good to get the u/g.