On wait list to LAX
 

I will be going to LAX this Friday on AC 793. I called AC to be upgraded to business at exactly 12 midnight last night. They told me that there is no space and that I am waitlisted. The RUDE, SNOBBY agent then informs me that there is space for paying business class passengers but not for Elite upgrades???




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That's typical on both CP and AC (well, not so much the rude and snobby part, for CP.) They want to keep a least a few seats available for people who want to pay for them. After all, that's where the serious money is. Those seats will be opened up for standby upgrades on the day of the flight.

Regards,

Ken Hamer

You have a point Ken. But I thought that a certain number of seats were allocated to ELite/ Super Elite upgrades. If I called at precisely 12 midnight (no exaggeration)I was hoping that there would be seats left. Unless Super Elites all got the upgradeable seats??

Anyway, it is a busy weekend in LA with the bookfair going on so probably I should forgive them.

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You need to call precisely 72h ahead of your flight. Unless your flight leaves at Thursday night at midnight, you called a bit too early. Also, even if no instant upgrades are available, you should still have been added to the waitlist. You should now be at/near the top of the list (although any later Super Elites will bump you from that position). If you flying on an A320 you have a slightly better chance that the B767 to secure an upgrade.

Nope! Too bad though. If all but, say 2, seats were sold, then it would not matter when you called, you would not be given the upgrade at that time. Best you can hope for is the 2 held "revenue" seats are not sold, or there are some no shows.

One trick I used to use was to call at 72:02 before flight time, and tell the agent what I was doing. He/she would just keep me on the line until the magic moment, and then bingo! Upgrade. Worked every time I tried it.

'Course when your at the top of the heap (Super Elite/Executive Platinum) you can in some circumstances confirm the upgrade at the time of booking, which is great. Two weeks ago I bought an 80% discounted econo ticket on YVR-LHR (C$800) and still got a confirmed upgrade.

On the other hand, back in the bad old days, when I was just Gold, I spent a lot of time pacing before a YVR-BKK trip, because I could not confirm upgrades on any segment. I was able to standby upgrade on all segments. But the HKG-YVR segment was just barely -- immediately after getting upgraded, the fellow who had reserved the seat came running/panting up. He travelled economy, while I went in style, for 13 hours. We're talking 30 seconds here, tops. Whew! That was close.

Regards,

Ken Hamer

And good point about the 72 hours. I don't know for AC, but for CP, they mean 72 hours precisely, before flight time. So if your flight departs at 11:00, you want to be dialing about 10:58.

Regards,

Ken Hamer

That's interesting! For all this time I thought it was just 72 hours/ 3 days before departure. This ALWAYS worked for me and, in fact, when I called at midnight (this morning) they placed me on the wait list for AC793 which leaves YYZ at 7:50pm this Friday 30th April.



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AC has always had a bit more "slop" in the system to allow for this (based on my experience as Elite).

Now I just get them at time of reservation http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

BB: I am jealous! I have to fly more often to get that SE status with AC!

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Watch what you ask for -- your wishes may come true http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I think you will be surprised and likely will get the upgrade. There are at least 4 open business class seats on that flight.

AC called me 15 minutes ago to say that my upgrade is now confirmed for LAX.

Way to go Air Canada!

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Amazing isn't it! Now if I could only predict the stock market the same way. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif