what a mess. so now we have to call every time before we go buy an MVP GGU upgrade eligible ticket too, to ensure the website is accurate?

if you don't mind, i'd encourage you to tweet this at AS...

Another data point. Upcoming flight from SEA-BOS. Within the MVP Gold upgrade window, AS website showing upgrade space available. I DM'ed the AS folks on Twitter, they say the flight doesn't have any U space.

[MENTION=829716]zebes[/MENTION] If you PM me I'll look it up real quick on expertflyer and see if we can tell which is accurate.

shoot me a note, I have access to Sabre.

Here is the response I received:

"Thank you for sharing your comments regarding our upgrade system and issues that need to be corrected. It's our goal to make sure every trip you have on Alaska goes smoothly. The best way for us to do that is hearing from you.

PDX4MSU, I apologize for your frustration and applaud your integrity in not wanting to deny an elite member higher on the upgrade list by using a Gold Guest Upgrade Certificate to take the available seat. I do know our IT Developers are trying to fix this and it is high priority. As a customer service gesture, I am including a Discount Code ($100)."

Well, I am sorry to admit it, but I was just “that guy”. I have a long flight tomorrow where I had two options for the first leg. Neither had U since the day I booked in December so I chose the flight with the most available F seats and the least amount of Premium seats already picked, hoping there weren’t as many elites and U would open up.

I set an EF alert for U on both and have been watching like a hawk. My flight went to F0 at T-120 but the other flight did not and has been at F1U0 for a long time with all Prem seats plus row 17 having long been taken so I suspect there are a ton of elites on it, So now, we are slightly more than 24 hours from departure and I just got an EF alert that the other flight is U1. So, I swoop in, change to that flight (cost me $1.99) with a bit of trepidation because of the reports above of phantom U space, finish the change and immediately apply a GGU and am now confirmed in F.

Do I feel like a jerk for usurping everyone on the upgrade list? I do, and I would be mighty p/o’d if it happened to me. But it isn’t my fault that the upgrade processor is broken and I’m sure someone else who checked in at T-24 in about 3 hours would be offered a buy up to F and would grab it. Or someone on the waitlist who knows about this would call in and grab it first.

So call me a jerk - I know it was a jerk move. But I have missed out on my share since this whole problem started and until it is fixed, it is every man (or woman in my case) for him/herself.

the system has been "broken" for a year. Ive had friends who are MVP clear for U when Alaska "swears" I am on the upgrade list.

I have done it too, and on lucrative Florida trips. You could have also just rechecked in, I believe. Thats how Ive always snagged mine.

Shhhh!!! Don't let the re-checkin secret get out!:p

I had to actually change flights to a different city (both have easy connections to my destination). And I used a GGU because I didn’t want to miss out. Check starts in about 2 hours. I really do feel like a jerk. I don’t feel good about it and it has been bugging me all morning. I am stuck in a window seat so it isn’t all perfect.

I agree with UAPremierEXec that this is on Alaska not individual flyers.

This is FlyerTalk. The secret is already out ;). I doubt the general flying public, including lots of elites, have any clue about it.

Hahaha. Prolly true. Everyone just expects things to work. My wife had some choice words once I explained to her how its really been working. The worse part is I burned a GGU on flight so I could sleep and there is currently U2 at -T60. Grrr.

Well karma has come back to bite me. My connecting flight has just changed from F on an E-75 to a CRJ.

Or not. I got an email this morning saying the downgauged E75-to-CRJ is now overbooked so I took a $300 voucher to take the next flight. Not bad for PDX-SEA.

Odd. It's almost as if Karma is rewarding you...