Despite what we have been told, I don't think that purchase date is accurately reflecting as a promoting factor for those reservations based on ancedotal evidence. But that being said, I don't think the waitlist process is really working correctly at all at this point. The fact that there are 3 areas of the system controlling this is insane.

Is it best to just call in when it looks like upgrades aren't happening? I'm well into the gold upgrade window for a Saturday flight that looks to have at least 4 U seats and nobody is getting an upgrade.

Update: Decided to wait until morning to call but upgrade processed during the night 10 hours after window opened. First is still half empty. The process is very inconsistent which is annoying!

Cant hurt

My mileage balance is showing zero and the phone system just bounced me from the queue.

Uh oh AS. Better fix the network...

shouldn't surprise anyone who flew UA, DL, or AA amid the merger systems integration headaches. this will just be a rinse and repeat of those experiences.

AS isn't merging this in though, VX is being absorbed into AS' SABRE... I'm not convinced this is merger related.

I've been told that a lot of problems I've experienced are SABRE-related (with the upgrade waitlist displays, if not the upgrade processor itself). So not surprised. And one has to wonder how motivated SABRE is to fix them on its end.

At a minimum, I'd argue that resources that could be dedicated to fixing this are subscribed to other IT issues created by the merger. But I digress... :)

I am on RDU-SEA right now. Was puzzled why I did not clear (Gold 75K).

For several days, and through last night 10 hours before takeoff, there were 5 seats in FC available per the AS agent. She thought that they were holding them for paid UGs maybe...but isn't this counter to AS policy?

At that time, 10 hours ago, I was 2 on the upgrade list. They only cleared one, so I'm thinking it's either I was skipped, or they did solicit paid UGs first. (Flying solo no companion, should have been simple).

Related...if it's an AS goof, is there a recommended, polite way to request miles that is somewhat effective? I was debating shooting a quick, cordial email to Alaska Listens...,

Read the thread. Did you check for U space at/before/after check in?

If they are holding them until the last minute for full-price sales, it is absolutely not counter to AS policy. "Maybe" is not a firm enough reason to think otherwise.

Noob question: How do you check for U space?

If you don’t have an Experflyer subscription, just do a search for your flight and check any one of the ‘upgrade fare type’ buttons (i.e Gold upgrade, Gold Guest upgrade etc.). If the box with the F is solid blue with a white F, there is U space for the number of seats you searched for. So if you need 2 U seats, make sure you search for 2 pax. If the F box is a white background with a blue F, there is no U space.

The upgrade type doesn’t matter if you are just looking to see if there is U space. A U is a U, regardless of which method you use to upgrade. You just need to ensure you have bought the correct fare class for the method you plan to use to upgrade. But if you just want to know if U space is available, it makes no difference which box you check.

Thank you Seattlenerd. So you're saying that AS's policy is they can hold back as many seats as they like for full-price or paid upgrade sales? There's no other rules governing this? Not objecting or being snarky at all, just making sure I understand accurately.