Immediate upgrade priority
 

I’m a Gold who booked into “M Class”, which is an auto-upgrade fare. There is no upgrade space currently available, but F seats are currently empty one month out.

Question is that if no upgrade space is made available prior to 75k upgrade window, does 75k get priority over Gold who purchased auto-upgrade fare?

The priority order is by status, then fare class. So, in theory a 75K on an R fare (lowest revenue bucket) would get upgraded before an MVPG on even a Y fare.

I would recommend closely monitoring U space especially in the 7-14 days before the flight...and if you see it, but don't get upgraded automatically, call in and ask them to push it thru.

I don't have personal experience with this, but my reading of the upgrade rules was a bit different. I thought that there were two waitlists: the immediate upgrade waitlist clears "in the order placed on the upgrade waitlist" whereas the discounted fare upgrade list for "your elite tier group will have upgrades cleared in the order of fare class booked." In my reading, the MVPG on the Y fare would get the upgrade before the 75K on the R fare -- though perhaps this is only the case until the the 75K upgrade window starts?

If my understanding is incorrect, I'd love to know so that I don't rely on it in the future :)

You're correct. Inside the T-120 upgrade window, the path I described is correct. Before the window, if U opens, those who have purchased instant upgrade qualifying fares should be upgraded based on purchase order. But with the recent changes to priorities, missydarlinmay need to confirm.

imho
1) there is only one list and 75k's get to it before a gold on an upgrade fare.
2) if there is space available, the instant upgrade will happen but you can see that by the blue or white f symbol
3) instant upgrades shown to each level are different. when booking sea-psp a couple of weeks ago, we went to book on my wifes (gold) account, saw no upgrade (or a white f box). When we signed out of her account and into mine did the same query, the f box was blue.
4) the t-120 window will still put the 75k's ahead.
5) i wouldn't count on getting the upgrade that often as a gold - the sheer numbers of alaska premium flyers causes issues - i am 75k since when it was created and often find myself 3rd or 4th on the list.

/i

So wait, you are saying you think that different elite levels see different U space? So a 75k may see U space when a non-member would not? Not a chance. A U is a U is a U. It is either available or it is not. It makes no difference what status one has or doesn’t have. If there is U space available (the dark blue F box), then anyone can see it, whether logged in or not, status or not. If that was the case, how would Expert Flyer know who was looking when we search for U on their site? It must have just been very precise timing in the case you mentioned - that U opened up just as you logged in and searched the second time.

That was my reading as well, although it appears this board is as conflicted about it as I am...

Immediate Upgrade Priority
 

*BUMP

Seems to be some disagreement, does anyone know for certain?

Instant upgrade fares process whenever U becomes available prior to upgrade windows. Status still trumps individual fare class buckets (AFAIK) in terms of who would get an upgrade from an instant upgrade fare (e.g. 75K on an M fare would beat out an MVP on Y fare), but lower status instant-upgrade fares still beat higher-status non-instant upgrade fares until upgrade windows open. Once upgrade windows open, upgrades process by: elite status, fare class, time on upgrade list (unless someone usurps the whole process by calling in and getting an agent to process the upgrade manually).

75K status trumps everyone. But for instant upgrade fares between MVP and Gold, its based on when you are added to the waitlist. So MVP on an S fare trumps Gold on a Y fare if the MVP booked first.

• 75Ks in order placed on the waitlist
  • 75Ks with non-qualifying fares added to waitlist @120 hours
• Golds and MVPs with qualifying fares in order placed on the waitlist
  • Golds with non-qualifying fares added to waitlist in fare class order @72 hours
  • MVPs with non-qualifying fares added to waitlist in fare class order @48 hours