Seattlenerd

Back in November at the MVP Gold luncheon, AS officials said they were working on a fix to the line-jumping problem that afflicts Golds on the First Class waitlist. That is, if U seats open up after online check-in (OLCI) starts, pretty much anyone eligible can grab the seats when they check in, no matter where they are in the waitlist line.

That's because the automatic upgrade processor used to stop automatically processing upgrades at 24.5 hours before flight time. And upgrade seats would sometimes come available between that point and flight time.

Yesterday, I was booked on a BUR-SEA flight. A day earlier I noticed that two seats remained unsold in F but hadn't been converted to U space. So I reluctantly checked in at the 24-hour OLCI mark, confirming my coach seat. I checked Alaska's site and ExpertFlyer a couple of times later that day before flight, but the two seats were still in F inventory and had not been moved to U.

The next morning, which was the day of departure, I checked again -- and noticed I had been upgraded. Automatically. Without any effort on my part. I printed a new boarding pass.

So the upgrade processor now works after OLCI begins, at least if F seats haven't been released into U inventory when OLCI starts. Has anyone else noticed this, or can officially confirm the fix has been made?

baliktad

Once you hit the 24 hour mark and are able to check in, U space is masked from tools like EF. Even if AS does release space, you won't be able to tell. Evidently only airport agents can see U space.

This is not necessarily the result of an automatic upgrade processor. Once you get to the day of the flight, airport agents can and do start processing upgrades. If you were upgraded prior to the calendar day of the flight, that would be conclusive evidence of an automatic upgrade processor. As it is, it's still a mystery.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa\'s PWP wonderous poster: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.304 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Data point- on Sunday I sucessfully completed OLCI on AS325 for AS137 3 hours later, and upgraded.

Seattlenerd

Yes, I was aware of the U masking (and have noted it here before). What I was checking to see is if F still remained or if it had gone to 0, indicating the final two seats had sold or been used to upgrade others.

I noticed my upgrade at 6:30am for an 11am flight. I suspect (based on other experiences) AS released the F seats to U at 5am the same day. I wasn't aware manual upgrades were done at the airport before the GAs arrived at the gate for the specific flight. That would explain it, but I hope it was the upgrade processor fix.

I may need to directly ping some folks I know at AS.

mr_sparky

I'm not sure there is a uniform change to upgrades and OLCI. 2 weeks ago from EWR-SEA there were 3 open seats in first class the day of and they were never available to me through OLCI despite several attempts. However, I was able to jump the line a couple days later on a SEA-DCA flight that, even as a gold I probably had no business getting an upgrade on (the FA noted during one announcement that there were over 40 golds on the flight).

sectflyer

A couple weeks ago i did OLCI for PDX-BOS. No upgrade option. Early in the morning the next day i loggged onto my res and the "upgrade" option was on my res and i snapped it up. I was allready checked in btw. So I dont think once you check in your commited to coach or the gate upgrade. I was flying as a DL gold btw.

fooko2002

AS seriously needs to get this locked down. Just getting back from flying on DL and never getting a upgrade to clear prior to the gate as an MVPG despite the fact there were only 2 people on the upgrade waitlist and it was showing like F7/V5.

This lack of integrity in our upgrade process, while it may benefit the savvy traveler on occasion, doesn't fulfill those who are loyal and paying higher fares earlier out (the behavior the airline should really want to drive).

ANC RED-EYE

You mean you snagged the upgrade using the link, or the system had already upgraded you when you checked in?

Very well said...this needs a fix. Alaska has let this go on for years - I agree that I totally appreciate the integrity of the DL system.

sectflyer

I even agree as the DL flyer! I know i snagged an UG away from some MVP folks as there were like 10 people on the gate list. If I had been one of them I would not have been pleased

beckoa

Via the Request Upgrade link during OLCI. As I was the only 75K on the flight, it was probably mine anyway, but glad it wasn't snatched up by someone of a lower tier, or a different airline. With the advent of DL upgrades on AS, this is going to cause some issues... and am contemplating sending some communication to AS of this...

golfingboy

I have a DCA-LAX flight this Saturday and it is showing F1... I am getting nervous now and hope somehow U space will open at least 24 hours out or I would lose out on an upgrade during OLCI if F is still open

At this point I feel like AS should force those on the list into F even if U space is not available until they get this resolved... But that will never happen....

sectflyer

Keep checking your res. Even after OLCI. That is how I got mine!

pareto

even beyond the OLCI issues, the whole process seems wonky to me. why does time on the waitlist trump fare class at the airport? does AS really want me to sit in the back on my Y/B fare that I purchased two days before the flight to upgrade someone who purchased a T fare six months before I did?

jackal

Interesting how many people would rather see a completely transparent waitlist processing solution with true integrity even though we all know how to beat the current system and probably sit in F more often than we should.

I would suggest that FTers are such a minute percentage of the traveling public that we really don't affect the upgrade chances of other elites on a systemwide scale, but it's still a minor consideration. (Actually, a more major consideration is that other elites--or worse, non-status flyers willing to pay $50 or $100--may do it without realizing they are actually jumping the line.)

Still, yes, I agree, a non-corruptable upgrade process would be much more fair--and less stressful, because I wouldn't have to worry about others jumping in front of me. I kinda feel like AS is forcing me to do it just to protect myself against the possibility of me being jumped in front of an upgrade I actually deserve.

It's a decision AS made, whether intentional or due to technical limitations when the unlimited upgrade process was initially implemented. Some other airlines do it differently and do prioritize by fare class.

That said, the documentation I've seen does show there are six separate waitlists, processed in (AFAIK) the following order:

75K on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
Gold on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
MVP on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
75K on non-qualifying fare
Gold on non-qualifying fare
MVP on non-qualifying fare

Even if an 75K on a qualifying fare isn't processed by the time it goes to gate control, if a U-space seat opens up at the gate, they should be above a 75K booked on a discounted T fare, even if the T-fare booking was made months before. The documentation I saw seemed to indicate elites on a qualifying fare are kept on a separate, higher-priority waitlist throughout the process rather than lumped in with the standard complimentary upgrade waitlists.

Note: it is possible the waitlists are ordered a little differently, like this:

75K on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
75K on non-qualifying fare
Gold on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
Gold on non-qualifying fare
MVP on qualifying instant-upgrade fare
MVP on non-qualifying fare

The list I briefly saw was not clear on this point.

Also, it's clear that the automatic waitlist ceases at 24.5 hours prior to flight and that upgrades are processed by the gate when the flight goes to gate control. However, what happens between T-24:29 and T-1:00 is unclear. It does appear that upgrades are occasionally processed without OLCI intervention (perhaps someone in the bowels of the airport--for those of you who participated in Cabbage Do, remember visiting the flight ops people downstairs with Katie? I'm thinking someone down there might be responsible for checking on upgrades), but I don't have personal experience with this, because I usually beat them to it via OLCI.

No, you're not committed to coach at all! You can go through the OLCI process up to six times before you're locked out. And merely going to the page where it offers the upgrade link doesn't count, so you can do that an unlimited number of times (in my experience, anyway), as long as you back out before you get to the final stage where you print a BP.

And actually, it's of best benefit to you to do OLCI as early as possible (T-24). Not only are you put at a lower priority for involuntary bumps (AS stupidly doesn't prioritize its elites on the VDB/IDB lists, so a late-to-check-in 75K on a Y fare has a higher chance of being bumped off of a flight than an early-to-check-in T-fare non-status flyer), you actually don't even appear on the airport waitlist until you check in. In other words, if there is someone deep in the bowels of the airport processing upgrades for passengers, they won't even see you until you check in. If they go in to process an upgrade at 18 hours before departure and you haven't checked in, they'll skip you and go to the next person who's already checked in.

I've asked at the airport 23 hours before my departure where I was on the waitlist and have been told that it doesn't really matter, because I will probably be bumped down the list as others with higher waitlist priorities check in. So it does seem that AS has fixed the problem of elites' waitlist priorities not being carried through to the airport (that was an issue as of a year or two ago, IIRC), but they still don't appear on the airport's systems until you check in.

Seattlenerd

You've provided the best, and clearest, summary of the AS FC waitlist process near departure that I've seen (and maps to what I recall when I was on the AS MVP Gold Advisory Board a year ago). Personally, I'm for increased transparency and predictable equity.

Looks like I can credit my "automatic" upgrade after I'd already checked in using OLCI to the elves that live in the bowels of BUR airport. And I'm thankful for at least that.