How Complimentary Upgrades Work
Mar 17, 2016, 10:20 pm
#257
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,842
The real key would be if U had already opened up and they were selling upgrades, rather than honoring the waitlist that had been expecting to be processed for upgrades as soon as U opened.
Other than that, if U isn't open, Alaska can sell upgrades or even full-fare First until the flight departs. There is never a guarantee as to when, or if, U space will become available, even within the 120/72/24/hour windows. SOP. (Even if we don't always like it.)
Other than that, if U isn't open, Alaska can sell upgrades or even full-fare First until the flight departs. There is never a guarantee as to when, or if, U space will become available, even within the 120/72/24/hour windows. SOP. (Even if we don't always like it.)
Mar 18, 2016, 5:24 pm
#258
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BLI
Programs: Alaska Million Mile Flyer, Marriott Lifetime Titanium Elite
Posts: 3,195
If that's the case, ignoring the waitlist is wrong.
But can someone from AS confirm this if this is actually the case (they are selling U while there is an active U upgrade waitlist), or are they are simply selling an upgrade before releasing general U availability?
But can someone from AS confirm this if this is actually the case (they are selling U while there is an active U upgrade waitlist), or are they are simply selling an upgrade before releasing general U availability?
Mar 18, 2016, 7:21 pm
#259
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS
Posts: 2,293
In my observation on Ft 511 LAX /SEA on Wednesday - they had already boarded small children and military and we were about to board in First Class line.
This was the first time I have ever seen upgrades offered on this run. We fly it every 3 weeks and It did get my attention.
Screens were still offering upgrade for $50 , then standby passenger list then upgrade list,(still showing 15 ).
Did they process upgrades as those on list boarded???? Who knows.
They did have 3 Fruit and Cheese brought forward during boarding and
They were not ordered when drink orders were taken. Could have been 75's upgraded during that window?? U closed after that.
Just my personal observations from that day....
This was the first time I have ever seen upgrades offered on this run. We fly it every 3 weeks and It did get my attention.
Screens were still offering upgrade for $50 , then standby passenger list then upgrade list,(still showing 15 ).
Did they process upgrades as those on list boarded???? Who knows.
They did have 3 Fruit and Cheese brought forward during boarding and
They were not ordered when drink orders were taken. Could have been 75's upgraded during that window?? U closed after that.
Just my personal observations from that day....
Mar 20, 2016, 4:04 pm
#260
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Seattle WA, USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, AS Lounge
Posts: 3,478
I can find posts from an AS employee in prior years indicating that they are supposed to upgrade elites before offering upgrades for sale and that paid upgrades come out of U. However these posts aren't recent so I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. One of the reasons I would buy the upgrade and then contact Customer Care would be an attempt to get AS' official policy in writing.
Mar 26, 2016, 12:10 am
#261
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: MVP Gold
Posts: 81
Looking for advice - I'm scheduled to fly SEA-DCA April 10th (Sunday). When the ticket was purchased 1 month ago, I was MVP and added myself to the complimentary waitlist. I just made Gold today. ExpertFlyer shows 4 empty seats in First.
Any sense if it's worth calling in to be re-added to the waitlist now that I'm Gold? Or at this point would I be in better shape just keeping my current waitlist position (now 1 month ago) as MVP?
I know given the flight time and destination, chances are near zero for getting an upgrade anyway, so this is mostly theoretical.
Any sense if it's worth calling in to be re-added to the waitlist now that I'm Gold? Or at this point would I be in better shape just keeping my current waitlist position (now 1 month ago) as MVP?
I know given the flight time and destination, chances are near zero for getting an upgrade anyway, so this is mostly theoretical.
Mar 26, 2016, 1:24 am
#262
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,197
Looking for advice - I'm scheduled to fly SEA-DCA April 10th (Sunday). When the ticket was purchased 1 month ago, I was MVP and added myself to the complimentary waitlist. I just made Gold today. ExpertFlyer shows 4 empty seats in First.
Any sense if it's worth calling in to be re-added to the waitlist now that I'm Gold? Or at this point would I be in better shape just keeping my current waitlist position (now 1 month ago) as MVP?
I know given the flight time and destination, chances are near zero for getting an upgrade anyway, so this is mostly theoretical.
Any sense if it's worth calling in to be re-added to the waitlist now that I'm Gold? Or at this point would I be in better shape just keeping my current waitlist position (now 1 month ago) as MVP?
I know given the flight time and destination, chances are near zero for getting an upgrade anyway, so this is mostly theoretical.
Even if you booked 300 days ago and were absolutely #1 on the MVP waitlist, a Gold who booked 5 minutes ago would trump you.
However, wait before you process the change. Sabre doesn't update your status instantly. I forget the specific way to tell when Sabre actually recognizes you as Gold, but it's at least a day or two after your miles post (maybe more, unless they've fixed that). Perhaps someone here can refresh our memory.
Then, to make 100% sure that your status is recognized, you actually need to remove your Mileage Plan number from your reservation entirely and re-add it. Do not believe a phone agent who can claim to see that you are on the Gold waitlist--they have no way of actually seeing your position on the list.
The safest way, IMHO, is to call AS and ask to have your mileage number (and upgrade request) completely removed from your reservation. Then, hang up, wait a minute or two (for them to exit the record), and access the reservation on the website and manually add your Mileage Plan number back yourself and then request the upgrade. This way, you are 100% sure that it was done correctly and the agent didn't skip any steps that might leave you on the MVP waitlist.
Mar 26, 2016, 10:08 am
#263
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,842
Re-add yourself to the waitlist.
Even if you booked 300 days ago and were absolutely #1 on the MVP waitlist, a Gold who booked 5 minutes ago would trump you.
However, wait before you process the change. Sabre doesn't update your status instantly. I forget the specific way to tell when Sabre actually recognizes you as Gold, but it's at least a day or two after your miles post (maybe more, unless they've fixed that). Perhaps someone here can refresh our memory.
Then, to make 100% sure that your status is recognized, you actually need to remove your Mileage Plan number from your reservation entirely and re-add it. Do not believe a phone agent who can claim to see that you are on the Gold waitlist--they have no way of actually seeing your position on the list.
The safest way, IMHO, is to call AS and ask to have your mileage number (and upgrade request) completely removed from your reservation. Then, hang up, wait a minute or two (for them to exit the record), and access the reservation on the website and manually add your Mileage Plan number back yourself and then request the upgrade. This way, you are 100% sure that it was done correctly and the agent didn't skip any steps that might leave you on the MVP waitlist.
Even if you booked 300 days ago and were absolutely #1 on the MVP waitlist, a Gold who booked 5 minutes ago would trump you.
However, wait before you process the change. Sabre doesn't update your status instantly. I forget the specific way to tell when Sabre actually recognizes you as Gold, but it's at least a day or two after your miles post (maybe more, unless they've fixed that). Perhaps someone here can refresh our memory.
Then, to make 100% sure that your status is recognized, you actually need to remove your Mileage Plan number from your reservation entirely and re-add it. Do not believe a phone agent who can claim to see that you are on the Gold waitlist--they have no way of actually seeing your position on the list.
The safest way, IMHO, is to call AS and ask to have your mileage number (and upgrade request) completely removed from your reservation. Then, hang up, wait a minute or two (for them to exit the record), and access the reservation on the website and manually add your Mileage Plan number back yourself and then request the upgrade. This way, you are 100% sure that it was done correctly and the agent didn't skip any steps that might leave you on the MVP waitlist.
This is only true if there is upgrade space available at the 72 or 48 hour windows, otherwise you should keep your original spot in the queue for the airport waitlist.
See the first post in this thread from Missy:
"When it comes to Golds and MVP’s, upgrades are processed in the order customers are placed on the reservations waitlist.
There is no designation between Gold and MVP … it’s looking at the date of the waitlist entry only.
This is how the auto-processor has always worked.
If Mary MVP buys her qualifying fare before Gary Gold, she gets the upgrade first."
Mar 26, 2016, 11:22 am
#264
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,621
Hi -
I thought this was how it worked also. So IF you become Gold between the time you buy your ticket and your flight and IF there is U space at T-72, then it behooves you to put your MP# in again as described above. Other wise no, as you drop to the bottom of the waitlist.
75K is a different story. ALWAYS re-add that, as it has its own special queue above Gold and MVP
I thought this was how it worked also. So IF you become Gold between the time you buy your ticket and your flight and IF there is U space at T-72, then it behooves you to put your MP# in again as described above. Other wise no, as you drop to the bottom of the waitlist.
75K is a different story. ALWAYS re-add that, as it has its own special queue above Gold and MVP
Mar 26, 2016, 1:40 pm
#265
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,197
This is only true if there is upgrade space available at the 72 or 48 hour windows, otherwise you should keep your original spot in the queue for the airport waitlist.
See the first post in this thread from Missy:
"When it comes to Golds and MVP’s, upgrades are processed in the order customers are placed on the reservations waitlist.
There is no designation between Gold and MVP … it’s looking at the date of the waitlist entry only.
This is how the auto-processor has always worked.
If Mary MVP buys her qualifying fare before Gary Gold, she gets the upgrade first."
See the first post in this thread from Missy:
"When it comes to Golds and MVP’s, upgrades are processed in the order customers are placed on the reservations waitlist.
There is no designation between Gold and MVP … it’s looking at the date of the waitlist entry only.
This is how the auto-processor has always worked.
If Mary MVP buys her qualifying fare before Gary Gold, she gets the upgrade first."
When you request an upgrade, you are simply doing that: requesting one.
You are not actually put onto the waitlist itself until your status tier's window opens.
There is only one waitlist for MVPs and Golds. (There's a separate one for 75Ks.) But the order in which you go on the waitlist is determined by your status. If you are a Gold, you go on the waitlist at 72 hours out. If you are an MVP, you go on the waitlist at 48 hours out. Thus, even though there is only one waitlist, all Golds are put on the waitlist ahead of all MVPs--with the one exception of the case where a Gold books a reservation after that 72-hour mark (i.e. less than 3 days before travel), in which case the late-booking Gold would be mixed in with the MVPs, because the Golds had already been added to the waitlist and the late-booking Gold missed the opportunity to get on the waitlist at Gold priority.
Newly-minted Golds who don't reapply for new upgrade requests won't be added to the waitlist at the Gold window, because the upgrade request will still carry the MVP tag on it.
The whole Alaska upgrade process is a giant jury-rigged hack of Sabre and really needs a complete overhaul and code rewrite to be done correctly, but in the meantime, just understand that it isn't really logical and that it works this way.
Mar 26, 2016, 1:50 pm
#266
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Southern California
Programs: DL: 3.8 MM, Marriott: Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 24,575
Mar 26, 2016, 2:15 pm
#267
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,842
You're missing some of the other discussion in her post and subsequent posts.
When you request an upgrade, you are simply doing that: requesting one.
You are not actually put onto the waitlist itself until your status tier's window opens.
There is only one waitlist for MVPs and Golds. (There's a separate one for 75Ks.) But the order in which you go on the waitlist is determined by your status. If you are a Gold, you go on the waitlist at 72 hours out. If you are an MVP, you go on the waitlist at 48 hours out. Thus, even though there is only one waitlist, all Golds are put on the waitlist ahead of all MVPs--with the one exception of the case where a Gold books a reservation after that 72-hour mark (i.e. less than 3 days before travel), in which case the late-booking Gold would be mixed in with the MVPs, because the Golds had already been added to the waitlist and the late-booking Gold missed the opportunity to get on the waitlist at Gold priority.
Newly-minted Golds who don't reapply for new upgrade requests won't be added to the waitlist at the Gold window, because the upgrade request will still carry the MVP tag on it.
The whole Alaska upgrade process is a giant jury-rigged hack of Sabre and really needs a complete overhaul and code rewrite to be done correctly, but in the meantime, just understand that it isn't really logical and that it works this way.
When you request an upgrade, you are simply doing that: requesting one.
You are not actually put onto the waitlist itself until your status tier's window opens.
There is only one waitlist for MVPs and Golds. (There's a separate one for 75Ks.) But the order in which you go on the waitlist is determined by your status. If you are a Gold, you go on the waitlist at 72 hours out. If you are an MVP, you go on the waitlist at 48 hours out. Thus, even though there is only one waitlist, all Golds are put on the waitlist ahead of all MVPs--with the one exception of the case where a Gold books a reservation after that 72-hour mark (i.e. less than 3 days before travel), in which case the late-booking Gold would be mixed in with the MVPs, because the Golds had already been added to the waitlist and the late-booking Gold missed the opportunity to get on the waitlist at Gold priority.
Newly-minted Golds who don't reapply for new upgrade requests won't be added to the waitlist at the Gold window, because the upgrade request will still carry the MVP tag on it.
The whole Alaska upgrade process is a giant jury-rigged hack of Sabre and really needs a complete overhaul and code rewrite to be done correctly, but in the meantime, just understand that it isn't really logical and that it works this way.
Mar 27, 2016, 1:32 am
#268
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: MVP Gold
Posts: 81
You're missing some of the other discussion in her post and subsequent posts.
When you request an upgrade, you are simply doing that: requesting one.
You are not actually put onto the waitlist itself until your status tier's window opens.
There is only one waitlist for MVPs and Golds. (There's a separate one for 75Ks.) But the order in which you go on the waitlist is determined by your status. If you are a Gold, you go on the waitlist at 72 hours out. If you are an MVP, you go on the waitlist at 48 hours out. Thus, even though there is only one waitlist, all Golds are put on the waitlist ahead of all MVPs--with the one exception of the case where a Gold books a reservation after that 72-hour mark (i.e. less than 3 days before travel), in which case the late-booking Gold would be mixed in with the MVPs, because the Golds had already been added to the waitlist and the late-booking Gold missed the opportunity to get on the waitlist at Gold priority.
Newly-minted Golds who don't reapply for new upgrade requests won't be added to the waitlist at the Gold window, because the upgrade request will still carry the MVP tag on it.
The whole Alaska upgrade process is a giant jury-rigged hack of Sabre and really needs a complete overhaul and code rewrite to be done correctly, but in the meantime, just understand that it isn't really logical and that it works this way.
When you request an upgrade, you are simply doing that: requesting one.
You are not actually put onto the waitlist itself until your status tier's window opens.
There is only one waitlist for MVPs and Golds. (There's a separate one for 75Ks.) But the order in which you go on the waitlist is determined by your status. If you are a Gold, you go on the waitlist at 72 hours out. If you are an MVP, you go on the waitlist at 48 hours out. Thus, even though there is only one waitlist, all Golds are put on the waitlist ahead of all MVPs--with the one exception of the case where a Gold books a reservation after that 72-hour mark (i.e. less than 3 days before travel), in which case the late-booking Gold would be mixed in with the MVPs, because the Golds had already been added to the waitlist and the late-booking Gold missed the opportunity to get on the waitlist at Gold priority.
Newly-minted Golds who don't reapply for new upgrade requests won't be added to the waitlist at the Gold window, because the upgrade request will still carry the MVP tag on it.
The whole Alaska upgrade process is a giant jury-rigged hack of Sabre and really needs a complete overhaul and code rewrite to be done correctly, but in the meantime, just understand that it isn't really logical and that it works this way.
I think this post should be pinned to the beginning of the thread because the first post (from 2012) doesn't explain this nuance and thus is much less useful than jackal's explanation (that Golds and MVPs are on the same waitlist but all Golds will be added first as long as they booked >72 hrs out).So to summarize my new understanding: if I buy a discounted fare that is not eligible for instant upgrades, I should definitely remove and re-add myself so that I get added to the upgrade waitlist at the Gold T-72 mark instead of the MVP time.
However... I realized for this trip, I did buy a ticket (H class) that is eligible for an instant upgrade if U space were to open up. No U space was available when I made the purchase and none has opened since then, but H class didn't cost any more than the non-eligible class fares.
So it sounds like because I bought an eligible H class fare, I *was* added to the actual upgrade waitlist and not just the upgrade request list? In which case, I should *not* re-add my FF number since I would lose my spot?
Mar 27, 2016, 6:38 am
#269
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,197
I think this post should be pinned to the beginning of the thread because the first post (from 2012) doesn't explain this nuance and thus is much less useful than jackal's explanation (that Golds and MVPs are on the same waitlist but all Golds will be added first as long as they booked >72 hrs out).
So to summarize my new understanding: if I buy a discounted fare that is not eligible for instant upgrades, I should definitely remove and re-add myself so that I get added to the upgrade waitlist at the Gold T-72 mark instead of the MVP time.
However... I realized for this trip, I did buy a ticket (H class) that is eligible for an instant upgrade if U space were to open up. No U space was available when I made the purchase and none has opened since then, but H class didn't cost any more than the non-eligible class fares.
So it sounds like because I bought an eligible H class fare, I *was* added to the actual upgrade waitlist and not just the upgrade request list? In which case, I should *not* re-add my FF number since I would lose my spot?
However... I realized for this trip, I did buy a ticket (H class) that is eligible for an instant upgrade if U space were to open up. No U space was available when I made the purchase and none has opened since then, but H class didn't cost any more than the non-eligible class fares.
So it sounds like because I bought an eligible H class fare, I *was* added to the actual upgrade waitlist and not just the upgrade request list? In which case, I should *not* re-add my FF number since I would lose my spot?
However, MVPs aren't eligible for instant-upgrades on H fares (MVPs can only get them on Y, S, or B fares). The upgrade request in the system is pegged with your MVP status, and so I do not believe you are actually on the waitlist now--you still have a request (tagged with your MVP status) to be added when the MVP window opens.
I believe to actually get on the waitlist with your instant-upgrade-qualifying fare, you would still need to remove and re-add the request.
I believe, anyway
Mar 27, 2016, 4:37 pm
#270
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: MVP Gold
Posts: 81
The first post isn't quite clear, but start reading at post #19 and continue from there through post #24 (or onward). That's where the meat of this discussion occurred.
Correct--sort of.
However, MVPs aren't eligible for instant-upgrades on H fares (MVPs can only get them on Y, S, or B fares). The upgrade request in the system is pegged with your MVP status, and so I do not believe you are actually on the waitlist now--you still have a request (tagged with your MVP status) to be added when the MVP window opens.
I believe to actually get on the waitlist with your instant-upgrade-qualifying fare, you would still need to remove and re-add the request.
I believe, anyway
Correct--sort of.
However, MVPs aren't eligible for instant-upgrades on H fares (MVPs can only get them on Y, S, or B fares). The upgrade request in the system is pegged with your MVP status, and so I do not believe you are actually on the waitlist now--you still have a request (tagged with your MVP status) to be added when the MVP window opens.
I believe to actually get on the waitlist with your instant-upgrade-qualifying fare, you would still need to remove and re-add the request.
I believe, anyway
Well, here goes!