VegasGambler

In my experience SFO-OGG is extremely easy to get upgraded on, and I'm just MVP. As 75k I would make a large bet that you would be upgraded. 8F; not an elite heavy route. You are just playing the waiting game until they release the U.

I know nothing about BNA-SFO.

sam_goh

Thanks @VegasGambler. Was hoping that they'd release some as we're within 3-4 days now, but guess they're holding out hope to move those seats

Flying for Fun

Just to clarify, if U hasn't opened up prior to going to gate control, U is irrelavent. The gate agents will process upgrades whether there is U or F inventory.

From AS website.

The gate agent will assign available First Class seats, even those not designated as "U" class of service, are still available less than 1 hour prior to departure. Those seats will be assigned by tier then time waitlisted.

James

VegasGambler

If that's meant to imply that at T-1hr they will fill all the first class seats with upgrades, that is not true. They will sometimes leave the seats available for sale up until right before (during, after) boarding.

A GA once told me that she has no control over this. If it's full fare F only she can't upgrade into it. I have no clue if this is correct but while I'm at the gate (less than 1 hr before takeoff) I often see F for sale while I'm still on the waitlist. It's commonplace. I've never seen the plane leave with empty F and a non-empty waitlist (although others here have reported it)

dayone

With some slight variace, upgrading unsold F at T-30 minutes is my experience.

Flying for Fun

I certainly have. I flew a 737-900 with 7 empty F seats and an empty waitlist. I have also been at the gate where the gate agents were actively trying to upsell into F over the PA for two different flights. My flight tomorrow KOA-SAN had 5 unassigned F at check-in. Later in the day it dropped to 2 unassigned with 2 on the waitlist that were already cleared to F.

I had a gate agent tell me that she had full control of the F cabin, once it was moved to gate control, two weeks ago. The F cabin was full and there were 5 on the waitlist. As both MVPG75K we were #1 & #2 , #3 was Gold, #4 & #5 were MVP. There was one unassigned seat but all sold and accounted for as per GA. She even gave us the option if one F opened up to upgrade one of us and not skip to the MVPG when we were flying on a companion certificate.

I am only illustrating the verbage on the AS website and how it should work. If there is an F seat still designated as F and not U the gate agent can upgrade an elite into it during gate agent control. If they chose to wait for the last minute to process the upgrade it is possible it could be sold.

If a gate agent decides to sell the upgrade to a friend under the desk, that is against policy but some have suggested this is happening too.

James

EDIT: It would be possible to have two on the waitlist and leave with one empty F seat if the two waiting for an upgrade were on the same PNR.

NoLaGent

This is the big issue with AS when it comes to U space popping at T-2hr, which if it's going to happen, it does without fail, and where the gate control processing for upgrades fails them miserably (the lack of any control from T-2hr to t-40m).

I travel with a non-status work colleague every month or so to LAX and we usually Lyft to the airport together from downtown SF to SFO, often arriving near T-2hr. On 4 of 6 trips this year, he's purchased the F upgrade at either the kiosk or the ticket counter, before upgrades on these short flights are processed. Sniping isn't just for non-elites though, as has been posted on this forum many times before. Elites can also still do the airport check-in/change seat at that exact same time, if U is available. This has been around for years now, and is really something AS should address.

rustykettel

Flying for Fun

Thanks for the info. This is why I usually purchace eligible fares but only when I can get an immediate upgrade. Although, an eligible fare may be the cheapest fare on a late booking. Surprisingly, a recent 9 segment mileage run had 6 segments upgraded with a companion from 26 to 48 hours from departure; before OLCI commenced.

James

faithful

I've had 2 GA's tell me that they process comp upgrades by what time they checked in.

Robt760

Robt760

brizone

I believe that's [email protected], and here's his LinkedIn.

Meanwhile I'm having my own upgrade frustrations this weekend. Made 75K on Tuesday. But although my account shows me at 75K now, apparently there's still a process that has to run in order for the upgrade processor to recognize this. So I watched U1 turn to U0 at the MVPG window this evening, even though I was on the phone with customer service hours earlier this morning trying to get them to push my upgrade through (to no avail. They said it's all automatic now, and they can't over-ride anything to fix a problem like this. Instead they offered to have me pay up to the GG upgrade level and burn one for it. Gee, thanks...)

So although AS acknowledges my newly-minuted 75K status in my account, has given me 4 new GG Upgrades, 4 new lounge passes, and added another 50K miles to my balance, for some reason everything relating to the ticketing and upgrade system still can't see that and figure it out. In 2018. Incredibly, the MP Service Rep I was handed off to (by the PHX call center Reservations rep) told me that while this should have only taken "a few days", she's seen it take up to 30 days (!) for it to hit the upgrade processor.

Hard to imagine a more effective way to convince new elites that the AS IT department may actually never really get its act together, and that management doesn't authentically care about stewarding the Mileage Plan experience. Every time someone hits a new status level at the beginning of a typical-length business trip, they'll typically NEVER be able to take advantage of their status on the flight home. Right when they're most jazzed about making it to the next level, and feeling happier about their relationship with AS (and whatever decisions that entailed).


The AS Upgrade Processor?

One interesting note: If I go to buy a new ticket now, it shows my 75K status on the purchase page and will let me book a ticket into Premium Class as 75K - and choose my PC seat at the 75K upgrade fare-basis level - right up until I pay for it. Once it comes back with the confirmation, I see that my 75K status has changed back to MVPG on the ticketing confirmation page (yet the PC seat remains). So obviously some aspect of the reservations system can see my correct status information, but then (partially?) discards this when actually ticketing and looks to some other dataset instead when stamping the transaction with my current status.

(What a Frankenstein their back end must look like now! And after spending all that money to integrate VS, where they could have fork-lifted themselves into anything they were capable of imagining and implementing! Quite sad, actually. What a missed opportunity).

VegasGambler

Did you try to hang up and call again? "I can't do it" usually means "I don't know how to do it".

brizone

Yes, of course! Especially given that the first rep was in PHX (notoriously poor training there, for some reason. I usually immediately hang up if they say they're in PHX), but he was actually pretty good (perhaps a change in in the wind in PHX now?)

Second one from BOI was relaying back the same info. But I'd already been escalated to the MP rep in SEA, who insisted there was no way to fix it. I wanted to wait until today to call back again and press the MP side of things to see if I can get better information (or at least find out if the status has updated). I plan to try booking another ticket just to see if the status is sticking., which is probably the (vastly) quickest way to actually find out anything new at this point...