anteater

I cannot speak for them, but I know James definitely has some interesting stories; and, you'll definitely find experiences where the UG processor failed (e.g. a 100K was processed behind a 75K).

Yes, this is another method of bypassing the waitlist. If U is available but the UG processor has yet to run, you could bypass the waitlist via an OLCI upgrade offer.

The waitlist is purely: elite status, fare class, MM status, and time of booking. That's how it should be processed. The waitlist exists for any specific flight, whether that flight is T-330 days or T-24 hours. If an elite purchases a qualifying fare, they are immediately placed on it. If an elite purchases a non-qualifying fare, they are placed in their respective elite status queue until their elite tier upgrade window opens. Once the respective window opens, those elites are then moved to the waitlist and placed in order based on the criteria previously mentioned.

For example, if a 100K purchases a T class award ticket at T-330 days, a 75K purchases a Y class paid ticket at T-121 hours and a 100K purchases a N class award ticket at T-23 hours and no U space has yet to open, then at T-23 the waitlist would be: 100K (N class, award), (100K, T class), and 75K (Y class). If a 100K were to then SDC onto that flight at say.. T-4 hours, they would still be ahead of the 75K.

Personally, as a 100K who frequently exercises a SDC (qualifying or non-qualifying fare), I have not seen an issue with being placed on the UG waitlist. I am usually #1-#3 and have never been behind a 75K.

If you have a specific example of a flight or pax, I would be glad to walk you through how it should work. However, as you will undoubtedly read from myself and others, there are a multitude of examples of where the waitlist does not perform as expected. When it doesn't your best case for future resolution is to escalate it with AS so they can investigate and fix it (if applicable).

Tracer_SEA

Finally had a moment to hunt down the thread I am still trying to reconcile: Tiebreaker Rules for Upgrade Waitlists, particularly posts 4 and 43

* Have we confirmed whether there is still a separate "75k priority list", and if so what impacts it has?

* Have we debunked the assertion in Post 4 that the upgrade waitlist is not dynamic?
--> So an MVP on a full Y fare who gets added to the waitlist first is NOT ahead of 75ks on lower fares who get added later?
--> What about a 75k who buys a B fare the day before departure? Are they ahead of or behind a 75k on an N fare who bought two weeks before and moved from the request queue onto the upgrade waitlist at T-120?

anteater

There is not.


The waitlist is dynamic. And how it shouldwork is:

We also need to keep in mind there are waitlists and requests queues. Any elite purchasing a qualifying fare will be placed immediately on the waitlist. Any elite purchasing a non-qualifying fare will be placed in their respective elite queue. If U space opens prior to the respective elite upgrade windows, the UG professor (if it runs at all) will process the waitlist. As the elite windows open, those elites from the request queues are then added to the waitlist according to: elite status, fare class, MMr status, and time of booking.

That being said, the UG processor has a history of bugs and failing to run, and this in turn also allows elites to proactively jump the queue (e.g. U space is open and UG processor hasn't run -> purchase a qualifying fare or apply a GGU). It seems like the bugs have decreased over time, but it is still possible to get skipped over due to shenanigans.


That is correct.

Assuming an empty waitlist for a future flight that's greater than T-120 hours away with U=0.. If an MVP buys a Y fare they will be #1 on the waitlist. If an MVP Gold then buys a K fare they will be #1 and the MVP will be #2. If an MVP Gold 75K/100K buys a M fare they will now be #1, the Gold will be #2 and the MVP will be #3.


The 75K on a B fare would be ahead of the 75K on a N fare. If after the 75K B fare purchase and prior to T-24 a 100K purchased an award ticket T class, they would be ahead of both 75Ks.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. 🤙🏻🍹

Bballfan28

anteater Hi, I think I understand but one more question.

Assuming — U=0, T-7 Days, Only these 3 elites bought tickets

MVP buys B Fare; MVPG buys K Fare; MVP75 buys L Fare

If U space opens up BEFORE T-120 the MVPG would be upgraded first bc they bought the qualifying fare?

if U space opens up AFTER T-120 the upgrade order would start with the 75K?

is this correct? Thanks!

anteater

Yes.

At T-7 Days, the WL/ERQs would look like:

Waitlist
#1 - MVP Gold (K fare)
#2 - MVP (B fare)

Elite Request Queue - 75K
#1 - MVP Gold 75K (L fare)

If prior to T-120 a U space opens, then the MVP Gold (K fare) would be upgraded first.

If no U space opened prior to T-120, then at T-120, the waitlist would then be: MVP G75K (L fare), MVP Gold (K fare), MVP (B fare). If U space then opened, the MVP G75K (L fare) would be upgraded first.

Bballfan28

Thanks!

Red Raider LV

Yesterday my S.O. and I flew SJC-AUS. We are both EXP at AA, we were also on different PNRs. Around 12 hours before the flight, she was #3 on the upgrade list in the app, and I was #4. Around 10 hours out she cleared, and disappeared from the upgrade list, and I moved to #3. A few hours later I cleared, and was removed from the upgrade list. I'm happy the upgrades cleared, but I'm confused as to how I'm supposed to interpret the upgrade list. What happened to #1 and #2. Why did we skip them?

vanillabean

I have no idea anymore how complimentary upgrades work. Just compare post #317 and #319 in
Upgrade Processor Glitches
They may have been handled manually by different individuals, I don’t know.

Flying for Fun

#1& #2 were most likely together on the same PNR. When the upgrade processor releases upgrade space one at a time, they 2 pax PNR is skipped and the next solo traveler gets the upgrade, in this case #3. Some time later, another upgrade is released and #1 & #2 get skipped again, going again to #3.

Upgrades on AS disappear from the waitlist after the upgrade is processed.

Had you not been on separate PNRs it would have gone to #5, #7.... If there were no solo PNRs, the upgrade space remains and can be snagged.

Even if the #1 & #2 paxs were both AS 100K (within 24 hours of departure) and you were #3 & #4 as an AA Gold, the upgrade would go to the AA Gold.

An AS 100K with a companion on the same PNR is more likely to be sitting in the "back of the bus" than upgraded."

James

vanillabean

This appears to be happening so often one may come to think of it as the blanket excuse for reducing guest access, and Alaska is not upfront about it.

mtofell

Agreed - As a solo traveler 99% of the time I've benefited from this many times. I watch the list and have moved right past sets of couples even when there are pairs of FC seats open.

doublemazaa

What is the upgrade process behavior when there are four people on the itinerary, one as MVP Gold and the other three as MVPs?

I tried my best to search this thread for the answer, but nothing came up under the terms I thought to search for, and (sadly) don't have time to read 71 pages right now.

Cheers!

PDXpress

If there are more than 2 people on a reservation, no one gets an upgrade, in my experience. You can always call in and split the reservation to 2 and 2.

doublemazaa

Bummer. My kids are small enough that upgrading us is kind of an all or nothing proposition. I guess I'll just keep in enjoying the chocolate in the back for now.

PDXpress

You have the right attitude, and it would be nice if it worked differently.
My family is also 1 MVPG and 3 MVP at the moment. With little kids, it's just a question of how much you want to sit with your spouse on the plane. We're always very content if we get a parent and kid in First and the other two in Premium. You can even switch off if you want.
My son has even pointed out that First is sort of wasted on him since he doesn't drink alcohol and has short legs. His sister vehemently disagrees, of course.
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