jsguyrus

Just to add to the confusion, yesterday flight 757 EWR-PDX. Two open first class seats and about 10 on the upgrade list. The seats were not relased at any point and the flight boarded with two empty FC seats. Even the gate display showed only 14 booked and 14 checked in. Eventually after all passengeres had been seated and the aircraft door closed, the FA upgraded the first two passengers on the UG list, which of course entailed people moving out of their seats, shifting overhead luggage etc. WHY?

Idaho Territory

I can assure you that this still occurs. It has only occurred with AS vs OO seats for me. I have noticed that what used to be T-120 is now around T-80 though for OO.

PV_Premier

all we can really do here is send feedback. i don't see anything changing, but without feedback there is even less chance it will change.

Westcoaster

Correct. The post you responded to is a couple of weeks old.

dayone

Guilty as charged.

PDXPremier

On a side note, it's interesting to see the disparity between the SEA/EWR flights and the PDX/EWR flights....there would almost never be an upgrade list with only 10 people on an evening flight out of EWR if that plane was going to SEA.

UAPremierExec

I'm not sure if this has been discussed, but it seems as the list is out of order on the app and website?

When I checked in for JNU-ANC on Sunday, it showed me as #6 on a list of 10 - I thought "wow, that's a lot of 75Ks for this route, normally there are very few on a Sunday".

Sometime while sleeping, I was upgraded, and another individual was.

While using the lav, a sneakpeak of the paperwork showed only 3 of us as G75s on board, the rest were Gold, MVP or paid F.

This could also explain why I was 22 of 30 on SEA-ANC on the app for UG?? Same happened for PDX-LAX. Was put on the waitlist for UG, and I know I wasn't #1. I cleared overnight. Yet a peak of the paperwork showed only myself and another 75K on this flight.

jsguyrus

Yes I was surprised, On my SEA-EWR fligth four days prior there were 50 on the UG list. And i did give feedback via Alaska (Sometimes) Listens regarding the UG process at EWR.

meej

+1... I sent feedback about frustrations with new upgrade process and received a $75 discount code. I sent feedback on a couple of flights two weeks apart that required babysitting and calling in to secure a premium class upgrade within the appropriate window.

"Our sincere apologies for not meeting or exceeding your expectations with your premium class upgrade benefit. Please know we are aware of a system issue that may be related to yours, however we can only determine this within 48 hours of your flight departure due to technical system constraints. If you happen to have this issue in the future, please give us a call no later than 48 hours after of your flight departure at 800-401-6012 and we can have our developers research further as we have resolved prior issues with an additional check-in for the flight. "

Finkface

So not necessarily a glitch, but strange nonetheless.

I booked 9 months ago (pre Dec 5, so purchase date is the factor for u/g), for a flight leaving this coming Monday. I booked a K fare, intending to use a GGU and have been watching for U from day 1. Never opened up. When I booked, I was the only one on the entire plane (yes, I know the seatmap isn't a 100% indication of load, but still...). Even now, there are only 4 premium seats taken, including the exit row, which leads me to believe there are not a whole lot of elites on this flight or they would have selected the better seats. There are 9 unselected F seats and it has been this way since before Christmas. I am in row 6.

The 75k upgrade window passes with no movement so I figure I am looking good. As of 5 days ago, there are no coach seats being sold, only F. So I can't even check for U anymore (I let my EF lapse).

I call in today to ask if there is any U space as I am now past my window. Agent is kind of shocked that they haven't processed any upgrades considering there are no more coach seats for sale and it would open them up. Confirms it is F=9. She clicks around and confirms we are indeed on the waitlist in all of the 3 areas on the system they have (!) since they all have to sync up. She says there have definitely been glitches lately and puts me on hold for a very long time. Comes back and says she talked to a supe as it just all seems weird but says they are indeed holding back all U now until day of departure, even in this case where they could likely sell coach seats if they freed some up by sending some of us up to F.

But here's the kicker - I am number 9 on the w/l. She can't figure it out either as my purchase date was so early. She figures there must be 8 75K's ahead of me, which makes no sense as they would likely have selected exit row or premium seats and there aren't that many taken. Or that more likely the system isn't recognizing that I bought pre-Dec 5 and should therefore be ahead of those (except 75k) who bought higher fare classes based on my purchase date. And even I am on a K fare. It is all very puzzling.

Not complaining here, just reporting a very weird scenario. We'll see what happens on day of. I would have gladly used a GGU but not given the chance since the day I booked.

Waitlisted

I checked in online for PSP/PDX last night for today's flight and I was #1 on the list and stayed there despite a rock bottom fare bought after 12/7. There were 4 empty F seats (739 so no premium) all the way up until departure. As I was boarding my pass didn't work so went to the desk and I was upgraded . Csa told me at PSP they process right as F is about to board now however I never did hear an announcement trying to "sell" upgrades which I had happen on PDX/MSP two weeks ago, yes BEFORE I was upgraded. I guess there is no standard policy

Kieron

I could be wrong, but I don't believe there's any special case for lower tier fares purchased before the change. You didn't go onto the upgrade waitlist until after Dec. 5th (i.e., not until T-120), so the new upgrade processor ordering applied. Only in the case of immediately upgradeable fares would having a booking before the change matter.

Finkface

I (and others) asked this question of Missy way back in November. If booked prior to Dec. 5, date of purchase is the overriding factor (after status, of course) in upgrade priority. Purchase date should trump fare class if booked prior to Dec. 5. I am looking for some of the posts now:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27543667-post120.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27460046-post1.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27464301-post18.html

Even on the AS site, it states that fare class is prioritized only for those tickets booked post-Dec 5. If booked prior to Dec. 5, it should be prioritized by time of booking (within status level):
Upgrades will be processed by elite status level within the upgrade windows noted above, then by fare class (for bookings as of December 5, 2016), then by the time of booking. If an upgrade is available on your flight, you will be upgraded immediately. If there are no upgrades available for your flight, you will remain on the waitlist until one is available.

Edit: found the answer from Missy. The last line:
Because you bought first AND bought prior to the 12/5 change, you are first.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27490033-post64.html

seekinghelp

This isn't happening. Last nov I booked out until April. Every week for the past 4 weeks, I've been upgraded on my outbound flight, but have been 6-12 on the upgrade list on the return. Not sure how to correct.

Finkface

You are absolutely right it isn't happening. I, and my no status companion, are sitting at numbers 8 and 10 on the waitlist. So we have been split up despite his piggybacking on my status, as others have reported upthread. And as of last night, there were still 9 open F seats. This morning, there are 2 but only 4 upgrades have been processed. I guess it's possible that 3 random people swooped in and bought full F but I highly doubt it as this is a total leisure route. Plus, one of the people on the standby list has been upgraded into F! How do you go from standby to F 8 hours before a flight (meaning likely no irrops yet)?

I find it very hard to believe that there are ~8 75k's or Golds who booked before us (Aug/16) on this flight. No way, as there were only 6 premium seats selected up to now, including us and the exit rows. Surely all those 75k'sand Golds who booked back in the summer would have taken the primo seats. And as I said, the seat map was 100% empty when I booked. So this is not working as it should.

And further evidence of non-transparancy, we have a short flight this morning YVR-SEA. Same PNR but a mainline flight, not QX. We were numbers 1 and 2 on the upgrade list for that flight. Overnight, we were upgraded but our names no longer show on the waitlist at all (with a green check and seat assignment). So we were upgraded but have disappeared completely. The names on the current list all have the green checks and their upgraded seat assignments.