beckoa

Yeah, I kind of wonder what happens to those seats then...

rustykettel

I wonder if they get converted to Premium Class, at least as far as the booking is concerned. Could explain the hiccups with Row 6 & Exit Rows recently perhaps if something was being done on the back end.

G2244

Well the current process sure seems broken for me. Have a trip coming with VX on the way out and AS on the way back. Not only did selecting the MCS upgrade option on the VX site seem to do nothing (at T-24 no change), the T-72 AS upgrades did not fire either. I have sorted it all out after several calls, but clearly this is not working as they say. Not sure why the AS ones didn't work since on 1 segment I am the only one even in the first cabin (early Sunday morning flight).

On a related note, I tried to have them figure out the cost to buy up to first on the VX segments and so much more confusion ensued, I just gave up. I will check in at T-6 I guess and see if I get an offer to buy up.

dayone

On the flights I looked at, they are Premium Class.

safari ari

Do they revert back to just snack boxes? Or will catering be the same as VX MCS with free selection from the menu?

clarrkkent

My experience over last weekend flying LAX-PHL-LAX x 2 was that I had to opt in for the upgrade by managing booking. At T-24 I checked in and was allowed to select a MCS seat using the "select seat" button. I am MVPG75. Do MVPG have to wait until a different window? The scariest part is the warning it gives about possibly being handed a middle seat. Didn't run into that problem though since I was able to select my own at check in.

Same experience as you for AS upgrade to F. JFK-SEA this weekend, upgrade space available, upgrade wait listed, did not process and finally called at T-96 and had them manually process.

FC upgrade from my VX MCS upgraded seat PHL-LAX was $240 if I remember correctly. The AS agent passed me off to VX to handle. It only took a few minutes to figure it out, but it was only 2am Pacific Time. I passed as that seemed steep and MCS bulkhead suited me just fine. This is incongruous with what I experienced earlier in the year. As I checked in at T-24 the cost was only $99 SFO-JFK from main cabin to first. Yes, I jumped on that.

The trouble with FC upgrades on VX is that if it isn't available at T-24, but is available later, you can't "check in" again to grab it unless you have an agent "un-check you in". What a pain.

safari ari

If after April 25th MCS is now PC, I wonder if that means FC upgrades will follow Alaska's standards, and you will have the ability to get VX F seats free. Will be interesting to see the catering situation as well for both F and Y.

safari ari

Same window, so if you get opted in at T-24 either automatically or via an agent, its almost like WN scramble to check in quickly and select the best available seat, since they are not assigned at upgrade. MVP is at T-12.

Major sticking point, where seats will be left but if you check in to get your best seat at T-24, and seats in F are still available there is no real way to upgrade once you are checked in. Plus paying a buy-up fee from MCS and having to deal with an agent its almost not worth it, unless it is a night flight TCON. Personally, I like the MCS seats better for the cost, since I can order anything on the screen and do not have to constantly interact with the FA to get something.

Legend717

I had a similar experience, and here's my advice.
Opt in on the website, and be aware that it does absolutely nothing.
Get to the airport. Go to the ticket counter and try to get them to push you to MCS. At some stations, they will, at some stations, they won't.
Go to the gate. Get them to push you to MCS.
ONLY AFTER they have done that, inquire about a first class upgrade. With VX not doing any freebies, they usually have lots of F space available. You can even upgrade to first using their IFE system (RED) onboard! But just have the gate agent do it.
The prices are published on the VX website, so I don't know why you called in to ask. Just check them out over there. Mid-cons like SEA-DAL are $110; in my experience, it was well worth my hundred bucks.

I have no idea why ClarkKent had the experience he did. JFK-SFO should under no circumstances ever have been $99. But hey, take what you can get.

maskedmesothorium

I'll echo the recent experiences upgrading to MCS. I selected the upgrade button online and accepted the middle seat warning. But the upgrade never cleared. I checked in at roughly T-24 and wasn't able to select MCS, which makes sense since I'm only MVP. After checking in I was unable to change seats online. I went to the counter at around T-10 and asked if I was on the list for MCS and the agent said she would add me, but I didn't clear while I was standing there. I eventually cleared at the gate. I got the exit row aisle, all the MCS middle seats went out empty.

The experience was nice. Seat wasn't anything special but plenty of legroom and the entertainment system was great. I ordered some snacks and drinks and the FAs brought them promptly. Definitely worth the hassle. Side note, crazy how VX invested a bunch of money in awesome IFE but their mobile app is awful. The touch screens at the check-in counter were running some ancient software, too.

beckoa

VX's red kept failing for me. FA rebooted several times, but it still had seizures.

Duke777

I've had no problems since the opt in feature on vx.com when booking VX segments through VX. I check-in at 24 hours and am able to select a MCS seat or upgrade to first ($80 on my 2.5 hour flight). Much better than when I had to call in and had issues with agents knowing what to do.

I like the ability to pay for an upgrade from MCS or stay in MCS.

dmodemd

I just got upgraded automatically as well when I had previously opted in on the website.

boycruz

First time got waitlisted for MCS after always clearing at T-24 as MP75
and flight empty
Every agent at AS told a different story and was actually told that row 4 on a320
was upgrade!
The whole system is broken and you can tell no one cares
AS agents dont seem to know much about VX product
1 they said record need to be split so partner traveling as MVP could upgrade
2 then told (different agent) row 4 was upgrade
3 Then different agent said there is no row 3 or 10 on their seat map
4 Supervisors on AS dont know much more
Messy

safari ari

I've had this happen on numerous occasions. Outside of explaining VX MCS to the AS agents, which I always do for their future benefit. You either have to push the AS agents to talk to VX or find an AS agent who has access to VX system. Or call again and hopefully get a person in the Seattle call center, I have always found them to be the best and more willing to help. But yes, it is annoying that they think preferred seats are the upgrade seats and don't even know about VX product this long after the purchase.