MVPG upgrade on award ticket
Jun 26, 2018, 2:15 am
#16
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 539
Refundable awards (Z class) are third, after Y and S.
So they are actually in front of all paid except for Y and S.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...upgrades#class
So they are actually in front of all paid except for Y and S.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...upgrades#class
Jun 26, 2018, 10:37 pm
#18
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Jun 28, 2018, 3:53 am
#19
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New York City, United States.
Posts: 2,625
Jun 29, 2018, 3:26 am
#20
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Quick follow-up question on that just out of curiosity; are you also saying that paid fares are in front of refundable awards as well. Thanks.
Refundable Z awards are eligible for immediate upgrade at time of booking for ALL Elite Tiers if U space is available. If U space is not available you are put on the waitlist in the order that they were booked. Consequently, the sooner you book the better. If an MVP books a Z fare today and a MVP75K books a Z fare next week on the same flight the MVP would upgrade before the 75K because he is ahead of the 75K on the waitlist.
Refundable awards (Z class) are third, after Y and S.
So they are actually in front of all paid except for Y and S.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...upgrades#class
This is incorrect! I think you are confusing eligible and complimentary upgrades.
Eligible upgrades for Elites allow for an immediate upgrade into the F Cabin if U space is available. If there isn't any U space available and an eligible fare is purchased then they are moved to the waitlist in date order. Should U space open up at anytime the upgrades will be processed in waitlist order. All non-eligible fares will always be behind you on the waitlist.
Eligible Fares are,
MVP Y, S & Z
MVPG Y, S, B, M & Z
MVPG75K Y, S, B, M, H & Z
If U space is available then the first Elite to purchase an eligible fare gets the immediate upgrade regardless of Tier Status. Of course a higher Tier Status grants eligibility to lower cost fare buckets.
Complimentary upgrades are for all Elites who have not purchased an eligible fare or refundable award. When you purchase a ticket as an Elite that is not eligible, you are placed in a waitlist REQUEST queue. You don't go on the waitlist, you go into a queue requesting to be put on the waitlist when your Elite Tier group window opens.
MVPG75K Elite Tier group opens @ T-120 hours.
MVPG Elite Tier group onens @ T-72 hours
MVP Elite Tier group opens at T-48 hours.
Remember if U space is available at T-121 Hours any Elite who purchases an eligible fare or refundable award or anyone using a Gold Guest Upgrade certificate will get the immediate upgrade. If no U space is available any Elite who purchases an eligible fare or refundable award or anyone using a GGU will move immediately to the waitlist and be upgraded before the MVPG75K request queue is moved to the waitlist at T-120.
The order in which MVPG75Ks are moved to the waitlist will be in the order of fare class booked and then by date. They will be added to the waitlist in the following order. Q, L, V, N, K, G, T, R & W. W is a non-refundable main cabin award. ALL paid fares will be ahead of all non-refundable awards in the respective Elite Tiers but an MVPG75K W award will clear before an MVPG paid fare. If U space is available they will be cleared off the waitlist in this order.
Similarly at T-72 the MVPG Elite Tier group opens up and moved to the waitlist in order of fare and then by date. H, Q, L, V, N, K, G, T, R, W.
Similarly at T-48 the MVP Elite Tier group opens up and moved to the waitlist in order of fare and then by date. B, M, Q, L, V, N, K, G, T, R, W.
As you can see, an MVP on a non-refundable award will be the very last one to be upgraded.
The processor will continue to look for upgrades and process them off the waitlist until 1 hour before departure. They then go under control of the Gate Agents. Any remaining U and/or F seats will be assigned to Elites based on Tier Status and time waitlisted.
If no Elites remain on the waitlist and U/F seats remain under T-1 they will be offered as paid upgrades to non-Elites at the gate.
On a less Elite heavy route, if all Elites have been upgraded and U still remains available at T-24 when check-in commences an offer to purchase an upgrade will appear during check-in.
There are other complexities to consider too. Upgrading with miles and allowing MVPG+ to upgrade a companion on the same reservation. There have been many examples of "glitches" in the upgrade processor but this is the way it is supposed to work.
Personally, I prefer to purchase eligible fares with U space available on longer flights or more complex itineraries and use a companion certificate and GGU's where I can get longer or multiple flights upgraded on a single upgrade certificate. ANC-SJO is 5063 miles one-way, one GGU. Further than ANC/SEA/PDX-LHR. For shorter flights, I am just as happy in row 6 or 17 if an upgrade doesn't clear so I won't burn a GGU on them.
James
Last edited by Flying for Fun; Jun 29, 2018 at 3:38 am
Jan 9, 2022, 10:50 pm
#22
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 183
Jan 10, 2022, 3:29 pm
#23
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: ANC
Posts: 404
I don't know for an AA award ticket but I am able to provide a related data point. I have AS status and for an upcoming cash itinerary I purchased from AA (AS + AA + AA segments) I'm on the upgrade waitlist for the AS segment.