Weird upgrade processor behavior
Jul 25, 2018, 6:58 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597
Weird upgrade processor behavior
Flying out of LAX this morning I had the upgrade processor do a weird thing. I had been upgraded to premium at T-48 and had an exit row window (pmVX plane). There were 4 people on the upgrade list, including me, all already with PC. When I got to the gate I checked the app to see if I'd gotten an F upgrade and it showed two people with F upgrades, with the other two gone from the list. My BP had changed to "see agent for seat assignment", but there was no agent at the gate yet. When I checked the "awaiting seats" list, I'd been moved to that. The agent at the next gate just said to wait for someone to show up. I went out to ticketing instead, and it turned out I had gotten the upgrade and the agent there printed me a bp.
I'm happy for the upgrade, but it seems like bad processor behavior to put people in apparent limbo half an hour before boarding. Is this expected behavior? I haven't seen it before- usually the last minute upgrades assign me a seat rather than bouncing me to limbo.
I'm happy for the upgrade, but it seems like bad processor behavior to put people in apparent limbo half an hour before boarding. Is this expected behavior? I haven't seen it before- usually the last minute upgrades assign me a seat rather than bouncing me to limbo.
Jul 25, 2018, 7:26 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 917
Yes this does happen sometimes. The seat assignment process doesn’t complete, for some reason. Often enough that it makes me happy when I see it.
Jul 27, 2018, 12:27 am
#4
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,953
Was this an airbus series aircraft?
AS seems to be clearing these at T-4 or so, and not giving us a choice of seats.
AS seems to be clearing these at T-4 or so, and not giving us a choice of seats.
Jul 27, 2018, 1:57 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AS, AA, BA, SQ
Posts: 164
Apparently there is an issue with the auto upgrade program upgrading people and not checking them in and issuing a BP as it should. You will have to check in with an agent to get everything solved…kiosks, phones, computers don’t work for this for some reason. Only an agent at the airport can mend it. Anyone at the airport should be able to do this by checking you in again (as if you never checked in in the first place, works best at ticket counters though gate agents can do it as well…just tell them you haven’t checked in).
Jul 27, 2018, 2:35 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597
Yes, it was an airbus. I had also previously been in an exit row - IIRC it it said "exit row" above the "sea agent"
I went back out to the ticket desk since there wasn't anybody at the gate yet and told them "I had a seat, now I don't - can you tell me what happened?" and showed her my boarding pass. She found the upgrade and printed me a boarding pass. About 15 minutes later it showed up in the app.
Apparently there is an issue with the auto upgrade program upgrading people and not checking them in and issuing a BP as it should. You will have to check in with an agent to get everything solved…kiosks, phones, computers don’t work for this for some reason. Only an agent at the airport can mend it. Anyone at the airport should be able to do this by checking you in again (as if you never checked in in the first place, works best at ticket counters though gate agents can do it as well…just tell them you haven’t checked in).
Jul 27, 2018, 10:37 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Salem, OR
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold75k, WN A-List, AA, FI, DY, UA, Marriott Lifetime Silver, Hilton Diamond, Amtrak
Posts: 129
I had a weird upgrade experience to FC earlier this week. I was originally scheduled 7:37pm DAL to PDX, but that morning Alaska notified me that the flight was severely delayed due to ATC (new flight time departing 11:25pm arriving in PDX 1:30am!!). I had been upgraded to FC on that Alaska Skywest flight, but I had to find another flight because the last shuttle to Salem (my home) is 12:45am.
Alaska phone agent in Seattle was super nice and moved me to the 3:15 DFW to PDX flight, putting me in premium class. I was super happy. I got to the airport, was first in the upgrade list, and boarded with my mobile app, and towards the end of the boarding process, an older lady comes up and has a printed boarding pass with the same seat number in row 10 as me. So, she says, "Maybe you were upgraded." She went to get the flight attendant. And the FA comes back with a boarding pass for me for FC. And, the lady who had my same premium class seat says to me, "Oh, that was originally my seat in FC, but they moved me back to premium just before boarding. You must have had higher status." And I was apologetic, and she laughed and in good humour said, "No you're not, go take the first class seat and enjoy your meal." I don't really have a reason to disbelieve the lady's story. I've often seen FA's upgrade elite customers after boarding is almost complete to empty FC seats, and I really appreciate Alaska doing this (AA gate agents, under time pressure, have a history of flying off without even bothering to process upgrades). But, in this instance, Alaska did not move me to an open FC seat, but instead switched me with another customer after I had boarded. I wonder if that is part of the weird IT upgrade processor behavior? The Korean chicken and lemon tart were tasty.
Alaska phone agent in Seattle was super nice and moved me to the 3:15 DFW to PDX flight, putting me in premium class. I was super happy. I got to the airport, was first in the upgrade list, and boarded with my mobile app, and towards the end of the boarding process, an older lady comes up and has a printed boarding pass with the same seat number in row 10 as me. So, she says, "Maybe you were upgraded." She went to get the flight attendant. And the FA comes back with a boarding pass for me for FC. And, the lady who had my same premium class seat says to me, "Oh, that was originally my seat in FC, but they moved me back to premium just before boarding. You must have had higher status." And I was apologetic, and she laughed and in good humour said, "No you're not, go take the first class seat and enjoy your meal." I don't really have a reason to disbelieve the lady's story. I've often seen FA's upgrade elite customers after boarding is almost complete to empty FC seats, and I really appreciate Alaska doing this (AA gate agents, under time pressure, have a history of flying off without even bothering to process upgrades). But, in this instance, Alaska did not move me to an open FC seat, but instead switched me with another customer after I had boarded. I wonder if that is part of the weird IT upgrade processor behavior? The Korean chicken and lemon tart were tasty.
Jul 27, 2018, 8:24 pm
#8
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AS, AA, BA, SQ
Posts: 164
I had a weird upgrade experience to FC earlier this week. I was originally scheduled 7:37pm DAL to PDX, but that morning Alaska notified me that the flight was severely delayed due to ATC (new flight time departing 11:25pm arriving in PDX 1:30am!!). I had been upgraded to FC on that Alaska Skywest flight, but I had to find another flight because the last shuttle to Salem (my home) is 12:45am.
Alaska phone agent in Seattle was super nice and moved me to the 3:15 DFW to PDX flight, putting me in premium class. I was super happy. I got to the airport, was first in the upgrade list, and boarded with my mobile app, and towards the end of the boarding process, an older lady comes up and has a printed boarding pass with the same seat number in row 10 as me. So, she says, "Maybe you were upgraded." She went to get the flight attendant. And the FA comes back with a boarding pass for me for FC. And, the lady who had my same premium class seat says to me, "Oh, that was originally my seat in FC, but they moved me back to premium just before boarding. You must have had higher status." And I was apologetic, and she laughed and in good humour said, "No you're not, go take the first class seat and enjoy your meal." I don't really have a reason to disbelieve the lady's story. I've often seen FA's upgrade elite customers after boarding is almost complete to empty FC seats, and I really appreciate Alaska doing this (AA gate agents, under time pressure, have a history of flying off without even bothering to process upgrades). But, in this instance, Alaska did not move me to an open FC seat, but instead switched me with another customer after I had boarded. I wonder if that is part of the weird IT upgrade processor behavior? The Korean chicken and lemon tart were tasty.
Alaska phone agent in Seattle was super nice and moved me to the 3:15 DFW to PDX flight, putting me in premium class. I was super happy. I got to the airport, was first in the upgrade list, and boarded with my mobile app, and towards the end of the boarding process, an older lady comes up and has a printed boarding pass with the same seat number in row 10 as me. So, she says, "Maybe you were upgraded." She went to get the flight attendant. And the FA comes back with a boarding pass for me for FC. And, the lady who had my same premium class seat says to me, "Oh, that was originally my seat in FC, but they moved me back to premium just before boarding. You must have had higher status." And I was apologetic, and she laughed and in good humour said, "No you're not, go take the first class seat and enjoy your meal." I don't really have a reason to disbelieve the lady's story. I've often seen FA's upgrade elite customers after boarding is almost complete to empty FC seats, and I really appreciate Alaska doing this (AA gate agents, under time pressure, have a history of flying off without even bothering to process upgrades). But, in this instance, Alaska did not move me to an open FC seat, but instead switched me with another customer after I had boarded. I wonder if that is part of the weird IT upgrade processor behavior? The Korean chicken and lemon tart were tasty.
Should this have happened? Probably not. Even though the lady had lower status than you, her upgrade was confirmed before you were even on the flight, so the first class seat was hers. This upgrade was probably due to agent misinformation but luckily all parties were understanding. Why the upgraded lady was in row 10 instead of her FC seat is confusing, but so is this whole situation.
The Korean chicken sounds great. Can’t wait to try. Did you get ice cream though? If so was it the vanilla caramel one??
Jul 29, 2018, 11:48 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Salem, OR
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold75k, WN A-List, AA, FI, DY, UA, Marriott Lifetime Silver, Hilton Diamond, Amtrak
Posts: 129
Jul 30, 2018, 8:33 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: AS MVPG, IHG Diamond Elite
Posts: 1,445
Yes, particularly if you have same-day-confirmed a change on to the new flight. There's a handful of threads about broken upgrades if you dig around here.
