Upgrade processor goofed, now what?
Aug 23, 2018, 5:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: AS 75k, B6 Mosaic
Posts: 61
Upgrade processor goofed, now what?
75k, pmVX metal transcon. T-2 got the email confirming upgrade to F, no seat assignment.
Up until boarding, seat map isn’t available and cannot pick a seat. Talked to gate agent and no space available. 3 pax show as upgraded to F in the waitlist, agent claims F is full and calls super who shows me a full seat map. Claims one or two other pax suffered this. Sulked back to row 3, my original row but a different seat.
Does this happen often? Any suggested recourse?
Up until boarding, seat map isn’t available and cannot pick a seat. Talked to gate agent and no space available. 3 pax show as upgraded to F in the waitlist, agent claims F is full and calls super who shows me a full seat map. Claims one or two other pax suffered this. Sulked back to row 3, my original row but a different seat.
Does this happen often? Any suggested recourse?
Aug 23, 2018, 5:30 am
#2
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
All you are entitled to is a refund of the fare difference and that is $0. However, AS should issue some form of customer service gesture for your troubles. Unlikely to be much because you really did not suffer anything here.
Aug 23, 2018, 5:35 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: AS 75k, B6 Mosaic
Posts: 61
Yeah, completely agree re not entitled to anything. Flown enough that I’ve shrugged off much worse before. Just kinda curious to hear if others have litigated something funky like this at the gate & whether I’d be motivated enough to change my “eh whatever” approach next time..
Aug 23, 2018, 8:26 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597
The first half of it (upgrade with no seat assignment) seems to happen frequently enough that it's a known effect to many AS flyers. I've been flying AS frequently for less than a year, so I just had my first experience with it a few weeks ago. It's mentioned in a few threads, including one that I started when it happened to me. The second part is, I think, less common - you're supposed to get stuck on the "waiting for seats" list and then the GA is supposed to assign you a seat in F. I was sort of expecting that when it happened to me, but the desk at the gate wasn't open yet, so I walked out to ticketing and had them do it (it was about T-70 min).
Aug 23, 2018, 9:39 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: AS 75k, B6 Mosaic
Posts: 61
Ah, that's interesting.. My theory is, in those rarer cases like mine, something happens -- like someone booking a last minute revenue ticket, or a higher status individual changing to an earlier flight -- that consumes the F inventory that hasn't been properly locked/held. On this theory, I guess my approach next time will be to try to get a seat assignment right away from ticketing or an agent, minimize the window of opportunity to lose the seat..
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
Aug 23, 2018, 11:32 am
#6
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
Ah, that's interesting.. My theory is, in those rarer cases like mine, something happens -- like someone booking a last minute revenue ticket, or a higher status individual changing to an earlier flight -- that consumes the F inventory that hasn't been properly locked/held. On this theory, I guess my approach next time will be to try to get a seat assignment right away from ticketing or an agent, minimize the window of opportunity to lose the seat..
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
I think the theory holds about sdc/F rev pax.
Aug 23, 2018, 12:06 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: BLI
Programs: Alaska MVPG
Posts: 206
Ah, that's interesting.. My theory is, in those rarer cases like mine, something happens -- like someone booking a last minute revenue ticket, or a higher status individual changing to an earlier flight -- that consumes the F inventory that hasn't been properly locked/held. On this theory, I guess my approach next time will be to try to get a seat assignment right away from ticketing or an agent, minimize the window of opportunity to lose the seat..
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
Poked Alaska Cares with a gracious note and will see if anything comes of it.. *shrug*
thanks!
Aug 26, 2018, 10:04 pm
#8
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: CMH, sometimes AVP, formerly down the Shore
Programs: UA 1K/3MM, AA EXP/3MM, DL MM, former fan of TWA
Posts: 1,854
This has happened to me twice, and both times in LAX on pmVX metal. Email and app notification of the upgrade, typically 2 hours before flight. Both times, I checked in with the counter staff and they told me that I had to get my seat at the gate. Both times, my name disappeared from the upgrade waitlist and appeared on the "awaiting seats" list. First time, I checked in with the gate and they handed me a boarding pass for 19C. Fortunately, they still had an empty seat in First, so when I showed them the emails and the apps, they gave it to me. Second time, the agent seemed like she wanted to help (again with one remaining empty F seat) and tried all kinds of things to give me the seat. After quite a while, an F boarding pass came out. So I never got the downgrade but it was not very pleasant and didn't build confidence.
Aug 26, 2018, 10:08 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: CMH, sometimes AVP, formerly down the Shore
Programs: UA 1K/3MM, AA EXP/3MM, DL MM, former fan of TWA
Posts: 1,854
I've been downgraded after using upgrade instruments (so no fare difference) and have received comp. One example that comes to mind is from UA on a flight EWR-HKG when I had previously upgraded with a Systemwide... downgrade comp was a $1500 cert.
Aug 26, 2018, 10:35 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597
Both times, my name disappeared from the upgrade waitlist and appeared on the "awaiting seats" list. First time, I checked in with the gate and they handed me a boarding pass for 19C. Fortunately, they still had an empty seat in First, so when I showed them the emails and the apps, they gave it to me.
Aug 26, 2018, 11:26 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Unlike UA, AS does not have a generous downgrade policy. Fare difference, reissuance of a GGU (if used), and maybe a token goodwill gesture seems to be what's given.
Aug 29, 2018, 3:48 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG, Bonvoy Titanium, NEXUS
Posts: 174
Similar experience to me any colleague this morning on AS393 SEA-PDX. If this had been any longer then a 25 minute flight I would have been more stressed. Curious for others who have experienced this: Did you book via a travel agent? We use Egencia at our business. I wonder if that is somehow gumming up the works. I also wonder if a gate agent started processing upgrades then got pulled away to do something else.
Here's the note I sent to Alaska Listens:
Here's the note I sent to Alaska Listens:
Flight was scheduled to board at 9:10, gate agent didn't arrive at gate until 9:09. Several of us had issues with our boarding pass. The agent was composed and professional, but there really should have been someone there much, much earlier.
I don't need compensation but I really want to hear that someone investigates this issue with my trip: The night before the flight was number 2 on the upgrade list. When I left for the airport, I was still there. When I got to the airport, I had lost my coach seat, but saw many people below me had been upgraded to First. My name appeared on the "waiting for seats" list as if I was on standby. I couldn't select a seat in either coach or first in the app or at a kiosk at the airport. As mentioned above, there was no gate agent unitl just before boarding. When I finally got to talk to her, she tried to give me back my original coach seat but couldn't... eventually she found me a seat in first class.
For a SEA-PDX flight, I really didn't care where I was sitting... if this had been a transcon I would have been very stressed out. This exact same thing happened to a colleague who was also traveling with me... XXX is his name. This has happened to him once before in the past few weeks, which makes me worried this is not a one time glitch. Please investigate and let me know what you find! Thanks. -Brownnet
I don't need compensation but I really want to hear that someone investigates this issue with my trip: The night before the flight was number 2 on the upgrade list. When I left for the airport, I was still there. When I got to the airport, I had lost my coach seat, but saw many people below me had been upgraded to First. My name appeared on the "waiting for seats" list as if I was on standby. I couldn't select a seat in either coach or first in the app or at a kiosk at the airport. As mentioned above, there was no gate agent unitl just before boarding. When I finally got to talk to her, she tried to give me back my original coach seat but couldn't... eventually she found me a seat in first class.
For a SEA-PDX flight, I really didn't care where I was sitting... if this had been a transcon I would have been very stressed out. This exact same thing happened to a colleague who was also traveling with me... XXX is his name. This has happened to him once before in the past few weeks, which makes me worried this is not a one time glitch. Please investigate and let me know what you find! Thanks. -Brownnet
Aug 29, 2018, 8:11 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: OR,ID, NV
Programs: AS 75K, DL PM
Posts: 282
Had something similar happen a few weeks ago. Myself and my companion were upgraded T-5. Checked in at T-23:59. With boarding passes in hand we were downgraded to premium. I did fight this as I did have the boarding passes. Ended up with two $125 certs at this was BOI>SEA. Most frustrated by the fact that reservations could see that at T-2hrs a local agent had done the downgrade and resold the seat.
Aug 29, 2018, 8:12 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597