channa

Yeah. I think it happens on practically every Airbus, but the INTL flight it happened to me on most recently on was a 737.

I had an Airbus a few weeks ago where I arrived at the airport 2:05 early (was with a group, couldn't control arrival time), and was just hanging around for the 2 hour mark. 7 open F, I was #1 on the list, it was gonna clear at the 2 hour mark, so I waited in the checkin area until it cleared. Counter agent offered help, and I explained why I'm deliberately waiting to check in and drop my bag. One knew the pattern, the other was annoyed with me. Sure enough, right at the 2 hour mark, it zeroed out inventory and started clearing, and I was in F with my pick of seats.

lalala

not really the case anymore -- BWI is full in F most of my flights. It is actually very convenient from my office in Silver Spring, so it is my preferred airport.

channa

I flew BWI-SEA in Y a few weeks ago. There were a bunch of 75K's in Y on that one.

m_j_n

I've got a question that I think might be related to this thread. Hoping someone can help shed some light. Booking a redeye LAX-PHL for the holidays. Right now, if I select the MVPG fare type, I see the same price for Main, Premium upgrade, and First upgrade. Obviously in that scenario, I'd select the First upgrade, but it's shown as unavailable (white F; ExpertFlyer shows F7 D7 P0 U0 A0). I get a warning if I select it, but ultimately, I can select it and Add to Cart. It looks like it would book me into M, the same as if I'd selected the Premium upgrade. Why is the First upgrade even priced and selectable if it's not available? Bad UX, but that's beside the point. The F cabin is 100% empty right now. Do the pricing algorithms honestly expect four $1,499 full F fares to Philadelphia will sell? (And I say that as a Philly-area native.)

PVDtoDEL

This screen shows the cheapest fare available for each of the categories - in this case, the cheapest Main Cabin fare is also eligible for instant Premium Class Upgrade and First Class Upgrade. It doesn't matter which category you select - clicking any column will take you to the page where you can buy an M fare.

You'll immediately get the Premium Class Upgrade, since Premium Class doesn't require specific inventory to be available. However, I'd be surprised if you clear into U class before T-2, which is the same as if you were just getting a comp upgrade. That said, there's no cheaper fare available on this flight, so you might as well take advantage of the waitlist priority.

rustykettel

[left]It displays the lowest available coach fares that are eligible for an instant upgrade to First and Premium, which is actually what you're buying, not a First/Premium upgrade directly. It just so happens to be the same M fare class in this case.

If U opens between now and your flight, you can move into F without further fees or upfaring. And if it doesn't, you still earn a 25% EQM/RDM bonus on the miles.

jsguyrus

PowerLu

Well said, and exactly my situation. I just bought F on AA instead because it was only a bit more than the AS upgradeable fare on a flight just two months away with F 100% open (12 freaking seats) yet no U space. I don't feel like stressing about it until hours before the flight, or even worse, pay the instant upgrade fare and possibly not get the upgrade. So, there. Lame.

jsguyrus

Can someone please tell me how this makes any sense?

be_rettSEA

It makes more sense if you stop thinking of these as equivalents and the same cabin of service, but as the underlying fare classes and how the upgrade system works. The "main" may be a low G or R fare. Premium, maybe a K or Q. First Upgrade is one of the MVPG eligibe "instant upgrade" classes (Y, S, M, B) which are the highest main cabin fare classes Alaska sells. The confirmed First is likely a P fare, discounted First. Right now, it's less expensive to purchase that than an instant upgrade fare. Closer in, when P inventory has sold, that will probably jump up to be higher than the instant Gold upgrade fares.

As to why someone might purchase the Gold vs First? If they're just shopping on price or class of service bonus miles, there's no logical reason, no. If their company prohibits them from purchasing a first class ticket, but isn't particularly concerned w/ lowest available fare, this may satisfy their corporate policies and get them a F seat.

PVDtoDEL

When P sells out, there will also be no U available, so the buyup will be pointless.

Basically, the conclusion is that on routes where P is priced less than H/M/S, the instant upgrade benefit is effectively worthless to 75K/MVPG/MVP respectively.

be_rettSEA

It's definitely being held back a bit now more than before, but U occasionally does still get released. Generally it probably goes directly to folks w/ eligible upgrade fares before anyone knows it's been released, but I've been able to snag it with a GGU from an ExpertFlyer alert. So not entirely pointless, but yes, you're better off buying the P fare than an instant upgrade if you want to ensure an F seat. And it's definitely gotten worse in recent months than it used to be.

PVDtoDEL

Regardless of how prevalent U space is, it is intrinsically a subset of P space, because airline inventory is nested.

Bret Vreeland

Me and my girlfriend are both MVPG and sitting on 16 GGU's that we've never been able to use. Half expire Dec 31st. We fly every month to various places (LAS/SFO/SJC/LAX/EWR) and have never been able to use a single one ever. Mexico, nope. New York, nope. FLL, nope. I don't understand it at all. You call customer service and they just say, "keep checking" for upgrade space. We have 8 itineraries booked right now in next 4 months and not one of them has any U space on any flights, not even on other flights same day. Mind boggling. I'm new here, am I doing something wrong? Or does it take luck?

jsguyrus

The only person doing something wrong is AS. There are some routes like FLL and EWR that have always been difficult to get an upgrade. Lately however Alaska has wiped out U space almost everywhere except some west coast routes and very short routes (SEA-PDX). I don;t think anyone understands what is going on or why.