MVP Gold Day of departure upgrade- waitlist order question
 

I am on AS 14 tomorrow at noon from SEA to EWR. AS is holding back 2 F seats for sale, so even though I have a full Y ticket I cannot get into one of these. I have never stopped to consider how the day of departure upgrade list works if these two seats were to go unsold, but given that I really would like an F seat for this long flight I want to figure out how this works. Is it first to check in tomorrow at the airport or do they actually carry over the existing upgrade waitlist (which I am on, but probably pretty low)? If it's about who gets to the airport first, I'll happily work in the Boardroom all morning, but if that's not going to help me I'd rather stay at home in the morning. Any ideas?

that flight currently has no F availability at all ... so you can stay home :)

Just in case one of the F's does not show up, it would not hurt to check-in online after midnight, which should put you at or near the top of the list.

(At least that is what I have been told when calling the MVPG desk, but never had to actually implement this process)

interesting... I see "F0" on availability, but 2 F seats still open on the seat assignment tool. They're also still selling F for this flight, they must be pretty certain that someone isnt planning on showing. Or maybe a good opportunity for someone for to buy that last F ticket and get a bump out of F...

The seat assignment tool means that two people haven't had their seats assigned.

right now its showing F1

For no good reason, the initial upgrade waitlist does NOT carry over to day of departure. Furthermore, I have been told explicitly that checking in online does not affect ordering of the day of departure upgrade list; all that matters is when you get added to that list, which you can only do at the airport.

So it might be worth working from the Board Room if you still see F seats for sale when you wake up tomorrow. (Also, you never know if Air Marshal seats might open up, etc.)

Good luck!

Yup, this appears to be the case. I checked in online last night and then came to the airport this morning with a mission to find out how the waitlist really works. The list does in fact start again at the airport based on actual check in at the airport, and online check in is does nothing to better your position. Being the early bird today, I go the worm. So if you're an MVP Gold and you bought your ticket months before departure, you might get beat out by another MVP Gold who purchased several days prior to the flight but just got to the airport earlier than you.

I saw another interesting dynamic- it looks like when AS holds back F seats until day of departure, there is no waitlist at 12:01am on departure date, so when those seats are released they sit open until the lucky early bird gets to the airport (and then forget about a waitlist, you just get upgraded). Normally I'd say I dont think this is the most equitable process, but since they moved me up into F I guess I like the procedure today!

Thanks for the follow up on the online check-in matter, definintely take note of that (must have just been lucky).

With the lower F fare structure, AS has been holding back a few F seats for a while now in hopes of paying customers taking the seats. While that sucks when trying to get a U seat on a non-qual MVPG auto-upgrade fare, it makes a lot of sense.

I don't think this is true but why should I argue when it would mean more competition separating me and my most important seat. ;)

So how early can one get on the waiting list at the airport? Let's say I have an afternoon flight... can I arrive in the wee hours, lets say at 12:01am, to put my name on the list? If this is the case, for long flights I could head to the airport, put my name on the list, then leave and get some sleep, returning the next day with my F seat in hand?

Anyone know?

I have often stopped by the airport in the morning to get my boarding pass and upgrade for an evening flight. I then went on to work and returned later for the actual flight. It has never been a problem (assuming U seats were available). I don't know if 12:01 am is the magic time or not, but 6 am has worked great for a 6 pm departure. I didn't even have to work at the boardroom. :D

As loyal an Alaska Airlines customer as I am, this is why I prefer Northwest's approach to online check in. When you get your boarding pass at NWA.com, it automatically adds you to the "airport" first class upgrade waiting list. No rushing to the airport to get on the list.

I would hope that, at some point, Alaska follows suit.

After I posted this I rushed to the airport for my flight from SNA. I had checked in 23 hours and 55 minutes before my flight using the phone. I showed up at the airport before 6:00 AM to get on the upgrade list. I casually show up for my 4:30 PM flight to find out my status, assuming that I am #1 on the list. They tell me I am #2!!! :( I protest to the gate agent who says that priority is based on the number of miles someone has flown (which I am sure is a lie). I inform him a fly every week and he says well the #1 person "probably flies TWICE a week." As he tells individual MVPGold passengers the wait list priority and I can see that they are visably annoyed by this "number of miles flown" answer. One person does not show up and so the #1 person gets the seat and as the #2 person I take me seat in coach. I really felt like I did everything right for what I know about the system, and a seat did open up, so that is what bothers me. So unless she was a Gold AND checked in minutes before me or showed up at the airport at 5 AM to get on the list, or paid for FC when no seat was available, I can't imagine how she was ahead of me. So rather than criticize me with statements like "if you want First Class I should pay for First Class" help me understand what I did wrong...

What you probably did wrong -- if anything -- was arguing with the GA. I ran into this same situation at EWR, when I was actually told I was first on the list, wound up second, and didn't get the upgrade.

I was told by AS personnel sometimes it's a training issue with non-AS personnel (not the situation at SNA), and sometimes GAs have a lot of discretion with the list, which is why they won't ever officially tell you where you are on the list.

I was also told by the phone CSR folks after my similar situation that total miles and fare paid shouldn't be a factor on a routine basis. Perhaps the GA made a discretionary change.

What a bunch of crap. Write customer service on this one.