olimaspecto

This is the third time in as many trips that I have experienced what appears to be a discrepancy between the gate upgrade list that is displayed on the monitor and the "real" upgrade list that the GA has.

Today, I was told at check-in that I was second on the list. I go to the gate before boarding and see that I am now at the top of the list with no one else on it. I subsequently ask the agent about how the upgrade chances were looking, and he tells me that I am second on a list of about twenty people. I didn't have a chance to ask him about why the gate list monitor showed something different, though I wish I would have now. It's happened a few other times (with degrees of variation) in recent weeks and I wanted to know if others have experienced this as well, and potential causes.

tom911

I'm not sure those gate displays operate in real time. I was in the AC at DFW a few weeks ago and asked to get on an earlier DFW-SFO flight (but not to pay the $25 to confirm it), and the agent said she would put me on the list. The computer actually cleared my flight change, and she handed me an uprgraded boarding pass to F (the flight was very lightly booked--Labor Day weekend).

When I arrived at the gate for departure, I saw my name on the monitor for an upgrade (only person on the list). I guess my name didn't drop off that list when they upgraded and ticketed me in the AC.

JIMBOLIGUY

The other factor to keep in mind is that there could be passengers with full fare F tickets standing by for the flight. Since those are not upgrades, they do not appear on the upgrade list.

BenjaminNYC

I find it humorous when FT-ers (not necessarily the OP) just make the assumption that no one pay F.

millionmiler

Exactly. My international domestic segments are in full F and thus they book directly into F when I standby like I did just yesterday coming back from FRA. Its not a standby at all, but a reticketing. That pushes any X upgrades down the list including other ExPlats. I saw the agent tear up an already printed X upgrade for someone else that had not been distributed and give me the seat instead.

vandesa

I did find out on thursday while traveling and observing the screen posted upgrade request list the following, now it does not clarify your claims, but it was another interesting observation.

Once someone actually boards the plane by checking in with their boarding pass, it removes that person's name from the list of upgrade request list displayed. I was first on the list and people on this list keep disappearing and I asked the GA.

SAN-man

Doesn't Sabre maintain just 1 master list, for people requesting upgrade and people wanting to standby? I think the monitors at the airport split that master list into whatever categories it uses, i.e. cleared, or awaiting upgrade (or awaiting a seat), and once you've been given a seat, you move to the "cleared" list (which I think is your indication to approach the gate agents). IIRC, that "cleared" list is for both having your upgrade confirmed and for getting a coach standby seat, but it's been a while since I've tried standby, so I haven't paid much attention.

If true, in olimaspecto's case, being both 1st and 2nd on "the list" is possible. If the 1st person on the overall list (i.e. Sabre's master list) had cleared, olimaspecto would appear as 1st on the monitor's "upgrade" list, but still be 2nd on the overall list (quoted by the gate agent). #1 on the overall list would have been moved off to the gate monitor's "cleared" list.

g1ant

I saw the same thing happen last week in DFW. I was three on the list and had been told that there was no chance of an upgrade. The two above me boarded the aircraft and I moved up to number one. The last F passenger didn't make his tight connection from terminal A to D and I picked up an F seat just as the doors closed. As I don't travel with huge cary-on, in future, no matter how hopeless the situation is, I'm not boarding until every F passenger has boarded.

BStrauss3

It's not Sabre. The major airlines operate their own systems.

Sabre is a Global Distribution System operated by a separate S&P500 company. Sabre also provides hosted systems for many airlines, there is a pointer on the page here:

http://www.sabre-holdings.com/aboutUs/index.html

-----Burton