HofstraJet

I'd propose saying something, but in today's climate, you may get booted for being disruptive.

CMK10

I believe non revs can show on the upgrade list as well. It's possible no shenanigans occurred.

asf-07

Certainly possible that no shenanigans occurred. I'd be interested to know if the poster was on the upgrade list and didn't clear... if that's the case, I think the possibility of shenanigans would be higher.

AAExecPlatFlier

Calling shenanigans with upgrades is so last year.

Hope OP realizes that a uniformed crew member can have status — many do — and use it when commuting.

JDiver

There are legitimate ways you could have been superseded, but we'll never know if this was one of those instances or some form of shenanigan.

shimps1

Was not on the upgrade list, so unfortunately can't confirm any of the above. Should have been more informed rather than jumping to conclusions.

samm

I agree that the fact this has manifested from their poor execution of upgrade management is frustrating. It doesn't have to be like this and is only like this because AA doesn't seem to care enough to do anything about it.

I've only ever used AA and so have no idea what the process is like on DL, but read their page on it and it would be impossible to come away from it thinking it's not a more well thought out system than AA sh*tshow. Seriously, the way they have it spelled out and how you choose to be automatically assigned makes it seem like they really care about the logistics of the process:

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...-upgrades.html

Scott Schachter

Hey all,

Got a 509 mile upgrade using 2x500 certificates, SBP-PHX. I was upgraded about 45 min prior to departure and given a new boarding pass, seat 1F. As Group 1 boards, the gate agent says " I have a new boarding pass for you, Group 3, seat in the back".

I am PP, and they gave my seat to an EP that bought a coach ticket last minute.

This is a first for me. I thought once you are cleared, that becomes your seat. I sent AA a letter and will talk to the SBP station manager.

Anyone know the rules on this?

Thanks

Jaimito Cartero

You bought the upgrade with 500 milers. They shouldn’t have been able to sell it to someone else.

Scott Schachter

I should clarify, I am turning PP now, was at 88 segments prior to that flight, so Platinum, requiring redemption of certificates.

ijgordon

Eh, I don't think it really becomes your seat until you sit in it (and even then...).
Gate Agent probably jumped the gun and shouldn't have cleared your upgrade until T-30m at the check-in cutoff. If s/he had waited, you never would have cleared to begin with.
Your only real complaint is if you got a worse seat than you had before the upgrade. Probably would have been easiest to fight about it at the gate and "demand" your original seat. Of course with GAs today you never know what would happen if you tried to "stand your ground". I suppose you could/should complain about this and maybe you'll get some miles as an inconvenience, but I'd probably let the downgrade go.
(That said, I think UA has a policy to give fairly generous comp for anyone who is ever downgraded. I guess you could point them to that policy if you can find it in writing and ask for the same or threaten to leave for UA! )

dickinson

Are you sure of this or making an assumption? How did you know the elite level and type of ticket purchased by the other passenger?

beachfan

How do you know that’s what happened. Maybe that had a ticket but didn’t check in at T-45.

Fanjet

This really isn't a clear-cut case. You were obviously on the FC standby list. And were most likely manually upgraded by the agent. However, 45 minutes is still within the check-in window for a flight out of SBP.

Scott Schachter

PHX cust service looked into what happened with the purchase/upgrade. That's how I know. And I did lose a good seat in the mixup. Just now, got a 7500 mile credit. So it goes.