Chances of Upgrade Clearing and Availability (2022 master thread)
 

A couple recent ones traveling with a companion...

SFO>CLT - 4 and 5 out of 6. No one cleared.
CLT>DCA - 2 and 3 out of 12. Top 2 cleared, so one of us moved up to FC after being seated in coach. The gate agent did make it sound like there would be an open middle seat in the event of this happening, which is why we said yes to being split up, but that was not actually the case and someone was put in the vacated middle seat.

Alaska flights
DCA>PDX - 1 and 2 out of 20+. The two of us were pulled from coach into FC, we were the only ones upgraded.
PDX>SFO - 1 and 2 out of 2, no one cleared.

Does anyone have recent experience with a miles/$$ upgrade from economy on a TATL? Wondering if it's from Economy to Premium Economy, or all the way to Business. Flew and upgraded Summer 2020, economy to business, but I'm wary of the 'next cabin of service' wording; may have been there in '20 but can't remember.

Flying mid-Feb, and the route has been been pretty empty, entire rows open in the back, not sure I'd want to burn miles and money for PE if I can get a whole row for free...

Not an answer to your question but they do such a poor job on monetizing upgrades on TATL segments.

Was booked in Y DUB-PHL and the 787 was half full in PE at best. I'd have happily handed them an extra ~$200 for a seat.

Nothing has changed, miles/copay and SWU upgrades still go from economy to business.

Danke!

Something must have changed for me as I'm currently I'm 9/10 flights this year. I've never enjoyed such a high upgrade percentage out of DFW.

And that's the rub, isn't it? They have the tech and process to run an 'auction' for oversold seat vouchers, why not apply it to unsold PE or Business seats?

At checkin: "We may have available seats in PE. How much would you be willing to spend to upgrade? Note: you won't be charged unless your bid is accepted. Bidding will close one hour prior to boarding. If you bid is accepted, you will be reseated and you will be issued a new boarding pass."

heck, outsource the process to eBay

US carriers are new to premium economy, and haven't had time to work out the kinks on the economic model. Given that a very small share of ASMs offer premium economy as a ticket class of service, it doesn't get very high on the priority list either.

And in terms of that model ... carriers have generally succeeded in training their long-haul international passengers to buy J if they want J, by making various upgrade path (SWUs and their DL and UA equivalents, miles+copay, and check-in buy-ups) all very unreliable. I am sure that EVERY conversation at AA, UA and DL about the Y to W upgrade path focuses on making sure that path is at least as rocky, to avoid training potential revenue W ticket buyer to buy Y at ~30% to 60% less and expect to get cheap upgrade options. In other words, having half the premium economy cabin empty on some flights more than pays off getting more people buying W on other flights.

JFK -DEL RT in March in PE Hot Deal
 

JFK -DEL RT in March in PE booked for $1045 . Coach was $866

i bought a separate RT from CLE -JFK for $268

CLE-DEL on same PE flight was $1956.

Plat Pro Upgrades
 

Only flights eligible for upgrades while I was platinum pro are listed. Now EXP.
11/14 MIA-CLT A321 #5/11 on the list did not clear.
CLT-DTW 738 cleared t-6
11/19 DTW-CLT A321 cleared t-72
CLT-MIA 738 cleared at gate #3/13 on the list
MIA-EYW e175 cleared t-72
11/22 EYW-CLT a319 did not clear. #3/9
CLT-SLC A321 cleared at gate #1 on list
11/19 EYW-MIA e175 did not clear #3/7
MIA-DTW a319 did not clear #1/3
12/21 EYW-CLT e175 cleared t-72
CLT-BNA 738 cleared t-72
12/23 BNA-CLT a319 did not clear #2/11
CLT-EYW e175 cleared t-6
1/18 DTW-CLT a321 cleared t-70
CLT-TPA a321 cleared t-71
1/23 LAS-CLT a321 did not clear. #2/3
1/24 CLT-DTW a321 cleared t-60

Overall not bad. Lots of payed F so I could hit exp.

Wife and I want to visit NYC fall or winter this year, we're very flexible on time, I'm PlatPro and she has no status since she doesn't fly. What are the chances of us booking any LAX-JFK flight MC and upgrading to J? There are loads of flights so is there one to target? Or are the flights too full that it rarely ever happens? Anyway to check history or you need to check daily for availability up until the T72 window?

Far too early to really tell specific loads for 9+ months from now. Some days of the week and flight times are harder than others on this route. As an EXP, I've found Saturdays and midweek easier for upgrades LAX-JFK. Also, the early morning (6am) and late afternoon flights (4pm/5pm) can be easier since there are less pax with international connections on these flights.

-FlyerBeek

My wife (PRO) and I (EXP) flew SNA-DFW on the same flight but separate PNRs. Bought tickets 3 days before so we may have missed an earlier upgrade window. Still, I (EXP) was upgraded 4 hours prior and she (PRO) ended up missing out, and it wasn't even close--like 9th on the airport list. It was an interesting view into the potential upgrade difference between the adjacent statuses.

I'm EXP with only a few hundred EQD over the past year.

What's the upgrade situation likely to be like on PHX-MIA and back? I haven't booked anything yet, but it's a long enough flight that if my chances aren't good I'll just pay for F.

I'm also very flexible with travel dates and times so I can book something that's more likely to be an easier upgrade, if there's a big difference between different flights.

I know if you're upgraded, it clears into R bucket. Do you earn according to the new fare (for the cabin bonus) or from the orignal purchased economy fare?

(Mods, sorry if this the wrong thread. I tried searching and this seemed like the most appropriate thread to ask in.)