Op up, to check or not to check in
 

Hi All,
what is the received wisdom on online checking the day before affecting op up chances? Thanks in advance

Forget it. OPUPs are few and far between.

DUT is BA’s system for OpUps - if they are needed, many will know days in advance.

On the day, checking in online (whether you select a seat or not) slightly increases your chances as it shows that you intend to fly. But that is far less significant with DUT.

Advice as ever is buy the cabin you want to fly in and treat a rare OpUp as a bonus (that you can’t influence).

Being checked-in will improve your chances. Don't do as I do which is to obsessively check the BA app hoping for a seat change to appear :)

I was once booked in CW, decided not to finish checkin (ie issue boarding pass) and instead see about an upgrade at the airport. Joined the queue for F upgrades but couldn’t resist loading up the BA app, only to see my seat had changed to 4A! So you just need to join the queue :)

I was upgraded a few times to CW from PE.

Once i couldnt check in online- got an error, but when got to desk they gave us boarding passes for CW. The other time it may have been i didnt check in as had bought a seat so when i went to drop my bags found out i had been upgraded.

In both circumstances, i think they were over selling economy, and some of those got bumped to PE, then some us us in PE got bumped to CW.

Received wisdom is that to let the hope of an op up affect any aspect of your behaviour whatsoever is entirely unreasonable.

Not really. For a GGL with a high CIV, a J to F cabin roll can be somewhat predictable. In other words, I have predicted that there was a high chance of an op-up three times and in each occasion, I received said op-up. In short - a zeroed out J cabin with most seats filled, an F cabin with limited or zero inventory but several more unassigned seats. So if you could know whether checking in online or not made a material difference, it would be reasonable to treat that as relevant information that could warrant a change of behavior.

For reference - I NEVER OLCI and frankly hate the concept. Two of the op-ups (both ex-LHR) occurred right before check-in in the normal course at T5. The third, at LOS, occurred after check in. I spotted it on the app but didn't get a new BP until my J BP was rejected at the gate.

OLCI does increase your DUT chances for involuntary upgrades, since there are multiple sweeps from T-72 onwards. Part of the logic involves assessment on no-shows, and not doing OLCI is putting you on the wrong side of that equation until you do check-in, the most notable potential exception being a drastic equipment change (e.g. 77W to 747 86J) when passengers end up being moved regardless of perceived no-show status. It's not necessary to print boarding passes, "checked in" is sufficient.

It's actually far more predictable in WTP if you are status heavy, though as ever dependent on loads. However I think orbitmic is right that generally the computers get it correct more often than not, plus in a way a late upgrade is a pleasant surprise rather than any sense of expectation could deliver upon.

That's where most of my recent op-ups have come. Full-ish WTP and WT cabins on routes where they can more easily upsell WT >> WTP than either of those to CW. Travelling with my wife when both had status it was a reasonably regular thing. To such a point that one year we'd barely flown anyhing else than J longhaul even though that was rarely what we'd booked with our own money. Trip to the states we had 3 op-ups out of 4 flights.

Later that year I had an extended trip to HK and she decided to come join me for part of it. Flew out on her own, same tactic, same result, and then had it fail to work on the return journey. Called me from the airport (I was remaining in HK), genuinely gutted. I let her have the diva moment.

At the end of the day the posters here are rght - just treat it as a nice bonus. Book the cabin you want / need. And use sites like this to do that on the most advantageous terms you can manage.

I checked in recently with EI and got two boarding passes for my onward flight (LHR-BOM I think). Shoved them into my bag, used F check in at LHR and straight into GF where I sat down for an hour or so. Checked my boarding time on the pass and then noticed I was now sitting in 2A, not 10A. High tailed it over to the CCR! Indeed a nice surprise I had in my pocket without knowing for a few hours.

You Plonker !

Be nice it's Friday pal.

I didn't think that opups got you enhanced lounge access though?

Yes they do, unless something has changed recently. Includes spa (WTP-CW), if you can get an appointment, too.

I can confirm this. As I entered the F lounge in T5 a while ago, the angel tore up my 62J BP, gave me 1K and told me that this was now no longer the best lounge for my flight.