Asia Miles bogus upgrade waitlist
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA Plat, National EE, Marriott Plat, HH Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 401
Asia Miles bogus upgrade waitlist
My flight CX885 LAX to HKG upgrade was unavailable upon booking so they said to add to waitlist and once it opened up id be automatically confirmed. Other agents then said oh you should keep calling instead of waitlisting. So I waitlisted and kept checking EF and saw several J seats open. Called today to check and the agent said you are on waitlist and will be SMS notification when available. After I asked her to check other dates. She said oh actually your flight has upgrades available and processed the upgrade. What the heck? What is the point of a waitlist then?
#2
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,704
My flight CX885 LAX to HKG upgrade was unavailable upon booking so they said to add to waitlist and once it opened up id be automatically confirmed. Other agents then said oh you should keep calling instead of waitlisting. So I waitlisted and kept checking EF and saw several J seats open. Called today to check and the agent said you are on waitlist and will be SMS notification when available. After I asked her to check other dates. She said oh actually your flight has upgrades available and processed the upgrade. What the heck? What is the point of a waitlist then?
I'm not saying you're wrong, indeed many years ago I had the waitlist fail on me twice in short order. How did I know? Because I saw F seats I was waitlisting for on the British Airways website. But I haven't seen this situation in years. And I think it would be hard to figure out unless you were on the highest priority waiting list.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA Plat, National EE, Marriott Plat, HH Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 401
Not sure I follow? She checked dates around my flight only to see my flight available for an upgrade. If she saw the upgrade available on my flight how would my position on waitlist matter?
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: None any more
Posts: 11,017
My perception is that waitlists have never automatically cleared. Being on a waitlist is essentially an "expression of interest". To make the upgrade happen you need to keep calling and asking. Diamonds excepted.
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA Plat, National EE, Marriott Plat, HH Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 401
yes that is spot on. Expression of interest, thats amazing haha.
#6
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,704
My point about the agent is to say, perhaps it was a DM or two who were cleared ahead of you. And that's why your clearance didn't come through.
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: None any more
Posts: 11,017
The OP's point is that when he called then upgrades were available to him. That being so if the "waitlist" is to have any meaning then it should have cleared already since he was on the waitlist. It hadn't cleared until he called. It seems that the waitlist is more or less meaningless for sub-Diamonds.
Or maybe "calling now" has higher priority than "being on the waitlist from a call weeks/months ago"?
Or maybe "calling now" has higher priority than "being on the waitlist from a call weeks/months ago"?
#8
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX, UA, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Starwood
Posts: 7,704
The OP's point is that when he called then upgrades were available to him. That being so if the "waitlist" is to have any meaning then it should have cleared already since he was on the waitlist. It hadn't cleared until he called. It seems that the waitlist is more or less meaningless for sub-Diamonds.
Or maybe "calling now" has higher priority than "being on the waitlist from a call weeks/months ago"?
Or maybe "calling now" has higher priority than "being on the waitlist from a call weeks/months ago"?
#9
#10
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: YYZ
Programs: CX GO, AC Aeroplan 25K, AMEX PLAT, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium, IHG Spire Amb
Posts: 463
I have had waitlist automatically cleared before (as SL or GO), so I wouldn't go completely saying that the waitlist never automatically clears.
#11
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: TPE / HSZ
Programs: CX GO (=SPH), IHG Diamond Amb, Hertz 5*, Accor, Hilton, National
Posts: 6,435
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AA Plat, National EE, Marriott Plat, HH Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 401
#14
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,CA,MU,AF
Posts: 8,171
#15
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: JFK/EWR/SFO/LAX/YYZ <-> HKG, PEK, CKG
Programs: CX, Hyatt
Posts: 155
Allegedly with the MPC change in June they also had a system upgrade that would fix that problem. I haven't redeemed since then so no DP to provide.