mrtruman

I have decided that I am no longer going to fly co exclusively.

Today I was booked on flt 200 fll-ewr got the upgrade 5 days out. Due to the weather it was delayed. Switched online to flt 1800 got pushed to coach. The computer then asked me if I wanted to pay $205 to upgrade to first.

I have been fine with the co upgrade game for countless years. Now it is a free for all with no defined rules or expectations.

If CO had a pair they would phase out the "unlimited upgrades" because now it is nothing more than a shell game.

ijgordon

I guarantee you that will change on March 1st.

hockey7711

So do you think there will be a big drop in the elite ranks at that time?

benjy

Two plats here, and in our last few months of flying, never....never have been offered a buy-up. Have often been left at or near the top of upgrade list while first fills up. So does that mean that, as a plat @ check-in, you are placed on the upgrade list, while a non-elite checking in at the same time is offered a buy-up? There are times that a buy-up might make sense, but to never be offered the chance is unacceptable. Next month or so, won't encounter this problem as flying is international. Hope they work this out, because we may check out E+ if our upgrade possibilities completely disappear.

J.Edward

CO has always prioritized those who are willing to pay for F over those who are not, the difference now is they're doing so at a lower price point and in a more aggressive manner. Regardless of the modus operandi used it's clear that CO is interested in aggressively monitizing the F cabin and this is serving to further erode an already shrinking EUA rate.

channa

Well, not only that, but the question remains whether people are being offered low-cost buy-ups to F that are less than the fare differentials that they should be being quoted per the policy as presented here on FT.

Given CO's track record of implementations using technology, well, we have reason to be skeptical.

Vermando

Well, they used to monetize the F cabin by using it as a kickback, to get non-price sensitive business travelers to choose them for their high dollar, often last minute tickets, with the understanding that (i) you'd have a decent chance of sitting in F, even if your company made you officially fly in coach, and (ii) you'd get to sit in F when you flew to Florida on vacation later in the year.

Now, they're abandoning that strategy to get an extra $200 every so often. I'm sure it's profitable right now - those high dollar travelers are a lock-ed in, fairly loyal bunch - but in the long-run, if we can't rely on upgrades, CO will lose business.

cova

Two of us were on CO 700 from FLL-EWR today as well, which was delayed 3 hours. Wait listed for an earlier flight which was full (1400). Was #1 and #2 on the wait list for getting on the full flight. But CO then gave priority to some that had international connections, and thus no clearing for Plats. I guess that is OK, but what about priority waitlist as a benefit. What if we had not been able to get on a later connecting flight and had to spend the night in EWR?

On our flight CO700 - three F seats opened - people cancelled because of the delays. At an hour past flight time - I asked a red coat if they would clear the upgrades since we are well past the departure. But then 3 others pop'ed in there and got the upgrades.

CO really needs to clear all Elite upgrades at T-24 before any upgrades are offered for sell.

mrtruman

After getting home safe (thank you co) after an aborted landing (nothing like those engines spooling up right before an anticipated landing). I wanted to summarize my thoughts on the situation.

Co markets "unlimited complimentary upgrades." It is featured in this months onboard magazine. I believe it is misleading at the least. I can speak for myself and others in my office who year after year qualify for platinum, we are waking up to the fact that there are other options in nyc.

Virgin America, Jet Blue and now even Delta have superior Coach products. When I was getting upgraded at 80+% it was worth paying a premium for CO and risking CO coach. Now at a much lesser percentage (plus no more 125% mileage bonus) the risk/reward no longer favors CO.

Alone I am a good customer, not the best. I pay last minute fares when needed and I fly weekly or bi-weekly. But there are many more like me who have stopped drinking the coolaid.

For years we have all dealt with the capacity controls on these upgrades, in my mind they were fair and predictable. Now it is a free for all and unpredictable.

I can not understand how a plat at checkin (under 3 hours out) is offered a buy up to first class for $$. I was not first on the list, the highest plat should have gotten it at that point.

I have been around this forum for years. I know that some read it and think that plats like to complain. I hope CO reads this and understands that they are failing their customers for the simple reason that there is confusion as to this benefit and they are losing their better customers because of it.

UA Insider

Hi Everyone, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to jump in sooner. I know there are still a lot of open questions and to-do’s regarding our upgrade programs. First, I’ll recap the two type of upgrades we've introduced over the last year:
The optics with #2 are especially terrible, we agree, because there are plenty of cases where a Non-Elite customer will be offered an upgrade and an Elite member will still be in Economy waiting to be cleared. To address this, we’ll soon be introducing a long-awaited improvement that will dynamically upgrade any remaining Elite customers at the time the non-Elite offer is made. It’s the right thing to do, and we agree it’s long overdue. We hope to roll this out at the end of March.

Now, as far as our Elite Upgrade Automation (EUA) is concerned, we continue to research examples of where a Discounted Non-Elite Upgrade was offered while there are a bunch of folks still on the upgrade standby list. While we’ve found (and resolved) a handful of cases where our calculation did not account for everyone, we still find these examples to be in the vast minority. The majority of examples we’ve researched show the standbys on the upgrade list to be space-available pass riders traveling on employee benefits, which do not trump these upgrades. Same-day Change (SDC), which enables customers to easily switch between flights has defnitely proven to be a wild card, but again, we believe the dynamic system will neutralize this issue.

We’re still very keen on researching any potential issues you find with this system, and you’re welcome to send them to me via PM. Just include your flight, date and OnePass number, and we'll be all over it. Thanks as always for keeping us on our toes.

Vermando

Just when I was beginning to get all cynical and indignant, you find a way to please. The general complaints above about falling and thus now unreliable upgrade rates still stand, but this would be very, very helpful. Thank you.

travelRN777

To all of those out there, I still fly at least 75000 miles per year on Continental so I keep my Plat status. But I am also EXP with American, and I love their system for upgrades! I truely think that if Continental is looking for more money from buyups then add the 500 mile booklets and charge elites for them, up Plat to 100,000 where is needs to be so it matchs United's and then offer free upgrades for Plats, and booklets for Gold and Silver. It will drastically decrease the number of plats and allow for better chances for upgrades will keeping the gold and silvers happy PLUS earning revenue for Continental as well.

I really dont agree with the buyup, the way it is now, so I have resorted to just using Continental for TATL flights in J or Y when needed.

RNE

This morning, during my 12-minute commute to work (yeah, eat your hearts out you hour+ commuting suburbanites) Jimmy Malone, of Cleveland radio WMJI 105.7's "Lanigan and Malone Show," touted recently getting an offer of $100 to upgrade to FC on a flight to California. Thought you, angry, non-upgraded CLE elites would take some consolation knowing your sacrifice helped a CLE celebrity (of sorts) ride in style. I applaud your selflessness.

gawhite411

Ha!

thepla

Hate to quote myself but I now do think the system is working; it is a little different than NW which did give all it's upgrades at 5 or 6 days (and you could see "R" on Expertflyer).

I have now been upgraded on three of the four segments ORD-IAH-SJU and back on a fare of less than $200 ($243 ai). The only segment that did not come through was ORD-IAH and there are only 3 seats left in FC. CO should keep some for purchased FC. It would be disturbing if CO allows for a buy-up on the last three seats at a reduced amount but surely not the end of the world. SJU-IAH only has 2 seats left on the FC map.

The waiting time for initial upgrades is a little different but not so bad considering the nightmare over at DL now.