IAH -- SFO
 

I travel IAH--SFO--IAH on CO about once a month. I just got onto CO Gold elite status. A few questions:

* Is there much difference in getting upgraded on this route as a Gold Elite versus a Silver Elite member?
* Are there any particular days of the week when this route might be more susceptible to an upgrade?
* How do you figure out whether to expend reward miles for an upgrade on this or any other route, when your're holding Gold status and might get upgraded anyway?

I'm platinum and often miss upgrades on this route. I would never spend miles on it as long as I could get an exit row. If I can't get an exit row, I fly a different airline.

this is a hard flight to get an upgrade on. if you live in katy or west houston. one thing i have noticed is that sometimes you can get really cheap fares to sfo out of austin. i think co is matching jet blue or alaska air. on a r/t, you would get an extra 2000 onepass miles and maybe save some dough. also avoids houston traffic.

+1. Same experience for this Platinum.

If I were you I'd start flying into SJC (San Jose) instead. I am a Gold and routinely get upgraded on that route. You can then take the Cal Train to San Francisco or rent a car.

Also, I have been upgraded on the redeye SFO - IAH flight every time I have flown that route (on a Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning), even as a Silver.

Good luck!

+2

co must be matching jet blue now. much cheaper out of austin.

+3

If you want a better shot, try IAH-SJC.

If you want an even better shot, try IAH-SMF.

Depending on what part of the Bay Area I am heading, Sacramento can be faster given the relative lack of traffic. The price may not be cheaper, but there is a better shot at getting upgraded.

Who is getting them, then?
 

If you're platinum and missing upgrades often, who gets them? Are people paying cash money to sit in first?

Yes. Paid B or M fares are likely taking the bulk of the seats, with a few Y and Z fares sprinkled here and there.

Could also be EasyPass awards from people/Elites with tons of miles.

They would have to be super-tons of miles to waste them on a 3hr hop. I cashed in 30k for FLL/IAH/SEA and back on a G/T fare, but that's because I want to secure the seats upfront on the longer IAH/SEA legs - if I see the cabins are mostly empty before EUA clicks in, I will refund the miles, take seats in the back and hope I process.

It can be part of a bigger trip:

SFO-IAH-EZE, IAH-SFO-NRT, etc.

While it's certainly gotten better, there are still CO agents out there that push EasyPass until you request other carrier solutions.

As others have said, it's people paying higher fares to sit up there. I often sit in CO F, but I also often end up paying B fares. If I don't, I nearly always sit in the back.