Does CO have confirmed upgrade instruments?
 

Hi there. Totally new to CO, so forgive the newbie question. I looked in the FAQs and didn't see an answer.

Does CO have confirmed upgrade instruments, similar to a United CR-1? I am a non-status CO person, flying a transcon in a few weeks (EWR-SFO) and I'm curious if there is a way to sit in the front of the bus rather than the back.

Thanks a lot.

Nope, CO only offers SWUs after 100,000 miles of flying. Elites are provided complementary upgrades via the EUA process (check the FAQ for details).

For those of us with no CO status, the only way to confirm a seat in first class is to buy one.

Well, CO gives out domestic one-way U/G certificates as compensation sometimes, such as when they mess up and send a confirmed FC flyer to the back of the bus. You might browse through the Coupon Connection and see one listed there.

I have one myself, but I'm not sure I want to part with it just yet.

or you can use miles (yours or someone else's) for a mileage upgrade.

Cash always works too.

If you are non-elite there is now a big copay along with the miles for domestic upgrades.

See service fees here for both BF and Domestic F.

Depends on the fare. There are many more fares with a $0 co-pay for domestic than for international and the co-pay maxes out at $150 ($100 for the OP since they're on a non-stop flight).

Used to be if you bought a Full Y fare, you could standby for a domestic upgrade- but you were last in line for upgrade priority, behind all the silvers. Generally wasn't worth it.

This is still the case AFAIK. They don't market it since they so rarely deliver on it but the benefit is still there.

Z and D fares are typically less than full Y, and D fares are usually fully refundable, so it's also possible they don't market it because there's no reason to purchase a domestic Y fare.

Would this require a co-pay (like the upgrade using miles) or is the domestic U/G all you need?

Is there a particular thing to request in CC, or is it sufficient to say "one-way U/G cert"?

Any idea what would be a fair trade? I have a good sense for the UA trades but there aren't many data points in CC for CO.

Thanks!

No

Yes

No

Yes

Probably ~2x the cost of a UA SWU trade, because demand far exceeds supply for CO certificates.