Originally Posted by cova (Post 14754072)

Then about 20 minutes later, the 24th seat goes and it goes to someone who then takes seat 2F and they appear on the upgraded list.

So I do not think it was realtime EUA - I believe someone was offered the buy up when they checked in around 7:40am and they took it and got the seat. The person at the top of the list the night before and up to flight time did not get an upgrade. Somehow the other person that got it at 7:40am - got it.

Originally Posted by cova (Post 14754072)

So I do not think it was realtime EUA - I believe someone was offered the buy up when they checked in around 7:40am and they took it and got the seat. The person at the top of the list the night before and up to flight time did not get an upgrade. Somehow the other person that got it at 7:40am - got it.

Originally Posted by dickerso (Post 14753754)

Similarly, Continental is trying to run a for-profit airline and it has to put consistent profits above some vague claims about loyalty from people that are happy to become elites at another airline in 2 weeks if that airline will offer a status match.

Originally Posted by dickerso (Post 14753754)

Seriously, in 3 years, you're going to pay an extra $100 for a fare just because it says Continental? There are plenty of people here that are already willing to switch programs every year to maximize their benefits from the airlines and they aren't truly, "loyal," they're merely trying to maximize their benefit every year.

Originally Posted by BearX220 (Post 14764321)

If you're mainly in this for the upgrades,

Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 14766108)

If you can make top-tier AND you are not tied to CO's route/schedules then CO is not the best options for upgrades. It has been this way for a while. But not everyone is in it for the upgrades and there are a number of other aspects of the OnePass program that are better than competitors who focus more on upgrades.

Originally Posted by sbm12 (Post 14754135)

Someone who was a higher priority than you and the other person already ahead of you checks in and gets the upgrade. Maybe EUA and maybe buy-up. We simply do not know. If they had the same status and fare but bought prior to you then they'd have priority for that seat.

Originally Posted by DeltaFirst (Post 14766745)

I don't think status matters, I think I could still be offered an upgrade buy up without it. I've been a status match plat this year with CO and I fly international routes. I upgraded one flight a while back from Zurich to Newark for $300 and 20K one pass miles.

Originally Posted by DeltaFirst (Post 14766745)

I don't think status matters, I think I could still be offered an upgrade buy up without it. I've been a status match plat this year with CO and I fly international routes. I upgraded one flight a while back from Zurich to Newark for $300 and 20K one pass miles. I don't think I will do it again for a flight under 10 hours. The Delta BE product is hands down superior to CO from the type of seat to the quality of the FAs, food is about even. I haven't flown UA yet so I can't compare but people who do aren't very positive.

One last thing. Delta does a better job of thanking customers for their business. Always very nice on the DM line to be greeted with "how are you Mr. Delta First", I think it's always a nice touch. I hear UA customer service doesn't always have a good grasp of the English language, so I don't believe this aspect of the new UA will be any better than the service CO plats now receive.

I think Gold will be my final objective this year as I haven't been sold that CO or the new UA will do anything better. So I'll maintain Gold because in the end the President's Club and *A lounges aren't too bad. Recently renewed my Presidents Club membership. Cheers.

Originally Posted by reinballe (Post 14766819)

Status definitely matters for the free upgrades...

Buy-up to BF is completely different from the buy-ups to F on domestic flights.

Continental offers complementary unlimited upgrade to F on domestic flights... (which is being diluted by buy-ups). No such thing as a free upgrade on an international flight (as long as they have a seat in Y to put you in).

Originally Posted by cbechdel (Post 14749389)

ugh. Yeah upgrades are awesome and probly the best part of elite. But there are lots of other benefits.

And bottom line, CO is a business trying (TRYING!) to be profitable, if they can sell that seat sell it! keep the planes in the air so we can get where we need to go. Giving away seats that had other opportunites to sell is not a good business model. I don't think many of us run our businesses with the thought that are product has 7 days left on the shelf so we better just start giving it away rather than discounting it more and more as its shelf like expires.

A plane seat like a hotel room is one of the most pershable commodities round, so do all you need to to earn money when each opportunity presents itself.

I just dont get all this "why dont they give me free things and tell people who want to pay for them to go away" sentiment. I don't imagine lots of us are out there sending CO random checks for no reason, so we shouldn't expect them to do the same, and we should be happy to get the upgrade if it comes about. Or pay and buy the 1st class seat if its so important. or buy a high fare Y seat to increase your chances.

The whole upgrade game is a gamble, truly the more you bet (buyying YBM fares instead of TNL fares) the better your chances of the great award - but no guarantee!

And I love all the posts about "shenanigans" and "someone must have bought that last seat" you can never know. I was recently inbound from FRA to EWR and missed my connection due to late arrival. New flight the upgrade EWR-CLE showed 1st booked and checked in full. 24 people on upgrade list (i was nowhere on the list as I had not checked in for the flight). I rechecked bags, got new seat on new flight, and ended up getting upgraded 30 minutes before flight left. Case of my PLAT, my fare class being F or C trumped all those on the list and most lilely a checked in person missed connection or rebooked last mintue. I didn't even get priority for check in time T-24 since I was not checked in for that flight. So lots of the assumptions people bought out the seats are probably oftern cases like me. I've done this 2 or 3 times on delayed inbound TATL flights and always wonder how many people are behind staring at me with darts that I took their seat.

Originally Posted by tegelad (Post 14769201)

I thicess)?
After sitting on both sides of the fence ... honestly, I prefer the AA method, where only the top tier gets free upgrades, and the rest can get upgrades if they use coupon tickets ... The company gets money, it is easy to understand, and when using Expertflyer etc ... you can predict if you have to go pick up drinks at the airport or if you will be served ....

+-ADT

Originally Posted by TWA Fan 1 (Post 14769402)

Agreed. I prefer the AA method because it reduces demand (by making upgrades harder to earn).

But, although universally derided, I think the coupon system is also better, because, in addition to also reducing the effective demand for upgrades, it provides the customer with an element of active control over the upgrade process (the use of the coupons).

The CO system, on the other hand has virtually no accountability or transparency as the process forces the customer to be completely passive...and this is why people become paranoid about shenanigans or other perceived errors in the system.

Originally Posted by DeltaFirst (Post 14767046)

I never said....

Originally Posted by BearX220 (Post 14764321)

Perhaps you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I meant to say it looks like CO is more enthusiastic about taking today's here-and-now $100 from a random buy-up customer than in occasionally rewarding customers who do, indeed, spend $25, $50, $100 more per ticket all the time to fly on CO. The whole strategic intent of loyalty programs is to divert little, incremental bits of extra revenue to CO this way and prevent people like me from shopping on price alone.

If you're mainly in this for the upgrades, though, and you go through a whole year with only a couple -- a lot less than five years ago -- and you start to think CO is more interested in that $100 from the random guy than your whole LTV (lifetime customer value)... why, then you begin to think the emperor has no clothes. Maybe you could be having about the same flying experience on Southwest and saving hundreds of dollars. The value proposition kind of falls apart for many people, and they may just start booking the lowest-priced carrier, and in the long run this hurts CO and erodes their pricing power.

And once you shake off the reflex of looking / booking at CO first (or any airline for that matter), it's hard for the airline to get you back in that groove.