Platnuim paying for first class
 

I can't believe that I just had to pay $145 for first class from EWR-MIA. Anyways will I get the 150% mileage for this fare? It says ZE

Do tell:

Flight time?
Fare class?
How many F seats already taken?
Other shenanigans observed?

I'm not sure "had" was the correct term. I guess the OP could've waited and took the chance that the complimentary battlefield upgrade might have come thru but decided to confirm for a price. Maybe I'm mis-reading something. :confused:

Nah...you're not misreading anything. A platinum elite decided to confirm a seat in an F fare bucket and paid for it. They apparently felt compelled to do so because they were worried that sufficient other passengers might pay for F seats and they wouldn't get one for free. Apparently that's coercion these days. :rolleyes:

As for whether the OP will get 150% credit or not, we'd need to know the original itinerary (EWR-MIA or a connection involved), whether the upgrade was purchased at OLCI or in advance and the original fare basis to figure that out. My guess is that it was a buy-up to an M fare, not a B fare based on looking at the published fares on the route:
Export from Wandering Aramean Travel Tools
Looks like a W or V fare upgraded to M. For a $290 r/t upcharge to get to the B fare (and 150% EQMs) the OP would have likely needed to be on an M fare already so the same ZE inventory would have been available without paying.

That's not how it read to me - the OP can correct my interpretation, but it read to me like the OP thought they were required to pay the fee to upgrade to F and did not have the option of waiting for a complimentary upgrade.

Outside the FT community that knows better, I have a funny feeling that a number of these transactions are being completed by ignorant Elites who don't have a clue and might think the program terms have changed and they must pay for the upgrade now. If so, I'm fairly certain that was a deliberate part of this scheme - to take advantage of customer ignorance.

I disagree.

1) The OP has a pretty long history here on FT and based on their previous posts I have no idea that they are well aware of the way the program works.

2) At no time in any of the various iterations of the prompts that I've seen does CO suggest that payment is required unless one wants to confirm the upgrade immediately by buying the F seat.

I'll let the OP answer comment 1. For comment 2, I disagree - CO doesn't say the payment is required, but they are preying on the ignorance of customers who probably don't know any better and might think they now need to pay for the upgrade.

Everyone here knows exactly how things work - but we've all run into countless Elites at every tier who don't have the slightest clue how OP functions.

Everyone here knows exactly how things work - but we've all run into countless Elites at every tier who don't have the slightest clue how OP functions.[/QUOTE]

I agree, I run into Plats all the time who don't know what SWU are and they don't even know how many Elite Miles they have for this year.

I agree, I run into Plats all the time who don't know what SWU are and they don't even know how many Elite Miles they have for this year.

I agree, I run into Plats all the time who don't know what SWU are and they don't even know how many Elite Miles they have for this year.[/QUOTE]

I also see this. I also see this. :D