EUA query
 

So I am looking at the pda.com for CO 1844 on Monday 1st November.

The seatmap indicates 7 of the 8 seats are taken. The upgrade standby list also indicates that 4 people have been upgraded into first class.

It's outside the 24 hour mark, so there is no upgrade standby list yet, and I have not yet checked in.

I am a PresPlat, but I have not received an upgrade 6 days out. I assume that the four people ahead of me have been upgraded in one of these ways:
Plus the chance that there was a PresPlat with higher status than me.


I have however been offered the opportunity to waitlist with miles. But I don't want to 'waste' miles if I would end up getting the upgrade anyway.

What's the best way to manage this? Do I just wait until I see the upgrade standby list, and then waitlist with miles if I am not #1 on the list?

Odds are that the 4 upgrades are Y/B/M-Ups. The flight is actually showing as booked full, not booked 7/8.

At this point I doubt that ponying up miles will change your chances in any material way in terms of getting into F. I hope you have a seat in Y that you won't hate for the flight.

Your best hope would be to watch for someone in F to cancel, and if they do, snag one of CO's paid upgrades, hopefully for just tens of dollars (which is possibly where the other upgrades came from).

Otherwise, prepare for the flight in Y.

The seat map is moot, what matters is that it's already BOOKED 8/8. Someone just hasn't been assigned that last seat. The option to upgrade with miles expires at T-24 so you won't be able to see your position on the list before you have to make the decision. Seeing as it will come down to the T-24 list, I personally wouldn't bother with miles since you will be VERY high on the list, if not #1. That being said, if you REALLY want to get any potential seat that opens up then use the miles.

Well the root of the problem is CO's insistence on universal YBM instant upgrades. They end up selling F at what turns out to be cut-rate prices, while anyone booking inside a week(typically your big $$$ business travelers) gets screwed. United's system takes these travelers into better account by prioritizing high status and high fare but not clearing until the window opens, while not wiping out all the F inventory 2 weeks before the flight.

Ah yes, it had been booked in full since I last checked.

I've actually got a good coach seat so I'm not worried, I was more thinking for the future (and just using this flight as an example).


Would your pieces of advice change if the flight was only booked 7/8 or 6/8 and I really wanted the upgrade (i.e. without unduly wasting miles)?

depends, if the "M" fare is available for an "upgrade" for tens of dollars, then you might as well go for it, since CO will gladly sell the seat to a silver instead of a PPlat if they bid a little more for it.

Actually, not a single one of those seats was sold for "just tens of dollars."
Except that a Silver cannot confirm an instant upgrade on a M fare.

The continual FUD being spewed on this particular topic is rather unfortunate and misleading to the folks who want to actually understand it rathre than just have something to be bitter about.

Couldn't the price between M/B for non-plat or H/M for plat be "tens of dollars"?

Of course not. The seat is not sold for tens of dollars, it's the upgrade that could be as low as tens of dollars.


And how is that relevant? Or was it merely distraction from the fundamental issue that entropy was referring to.

First, he said that the OP should jump on the paid upgrade if he sees it, as the OP is a P-Plat, who does indeed qualify for M fares.

Second, he crafted an opinion on CO's instant-upgrade policy, and I'm sure that you're aware that this applies to Silvers at the Y- and B- fare levels.


You're welcome to disagree with what's being posted, but just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean there's no merit.

Perhaps CO has taken the combination of their Y/B/M-Up policy, combined with aggressive marketing, a bit too far that it's a material take-away from the benefits for some in the OP program.

Just because CO has an explanation for it, and you seem to buy it, doesn't mean the rest of the Elite population does. Just like my insurance company always has a reason for a claim denial. I don't always buy that either, though they believe they're playing by the rules.

If CO prices a "B" fare at a little more than an M fare, then a silver can get it for tens of dollars over a PPLAT.

Yeah, so is the consistent dismissal of any ideas contrary to the company line from some of CO's unofficial reps on this board.

Are you really suggesting here that CO offering Y/B/M-Upgrades is not within the rules??? I'd love to hear the explanation of that one.

My point re the Silver elite was that a Silver elite would actually be paying rather more than the Platinum for the F seat. Given that the OP is talking about IAH-CLE the difference between the M and B is about $150. From H up to M is similarly over $100 one way. It simply isn't "tens of dollars" that is being talked about.

Export from Wandering Aramean Travel Tools
And I'll continue to express my surprise that CO's implementation of a change that you were quite in favor of - no change fee for upping the fare basis for an upgrade - is one that you are so opposed to now that it actually has happened.
In some cases, sure. Doesn't appear to be at all the case in this one.

ETA: Let us also not forget that pricing is very much market specific so it is possible that there are plenty of B fares that would use the same IAH-CLE flight where the overall amount paid is actually near the same as the M fare on the non-stop. Certainly that is also a travesty that must be fixed, too, right?

Of course the real solution is to take the later flight which has a bunch of open seats in First, and still lets me make my connection to BUF. :D

There is no M fare on IAH-BUF but also no "tens of dollars" upgrade fares. Anyone willing to buy the B fare would be at the same priority.

Export from Wandering Aramean Travel Tools
A silver buying a B fare on SAT-BUF will pay only a few dollars more than a PPlat on the above K fare and both could very well be on the same plane, competing for the same seat. A non-elite would likely be paying around $200 more one-way for that same "upgrade."

It's within the rules in a technical sense. It's not within the spirit of the rules. I think my insurance company parallel was appropriate -- they tend to do shady things that are "justified" by way of technicality that goes against the spirit of the policy.