B-Up question
 

Hey folks ... Gold Elite here.

Just booked a flight LGA-IAH-LAS for early January.

CO1433 LGA-IAH leg is booked into Fare Class H.
CO597 IAH-LAS leg is booked into Fare Class B.

I'm curious about why I didn't get a B-Up on CO597.

For CO597, I looked at flightstats.com, and see F/1 C/1 D/1 Z/0 in first(business), and Y/9 B/9 in coach. I also see 6 open seats up front in the seatmap ....

So, I know that B-Ups are capacity controlled... BUT, if I go into my reservation and hit the little 'ol "Upgrade Reservation" button, they're asking for $1,533 to upgrade the entire LGA-IAH-LAS leg. Looking in the seatmap, it wants $510 to upgrade into First for just the CO597 (IAH-LAS) leg.

That's a lot more than tens of dollars, ESPECIALLY from an H & B fare.

Just trying to decode a mystery. Why didn't the B fare bump me up as a Gold?

Thanks!

As you noted, they are capacity controlled. That's pretty much it.

Understood, but the question, I guess, then is where does the $510 number come from in the seat map?

Is that the difference between a B and F fare, or just some random, made-up number they think I'd pay for (of course not!)

Sorry, but $1k on a flight to/from Vegas isn't worth it. I'll keep my exit row, thankyouverymuch ;)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/5.0.0.591 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

The B-up books into ZE which is mighty close to Z. Since the flight is Z0 there is nowhere to upgrade into. The $510 is likely the difference between B and D fare on that segment.



It is entirely possible that more Z/ZE inventory will show up between now and your departure. You can either keep checking back or use a tool to monitor it for you and alert you when the Z shows up.

ETA: The $510 might also be the difference to Y as Y-up inventory is not restricted.

Great info, thanks! So next question - if I do see Z open up, how would I go about snagging it?

When you view your reservation you'll see a logo that says "Elite Upgrade Fare" by the applicable flight, and just below it there will be a link that says "Upgrade." Click on that link. (Not the "Upgrade Reservation" link at the top.)

Y is usually more expensive than D, which is rarely restricted, IME.