BF Inventory
 

I am flying 99 to HKG Thursday. Today the PDA site shows 36 out of 50 booked. As of today, only 1 person, ME, has been upgraded. I did book about 10 months out and the upgrade was granted within a month.

This just shows how much longer CO is holding onto BF inventory.

I am flying CO99 on Jan 17 using a SWU and currently still waitlisted... even though the BF cabin is 50-60% occupied... Hopefully my SWU will clear..:D

It really depends on the market. US - Asia routes have always tended to be held much longer b/c of the large amount of last minute business travelers, and the general lack of flights (relative to Europe).

I'm flying 99 on the 11th, still on the waitlist, getting crazy, why? Because 9 to Tokyo is available. What to do? Is it worth $250 to fly over the Pacific in BF and then wait 3.5 hours and then sit in Y for the NRT-HKG portion? I think so! I fly that route about 4 times a year. What I have found happening lately is no one getting upgraded no matter how empty until 3 days before the flight. Then, exactly like clockwork, 10-20 pax will get upgraded depending on availability. This week is also different because of Toy Fair.:confused:

I'm the reason why. Today I tried to book a return ticket IAH - AMS, 5 days in advance (wanted 1/9 outbound and 1/14 return). I was unable to get BF seats, because the cabins on both days I wanted were completely booked. Had to leave 1 day early (on a Saturday, screwing up my weekend) and return 1 day later than I wanted, to avoid sitting in Y. :td:

Plus, as only a Gold, I don't get SWU's, so I never want them to clear! Haha just kidding.

CLG

it's really a black art. I'm on wait list with my wife for an upgrade using SWUs in October RT EWR-ATH. Not surpassingly, the FC cabin is completely empty at this early point. As a matter of fact, Y is also except for us. Presumably at some point, CO will release some seats, at least, I hope so.

How does this show anything at this point? Do you know how many other people have requested mileage upgrades?

Of course not. But I would be willing to bet a beer in the PC that the number is not zero and that probably at least one other Plat besides me has an upgrade request in.

At exactly the 48 hour point, 11 more people were upgraded and the flight now shows 48/50.

I just had the same thing happen. S:rolleyes:metime overnight my upgrade cleared for Thursday's IAH-NRT flight and suddenly about 12 additional seats on the seat map show as occupied.

anecdotal---same flight, different situation:

ugh...... last month i flew 99 as a companion to a plat (i was silver at the time); economy was oversold, so they upgraded him but refused to send me with him even though there were still empties in BF..... same thing happened PVG-EWR two weeks later.

Not only BF inventory, also IB inventory. I have a paid F flight in IB (international business) for tomorrow... 2 seats occupied and only 1 guy upgraded with several on the upgrade list.

I could'nt wait. I paid the change fee and switched to a BF seat on 9 to NRT instead of staying on the waitlist for 99. Does anyone know how to upgrade an ANA codeshare with CO bought on CO from Y to C? Its my onward flight from NRT to HKG. ANA is an Alliance partner but it is a codeshare flight.

If you booked it in fare class Y or B, you can upgrade using a star alliance upgrade award. Otherwise, you'll just have to pay for the fare difference (which you could have done when you paid the first change fee, but now you'd have to pay another one).

You cannot upgrade a codeshare using a Star Alliance upgrade reward.
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...onditions.aspx

not if it's a codeshare. :(

BF from EWR-HKG-EWR is very tough to get as an upgrade because they can sell almost all of the seats at any time of the year. This is my personal experience and confirmed by Elite line. My wife and I were planning to fly HKG-EWR on 1/29 in BF using upgrades. We are both Platinum and bought our tickets (B) in October when BF had 48 empty seats. We have watched as the seat availability is now down to about 6 seats and about 30 people on the standby list.

We rebooked on CO 6 (NRT-IAH) and should get our seats in BF. Had to buy a full Y ticket on ANA to make the connection however. Since I have to be in the ER on the 30th, I need to get some good sleep. I don't want to make a mistake caring for a patient due to sleep deprivation.

I was on the same flts as Vulcan and 99 cleared just after his. I am a Plat. The rtn, yesterday on 98 cleared about 2 weeks before dept.

There was a large list of stdbys for upgrades but of course dont know their fare class or status.

I noticed that on both flts the FAs were stellar. All very senior and they were all very classy and nice. On 98 I swear my FA was a mind reader. No sooner did I finish a bottled water than she brought one to me without being asked.

I was in the exact same position a few years ago. Booked and waitlisted EWR-PEK...two days out the upgrade still didn't clear and 9 to NRT was available.

I ended up paying the $250 change to switch to 9, then waited 4 hours in the Worldclub to take a short hop on NW to PEK.

My non-elite travel companion stayed on the original flight to PEK and cleared BF at the airport 45 minutes before departure.....I should have just left it alone!

I'm in a similar boat for a flight I'm taking at the end of February. Purchased the ticket last week. Flying SFO-EWR-TLV and I am waitlisted for the BF upgrade outbound using the 30,000 miles + $500 co-pay option. Confirmed on the upgrade for the return, which is a week later.

Keeping my fingers crossed since those EWR-TLV flights are usually quite full.

I keep checking the itinerary but it gives me a little comfort that they're holding onto the inventory a bit longer.

The SFO-EWR segment has 0/20 booked in first class, so 100% seats are unsold.
EWR-TLV segment is booked 16/50 seats in BF, so 34 seats still available....

Availability on the domestic upgrade shouldn't affect whether I score the overseas segment, right? That's really the one I care about.

Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. There are several extensive threads here on the topic of BF upgrades to HKG. There are plenty of flights that go out with 10 or more upgrades cleared. Of course depending on what's going on in HKG, they may have all been Platinums and there may have been 30 upgrade requests on the list.

And you know this how? :confused:

I was told that by the CO Elite folks when I called to check on my chances of getting BF.