cova

I am waitlisted (2 on PNR) for a domestic segment upgrade from a SWU. The upgrade waitlist shows on the reservation.

Yesterday there was only 1 R seat (so won't clear) but today there are 2 or more R seats.

How frequently does the waitlist get checked from CO systems to process the upgrades?
Or do you need to call to have the upgrade processed?

cova

There were 3 R seats available.
I did not want to wait for the computer to sweep, so I called and the agent processed the upgrades and cleared us from the waitlist.

This flight had 0/16 F seats sold (all available) and coach was almost sold out. So I do not know why CO waited so long to open some R seats.

I asked the agent why this did not clear automatically, and he said the computer likely had not done the sweep yet. He also indicated that all the computer would do when it swept the waitlists was to confirm the upgrade, but that the update of the ticket was a manual process.

I am guessing the confirmed upgrades get put in a cue and get processed by agents later.

Moral - if R opens - call and have the waitlist cleared. This is really a loop hole in the system. Someone else could have booked a reservation with mileage or SWU and got the upgrades before the sweep.

alexperi

Can you give me the language you used on the phone to do this? I have tried this several times with my 2010 SWUs that are waitlisted, and each time the phone agent says that there is absolutely nothing they can do, they just have to wait for the computer to decide when they clear. And also: how did you find out that space in R became available? Just constant checking via the usual method on the website, or is there a shortcut?

Many thanks,

Alex

cova

Checked for R via the constant checking method on the website.

Yesterday, there was R1, today R3 - so enough for two seats. You just increment the number of passengers to find the point where R is no longer available to determine the number of R seats.

I wanted to keep 2 of us on the same PNR. I could have split PNR, but I would have had to call anyway. Plus with 0/16 F sold on the flight to BWI and Y mostly sold out and only 1 or so others in ELR seats - I figured no rush.

But R1 just opened yesterday, and R3 today.

The language I used was "I am waitlisted using SWU for upgrade on domestic segment of international flight (to NRT), and R now shows three available seats. How does the waitlist get cleared" - something like that. I believe I asked if he could clear them since it did not happen automatically.

I would call back until you get a proper agent. My concern is that R has opened - anyone can now use miles/SWU for upgrade and I have been on standby list for a couple of weeks.

But note that R has to be available and enough R seats for the number in your PNR. Since R is used for EUA as well, agents you spoke to probably were confused with EUAs to R. Agents cannot clear complimentary upgrades (EUA). SWUs and miles/$ clear right away when R is available, since they are not complimentary.

meFIRST

I think you should be able to get it by calling, no?

ijgordon

There were numerous reports of this happening about a year ago:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...proactive.html

Scott had disappeared by then and so there was never any official word about what was causing the problem. And then reports of this happening stopped, it's quite a difficult scenario to replicate.

But perhaps it's time to bring it to the attention of his new alter ego?

cova - out of curiosity, how frequently were you checking for upgrade availability online?

Houston2mnl

Who is this mythical person you speak of?

tanlines

He was referring to the fact that CO Insider is now UA Insider.
No mythics here.. just a new ID.

Houston2mnl

Ah ok, thanks. I thought it might possibly be the trial balloon person.

FromPVG

cova - could you please explain to me how you check the R availability? The best I could do is to book a reservation to display OnePass Reward Upgrade in Advanced Search. Then it just shows whether the flight is available for upgrade or not, and does not show the bucket.

Cuse44

What you did is exactly how you search for 'R' inventory. All OnePass Mileage Upgrades and System Wide Upgrades come from 'R' inventory. If its available, it will say First (R) or BusinessFirst (R) next to the flight info. If its not available, it will return "Upgrade not available on CO XX".

To see how many 'R' seats are available on a flight, just keep increasing the number of passengers in the reservation until the flight changes from 'R' to "Upgrade not available on CO XX".

FromPVG

Thanks for the information.

hughw

I've been on waitlist since 330 days with SWU's for EWR-ATH RT in early October. Seat maps show zero BF seats sold. I can't imagine that this will be a sold out flight, but who what do I know. Does anyone have a sense of when CO might allotting upgrade seats?

hookthem

Can someone look up the R availability for CO407 on 6/29 and CO781 on 7/11? Don't mean to be needy or hijack this thread, but I'm not quite sure how to do this.

ijgordon

Sometime between now and early October.
The airline has 7 months to sell only 25 BF seats on that flight. Don't you think they're going to try?