808oman

Just a heads us.

I had a HNL - IAH and IAH - HNL SWU for 2 pax waitlisted.

Expertfler alerted me to show 4 R and RN available. Waited a few days to see if CO would clear them automatically, but they did not.

I had to call to manually have them complete the upgrade.

Just wanted to give you all a heads up to check on your waitlisted SWU Upgrades.

I have never had this happen before, as waitlisted upgrades usually clear in within 24 hours of when the fare buckets shows up as R or RN, but not this time.

Being based in HNL, I am looking forward to 2012 rules to use CR1 for upgrades and not having to book W or better for IAH, DEN and EWR Business First Lite.

UA-NYC

This has happened to me on 6 of my past 7 CO itins. Another "benefit" of SHARES I'm guessing.

Next time, call right away, you never know when IM will zero R out.

tht

I have 5 wait listed SWU, what's the best way to look for free, look up award flights or is there an easier way? My last one cleared a few days out and the one in 2 weeks time cleared when I booked, I was surprised to get that as its for the Sunday the 19th for the red eye, which is the weekend before Xmas on EWR-LHR...

ijgordon

The best way is with an ExpertFlyer alert. It's $99/year, what's the cost to you of a missed upgrade because someone else snags the last one while the system is waiting to clear your waitlist?

The only other way I know of is to search manually for upgrade availability on the CO website.

channa

+1

CO has difficulty doing anything in real time. Everything they build seems to use a sweep methodology. So if the sweep isn't working for whatever reason, you don't get it unless you notice it and call.

PHLyer82

I could be wrong or thinking of something else, but can't you just make a dummy booking and click the "Fare Class" which should be in blue. This gives a little pop up menu with all fare classes including R and RN.

This only works on CO operated flights though.

bob_the_d

i don't know who to believe anymore, i think it's glitching out. i just bought a ticket for NRT-EWR about 20 minutes ago. when i was searching for flights, the fare buckets said it was R0/RN0. now when i look up my reservation on my account page it's showing up as R4/RN4.

:shrug:

IAHMCI

Are you able to confirm the upgrade? I see the same thing on a flight I have HKG-EWR in Feb. but I already have the upgraded confirmed.

nova08

I have never waitlisted a SWU or miles for an upgrade so correct me if I am wrong but just because there is R availability doesn't necessarily mean there are not people ahead of you that have waitlisted as well?

IAHMCI

I would think that is correct. But I waitlisted the flight and as soon as I saw R availibility 3 months later, I was able to call and confirm the upgrade. It may be that I was lucky and was the first one on the list.

channa

In a clean setup, there should never be R if there are people waitlisted. The moment R is released, the waitlist should clear in the proper order.

That's how waitlists work on most carriers. CO's systems are not as clean, though, so we see anomalies such as this -- where upgrade space is available, yet the waitlist does not process, so the first person who notices it and calls in can get it. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it barfs like we see here, but it happens often enough that it's a noticeable problem with CO's systems.

SF1K

Same thing. Made a reservation from SFO-IAH-MIA for next week. The outbound didn't show any R space available during the booking process for either SFO-IAH or IAH-MIA, return was available (I am using confirmed Regionals). Once the booking was done and they were talking to the integration desk, I saw on the "View Current Reservation" screen if I clicked on Fare Class it was showing R2 for SFO-IAH, still R0 for IAH-MIA, sure enough once they applied the regionals SFO-IAH cleared right away and IAH-MIA waitlisted. I've been checking daily and today I see that IAH-MIA is showing R4 when I look on the "View Current Reservation" screen, yet when I make a dummy booking it is showing R0, but I'm still waitlisted. Called and they cleared it.

So not sure if they don't want to show the R space to people making new bookins since they already have people on the waitlist or what? Very strange.

Ok - just signed up for free Trial of ExpertFlyer. It is showing the flight as R0, which is the same as if you make a dummy booking on CO. However if I look at the flight under "View Current Reservation" it is still showing R3. I actually think the R3 is a glitch, as there are only 3 F seats left for sale and I'm sure they wouldn't release all F into R availability when departure is not until next week.

Regardless I did get agent to confirm me into R space.

ijgordon

Sounds like some integration issues?...

channa

Don't think so. I think it's CO's general flakiness when it comes to technology.

MBM3

Yes, I tend to agree. Similar scenarios have occurred more often than they should have over the years.