I am Plat and was told that I could not waitlist my MXP - EWR return in September, but the agent told me to "keep trying back to see if you can get on the waitlist". So either she doesn't know what she's talking about, or there's something we don't understand.

Anybody?

Disagree. First come first served applies quite appropriately. Once anyone is added, they should fall w/in the heirarchy that prevails. "I'm better than everyone else plats" should not "bump" non-status off the list just because they feel "entitled". Once the list is closed, too bad, better luck next time.

I've been told "The waitlist is closed" as well and it is enormously frustrating for a platinum. I kept on bugging them and eventually they could add my name to waitlist (apparently somebody had gotten their upgrade) and I catapulted to number #1 on the waitlist (per the agent). In the end, I got my upgrade. I disagree with the posters who say the waitlist should hold a finite number of names and don't see any logic or rationale to intentionally keeping the list to 20 names. The posters who have suggested that it's an IT issue are probably correct.

No one suggested it should hold 20 names, it was a figure pulled out of the blue used as an example. However, IT issues aside, I don't agree that someone who is already on the waitlist be pulled off to accomodate someone else. It just isn't right!! I do agree that status should trump w/in the waitlist.

CO's system (SHARES) is an old system and can only handle so much. However, they are upgrading I hear in the near future and word has it WorldSpan has the upper hand as it is what is being used in the Res dept. Anyone hear the same thing?

That's the whole point of a tiered elite system -- to show who's more important to CO. Within that dynamic, Platinum Elites *are* better.

Otherwise, you're saying that some poor schlub who spent money on a Chase Card and potentially even has a cheaper ticket (and has never flown CO before!) should get priority over a frequent customer.

Sorry, don't see the sanity in that.

Steve

I prefer to stay down here below the pedestal. What i'm saying (for the 4th time now??) is I don't feel non-status customers should be removed from the waitlist, regardless how much a plat may piss and moan. Read into that how you will, but it's black and white....there are no shades of grey here. Where they fall in the socio-economic spectrum is irrelevant. I fail to see the sanity in possibly creating ill-will in two customers. That's just bad business!! The rules are the rules, play the game or move on.

But its very relevant: the revenue-generating elite should get far better treatment (and position in the waitlist) than any non-elite riff raff. If someone is going to be annoyed or upset, it makes better financial sense for the non-elite to bear the bad news than the elite.

I agree with the previous posters --waitlists should be prioritized on elite status, class of service purchased, and date of waitlisting. If a Platinum buys a full Y 96 hours before departure and wants to waitlist for an upgrade, he should get priority over all others (that aren't Platinum or bought a full Y before he did) including Golds and non-elites or others on discounted flights. Why should a passenger not generating as much revenue for the airline be treated better than one that is?

But the rules are that a Plat has priority when, in fact, they don't.

Perhaps you should read the last sentence in post #19. Selective reading based on what one believes is rampant here on FT. So bad that you miss very important information sometimes!! I'll reiterate, customers "already" on the waitlist should never be removed to accomodate someone else....it isn't part of the elite benefits, and I'd be suprised if it ever is.

Apologies if this is not the correct thread, but I searched �upgrade waitlist�+�closed� and here I am.

Last week I purchased an H ticket MAD � IAH � MAD, departing in late September. I booked via the Platinum Elite Priority Line in the US because I wanted to make sure I got on the wait list for BF I have been CO Platinum for the past four years.

Because I live in Spain and pay via a credit card issued there, the representative told me I would have to do the operation in two stages:

1. book and buy the ticket, and then when my purchase cleared
2. call back and get on the BF waitlist

Done, and within an hour I received the e-mail confirming my purchase. When I rang back (again, Elite Priority line) I was told that the waitlist for my flight was closed. The representative couldn�t tell me if it had ever been open, or if it would open in the future. I had figured that, booking five months out, I had a good chance of getting on the waitlist and even getting the upgrade eventually.

Being flexible, I asked her to check the waitlist for the flight (MAD � EWR) for the day before I am scheduled to travel. She told me that she could not do this unless I purchased a ticket for that flight.

So: Catch 22 � buy a ticket first, then see if the upgrade waitlist is open (or even exists).

In this case, I took a chance, changed my date, and then found that the waitlist was in fact open for the new departure date.

Has anyone encountered this and if so, found a way around it?

Seems like there's a simple, if annoying, way around this: ticket purchases are fully refundable within 24 hours of purchase. Buy your ticket, then call back and check the waitlist. If there's no room on the waitlist get a refund on the ticket and try again until successful. But before doing this I'd get a second opinion as to whether it is possible to get on the waitlist at the time you purchase your ticket.

My advice is to keep on calling. I bought a RT "H" IAH-CDG in Feb for a trip in April and tried to upgrade. No problems on the outbound, "waiting list closed" on the return. I called 2 weeks prior to departure and the list was open so I got the upgrade. If at first you do not succeed, try and try again.

With all due respect, I think yoiu are missing the point. UG waitlists by their nature are a moveable feast. Your spot is determined by many factors the least of which is when you actually got on the list. If the waitlist was full and someone with a paid FC ticket got moved to another flight and FC was showing full at the time, should they not be able to get on the list? I can pretry much say with certainty that CO wants them on the list at number 1. Secondly, the benefits that come with variuos elite levesl and fare basis should accrue whenver the pax makes the purchase even if that is late in the game. Otherwise, those benefits are worthless ( OK don't flame me here I am not making a general comment about elite levels).

Thridly, since in reality we are really not supposed to know exactly where are on the waitlist how we would we know we got bumped.

Finally, this could all be resolved if CO was more transparent and instead of saying sorry the wiatlist is full they actually published the guiding rules and any other factors ( such as a cap they have put on list by size, date, etc) that goven the list. Buying a ticket to find out if there is space on the list in an insult.

I have had a different experience--as recently as January. I have called to book an H ticket for international travel. I have told the reservation agent that I want to upgrade with miles. She has searched for what flight would be available. I then bought the ticket and got the upgrade. Maybe the situation has changed and there is a new SOP on such requests.