check in times does matter for battlefield ups. the seats that are given due to misconnects, no shows or passengers who leave earlier are awarded by elite level then check in time. although the seats are many times few and far between.

I swear CO has a drunken monkey who flips a coin to see who gets an upgrade and who does not.

I checked in online less than 12 hours before a flight from SEA to EWR and got the upgrade on that very busy route. Then I checked in online a few weeks later for a flight from BWI to IAH right at the 23.5 hour mark (just to see if it really worked...) and did not get my upgrade until the gate agent came back to get me in coach.

The only system I think CO has is to add your birthdate to your collar size, divide by your age in full moon cycles and multiply it by your weight in troy ounces. Then add the number of left-handed females under the age of 99 in your family and subtract the number of buttons on your shirt. Result: chances in 1,000,000 that you'll get the upgrade.

AARGH. :mad:

I'm not sure what you mean by a "busy" route. As a Plat I always consider this a slam-dunk upgrade. Last Monday there were four empties in FC on a 738 SEA-EWR.

You qoute single cases and in such everything is possible. It is very possible that on the day of the SEA flight on a specific flight, there were open F seats 12 hours beofre the flight and it is very possible that on the day of the BWI flight on the specific flight there were none 23.5 hours before. If you will say that in 4 out of 5 cases on the same route at the same check-in times this happened, then you will have a case to argue.

A drunken monkey?? Its OK with me. Why should a practically bankrupt airline pay someone to hand out freebees, especially to people who complain after they've received the freebee, and complain if they dont receive the freebee??

SEA-EWR Empty F Seats
 

REALLY?!? I find that amazing. Usually transcons are hard to upgrade since many companies PAY for Premium Class tickets on those routes (>5 hours). I have always found upgrade difficult, when not buying an F/A/Z (or the like) ticket.

In my experience as a EWR-based Plat doing 100% leisure travel (mostly weekends and long weekends), SEA and SAN are a breeze for upgrades, while LAX and SNA can be nailbiters. I haven't been to SFO recently, but many have said it's a tough upgrade. I've done well to LAS the last several trips, but I haven't met one of those 753s yet. My SEA streak may be broken in October as one of my flights has been downgraded from a 738 to a 73G. I'm paying almost $217 for a transcon RT and I may actually have to go coach one way. How dare they!!!

Interesting -- this is the first time I've heard of this. Can anyone else confirm that it is standard policy?
Given they make such a big deal out of fare class, it does not seem logical that they would throw that priority ranking out the window at the last minute.

If it IS the case (I'll ask some GAs on my next flight), then I will always be checking in at the 24 hour mark if I haven't yet gotten my EUA! (Of course, if I have, then I will also be checking in at that time to snag my coveted seat 1A (or 2A as the case may be)!

Yes, to clarify people, it's really not THAT complicated.

There are two processes here that happen on independent timelines:
1. When P (revenue seats) are released into R (upgrade seats)
2. When passengers are actually booked into R

Process #1: As the flight date approaches, HAL2000 -- I mean, the CO computer system -- traditionally only opens up R in anticipation of each EUA run (nightly, then again 3 hours prior to flight). On ALL flights CO holds at LEAST two P until checkin closes. At 20-30 minutes prior, ALL remaining P (including First Class no-shows) are released into R.

Process #2: When it's available, a coach fare can be rebooked into R if/when either:
1) Miles are used (assuming it's a qualified coach fare)
2) EUA runs (in prescribed order, also based on date of reservation)
3) Elite card used at checkin
4) Gate Agent clears airport standby list (in prescribed order, also based on time of checkin)

Based on this information, the ONLY benefits I can see to checking in online are:
1) the slim chance that a P opens to R before EUA runs (especially if EUA burped and skipped you)
2) getting an earlier checkin time should you be battling against other similar elites travelling on the same fare code

To clarify, a P never turns into R when you check in, just have to hope that you'll snag one before EUA runs or the GA dishes out the treats.

Am I correct in this logic? This doesn't quite explain the frequency of missed EUAs for your Canadians.

And you are a statistician? I am...and 4 out of 5 cases on a single trial basis means nothing.

I fly this route at least 20 times per year, and there seems to be complete randomization with respect to upgrades. I do not think the elite automated upgrade system is consistent or there would be less variation present.

I too have been on flights where there were empty FC seats and a full coach class. This is very rare on the transcon routes, particularly from LAX and SFO. Only in off-tourist seasons have I ever seen an empty FC seat from EWR to PDX or SEA.

I'm also in agreement to thinking CO.COM has priority over EUA. Here is what happened to me. I'm CO Gold.

EWR-ORD
5 Day mark- 3F (Nothing)
3 Day mark-2F (Nothing)
Day before-2F (Nothing)

I call CO and the rep says "looks tight 8 of 10 are checked in, Let's hope you get the upgrade tonight or at the gate. Good luck".

I login to CO.COM and check-in. Boom elite upgrade processed and I get the last F seat. Looks like I know how to go from now on.

Check-in Good w/Glitches
 

I bought an H fare 6 days before departure on a flight that from all online sources looked completely empty. I'm flying to this city in the early AM and am flight back late PM. I'm a Platinum...

On 5 days before departure, my EUA didn't come through for my outbound. However, my return clears and I'm upgraded. A check from online sources show the flight remains empty with 9's in every bucket.

On 4 days before departure, my EUA still didn't come through. A call to CO says the F cabin is wide-open and upgrade seats are there, and the EUA system will catch me on the next run. The agent claims they can't manually process it.

In 3 days before departure, my EUA still doesn't come through. I do the same call and get the same answer.

In 2 days before departure, my EUA still doesn't come through. I do the same call and get the same answer, this time with "the first class cabin is completely empty and all seats are available for upgrades. Check back after midnight tonight and I'm sure you'll upgrade will clear."

On 1 day before departure, the EUA still doesn't clear. At exactly 24 hours prior to departure, I check-in online and grab a 1st class seat. My boarding pass shows I'm the 1st to check-in.

This is the first time EUA ever malfunctioned on me ...so I share the pain with others here that experienced the same EUA nonsense and CO agents unable to unwilling to manually process the upgrade. I am sure during this process that if there were any other elites on-board, regardless of status, they would have received upgrades before me. And I am equally sure that if I wasn't the 1st to check-in, any other elite who came on-board to check-in before me would get the upgrade over me ...even though I have the highest status and highest paid fare (short of a full-Y) on the flight.

Moral of the story: if EUA isn't working for you, be sure to check-in online as early as you can ....because those that do have better odds of being upgrade than anyone else regardless of fare paid / elite status.

Weatherboy,

Where does it show that you were the first to check in on you BP?

Thanks.

At the top of your OLCI BP it will say Seq: n where n=your check-in sequence number, i.e., 1 means you are the first to check in.

Silver Here
 

I'm a lowly Silver, and oddly enough I've has upgrades 85% of the time one route out of EWR to IAH, PHX, LAS, SFO, ANC (but not the connecting SEA, we'll see I was just bumped from the 7:55am flight to 1pm Yes, I'm sitting in the president club at SEA RIGHT NOW come visit i'm bored). Trust, I don't rely on upgrades, but I am thankful for them. I must agree though co.com is a bit odd, but so is the EUA process... I think it's safe to say they are prolly playing pshyco logical warfare with us to see who really is goingt o remain loyal :p then once they get rid of all the "normals" who can't handle this insanity they'll just offer unlimited omestic upgrades to all elites all 100% of the time, no waiting, cause by then they'll have like 12 of us!

Just a totally random semi-pshycotic thought.

-Vincent