If the upgrades were simply presented as a windfall perk, I would agree with those who say quit whining.

But they haven't been. Huge billboards and newspaper and bus shelter ads have been plastered up everywhere trumpeting to the world that you can get "Free Unlimited Elite Upgrades" on CO. I thought this was misleading even in the days when Elites did fare pretty well on domestic upgrades -- because it masked the fact that even Elites would have the devil of a time getting an international upgrade for love, money, or miles -- let alone free. (Yes, perhaps it is unreasonable for anyone to expect that they'd be upgraded internationally for free -- but I could find a number of posts on here where seemingly-reasonable people interpreted CO's ad campaign as promising just that -- and how much harder would it have been for them to say "Unlimited Elite Domestic Upgrades?").

Now that the UGs are in practice limited, in some cases severely, by:

(1) decreased FC capacity;
(2) Simplifares;
(3) Elite inflation;
(4) The linking of class-of-service, so now it is no longer just your Elite status that's required to get you the UG,

I do think it is inappropriate for CO not just to keep those billboards up, but to roll out new UG-themed campaigns ("Pardon My Back" just came out recently, so it's clear CO still exploits "unlimited free UGs" as a big selling point and strong differentiator from their competitors, when their FFP product as delivered is growing to be closer than they would admit to that of said competitors).

As I've pointed out before, the inclusion of fine print that explains why "unlimited upgrades" aren't really so unlimited, and purports to absolve the company, is not necessarily a defense even to a false advertising allegation (if the campaign as a whole would tend to mislead or deceive reasonable customers as to the nature of the product being offered, notwithstanding the fine print). Putting aside the possible legal ramifications, I think it is fair to say that the insistent advertising about "unlimited free UGs" is not terribly admirable or ethical when CO knows that UGs will in practice be rare for many, many of their Elites. I'd have no problem if they scaled back their promotions to match what they can deliver (basically, "As An Elite, You'll Be Eligible For Periodic To Occasional Domestic Upgrades, Space And Fare Basis Permitting!").

AA doesn't make any sweeping promises about upgrades, and while I may have gripes about them on other service grounds, I don't feel slighted or deceived on their UG/FF policy in general.

No Automatic Upgrade
 

4 Days out. 7 Empty FC seats. No Upgrade. Called CO and was told the seats have not been released. :confused:

I agree with 111.4%. But said advertising practices are not limited to Continental. As I mentioned, casinos do it all the time along with tons of other industries. It isn't in any way illegal and the overwhelming majority of flyertalkers know that (along with every other policy rule).

I just get annoyed when someone who flies nothing but $300 cheap Y transcons thinks that they are entitled to anything other than a Y seat. It's petty.

I buy about 50% of my first class seats. I know I'm not entitled to an upgrade, but if they are going to offer me one I am certainly going to take it.

Get off your high horse , it doesn't speak very well of you and your persona. You don't seem to get it, they offer us upgrades. Did I ask for them? NO Continental offers them to me in exchange for my loyalty...

-Vincent

The only one who rides around in a horse here is yourself. I responded to someone else's comment... you felt the need to chime in with your excellent name-calling skills.

Casinos have published odds. Continental does not. Big difference.

Kind of hard to publish odd for something whose odd change by year, route, date, time, current events, etc., etc.

I think its real simple...

If you want upgrades go to NWA and if you want a quality product stick with CO. As a CO Silver I have pretty much written off getting upgraded this year, but I'm ok with it cause I have been getting great service in the air.

My cats breath smells like catfood

If I had to fly transcons for business and never got upgraded, I would find an airline that provided a better coach experience (read wider seats with better pitch) than CO, that's for sure. Without the upgrades, CO is at best average (I'm a big guy).

As for DCA-IAH, and EWR-DCA - 73Gs, 733s are key. I take tons of weekend flights. Early morning departures. If you can be choosy about all this, then it helps. If you need to be somewhere then it is a different story. Have only done DCA-EWR one time on mainline, a couple times on RJ, purely because of the lack of FC on what used to be a pretty easy EUA route on Sundays and Mondays.

WASJETBOY

I don't seem to understand why you keep posting, you are obviously against FFP and would prefer the loyalty we show not be rewarded... We got the point, you don't like FFPs etc. etc.

-Vincent

I had the same experience, DCA-EWR...so far batting 100% (touching wood) on U/G as a Plat, about 2-3x a month on L/S/Q fares - but this is all weekend flying, usually Sunday afternoons, and with an upcoming flight on the newly disfigured 735, my streak is probably going to come to a grinding halt.

My only U/G DCA-IAH was courtesy of a re-route via IAH that was booked into Y class, and I snagged the last seat on a 735....so I avoid that route.

Exactly. So how does one manage expectations in an environment where delivery is unpredictable?

Continued marketing hype about "free, unlimited upgrades" that are not consistently being delivered to top tier elites doesn't help customer satisfaction. Even CO senior management has indicated their internal target percentage for upgrades, and many here have reported falling short of that by a significant margin.

I don't understand why you keep replying either.

I'm not against FFP. I am against FFP whores.

So now we are 'whores' for having some reasonable expectation of receiving the benefits which are published and marketed to us? How about the hundreds of people who flew to Houston on their own dime to meet with CO management - people who are genuinely interested in helping make CO a better airline, but who describe legitimate concerns about the delivery of the published benefits.

Whats a FFP whore, and are they available for purchase on the OnePass auctions?

Only if you are a resident of Nevada, excluding Clark County. ^

I have no problem with voicing legitimate concerns in an appropriate manner. Throwing a fit at the check in counter because your $200 transcontinental fare didn't get upgrade makes you a FFP whore. As I said, in an earlier life I worked behind that counter and I saw plenty of FFP whores.

Do you know how many times I heard "I will never fly this <explitive> <explitive> airline <explitive> again?" Only to see the same people next week?

I had one particular genetleman through his frequent flier card at my face when I advised him that we wasn't going to be able to make his flight, threaten me, curse at me, and final be arrested only to see him again 2 weeks later asking me where he could get a replacement card.

So a customer had a fit, are those the ones you see here on this board? Most people on this board have some sort of status with the airlines, know the rules well, and have a reasonable amount of business sense, common sense, and courtesy. I don't think many here are throwing fits at the checkin counter. I certainly inquire about the status of my upgrades, but when I don't get it, I take it like a man, and board with coach.

Just like there are some bad apples in every employee group, there will be some bad apples in every set of customers. If you're going to post on this board with the attitude that people here are tyrants and disrespectful to airline staff, I think you got the wrong crowd. Many here go out of their way to write glowing letters about staff who do their jobs well. Similarly, as bocastephen pointed out, many here go out of their way -- time and expense wise -- to provide feedback to the airline.

I was referring to the poster who decided Continental sucked because he couldn't get any freebees. Everyone else felt the need to chime... maybe the shoe fits.

Your statement proves the problem. If others feel the same way about not receiving perks, why is that? Does everybody have some sort of fabricated, unrealistic expectation? If so, who set those expectations? The folks at Continental marketing with their blue banners and billboards!

You don't hear NW flyers complaining as much about upgrades. NW doesn't advertise them as heavily, yet they deliver them more consistently.

You don't hear UA flyers complaining about upgrades, though UA flyers tend to get upgraded even less. But they have EconomyPlus to fall back on...

I've said this time and time again, what we have here with CO is a simple case of setting expectations above what the company can deliver.

I think the number of Elites who throw a verbal fit at the counter over a non-upgrade is minimal, and I am sure almost no one from FT would do that - unless, of course, the gate agent violated policy by ignoring the standby list, upgrading their friend or coworker instead of an Elite, or deliberately denying an upgrade because someone bothered them with a question.

So the same knife cuts both ways...there are bad passengers and there are bad agents.

I don't read anywhere the poster said CO sucked
 

I think what he implied was that the upgrade % out of SFO sucked. Re-read his original post:

I gave up Continental (with whom I was platinum) because I _never_ got an upgrade out of SFO on transcon flights.


I happen to agree with this poster. I have such difficulty getting upgrades out of SFO that I simply refuse to fly CO transcons now. I don't think CO sucks and I have no venom for the happy people who pay for it. I gave it a whirl buying out of better fare buckets but the transcons are pretty brutal. However, there are other products out there. That still doesn't make CO suck. It may make competitors more attractive that's all.


CO coach on a transcon is a tight fit. I think the overwhelming sentiment here is that if you're gonna sit in coach anyway, there's a pile of options. You shouldn't be so full of venom about it

Yes, it is the combination of (1) the expectations that CO did or didn't create and benefit by (and "Free Unlimited Upgrades" set the bar pretty high, and left room for legitimate misunderstanding or disappointment when the fine print came into play only after CO had benefited from their successful marketing campaign); and (2) how the customers and employees, respectively, handle the inevitable disconnects that occur between expectations and reality on the ground.

I've been irked a number of time by UG issues or the like. I don't know that I've voiced it more than once or twice, and then only politely. I have certainly run into many gate agents or service counter people who have been completely dismissive of my even inquiring about an UG as a plat or about a non-middle seat for my Y-fare (remember the no middle seat guarantee?). I am just recently dropped down to silver and don't even bother asking about UGs on my H fare travel -- I can't imagine how these GAs (not all of them) would react to a silver travelling on an APEX fare. But then, the forty foot tall billboards never said "Silvers on APEX fares get what they pay for, i.e., few if any UGs."). No one expects UGs on Southwest, because SW never created such expectation. I'm sure it gets old being a GA in SFO and dealing with irritated Y fare plats querying if there are any UGs. But let's remind ourselves that there are worse positions for an airline to be in than being oversold with frequent business travelers. I'd break the tie by saying the GA is getting paid to perform a CS job, the customer isn't.

I've started carrying cutomer comment cards -I fill them out on site and give them to the employees :D How bad is that? -reminds me I'm running low...

-Vincent