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 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 How bad is that? -reminds me I'm running low...

-Vincent