Difficulty of Continental Upgrades
 

I'm thinking about flying more Continental because of unlimited upgrades. I plan on doing a status match to Gold if possible. However, how difficult is it to get an upgrade, especially if you usually fly restricted economy? My experience with United upgrades has been poor, and was hoping Continental would be better. BTW, I usually fly out of IAD with trips often to Chicago and to the West Coast. Thanks!

If you are flying out of DCA don't expect any UG's to the hubs EWR/IAH/CLE beyond maybe as a plat...as for status match I am not sure..

I'm sure you've takent he time to read through here for other people's wooes with our EUAs (Elite Upgrade Automation). Basically Continental's offers space available upgrades to elites in the following order:


Platinum's
You start getting your free automatic upgrade at 5 days out and up until 3 hours prior to departue,
You will be upgraded in fare class order [H, K, N, B, O, V, U, Q, I, S, W, T, X and L]

Gold's
Assuming all Platinums have been upgraded; you start getting your free automatic upgrade at 3 days out and up until 3 hours prior to departue,
You will be upgraded in fare class order [H, K, N, B, O, V, U, Q, I, S, W, T, X and L]

Silver's
Assuming all Golds have been upgraded; you start getting your free automatic upgrade at 1 days out and up until 3 hours prior to departue,
You will be upgraded in fare class order [H, K, N, B, O, V, U, Q, I, S, W, T, X and L]


For day of departures, if you haven't gotten an advanced upgrade, it will still upgrade until about 15 minutes prior to departure in the same afore mention method

So... What status will you be comped on? As that will greatly affect you're chances of ugrades... Out of IAD there are mainly ExpressJets with no FC... but if you are going out to the West Coast, you should try and connect through CLE VS EWR or IAH, I've noticed I have an easier time of getting upgrades as a Platinum...

-Vincent

If you fly full y fares, I believe that you are upgraded at the time of purchase.

Only if you are an elite and only if there are seats in that fare class available...


-Vincent

If you buy a Full Y fare you upgraded into any available first class seat (in other words any fare bucket of first class)

One Pass carriers, starting with Eastern then Continental were my primary carriers for the past 24 years. For most of the years I was at the top elite level and was a Platinum in 2004. I was Gold in 2003 and Plat in 2001 & 2002 an even as a Gold in 2003 I did way better for upgrades than in 2004. The upgrade experience in 2004 was poor as a Platinum, so now I am searching for the most comfortable coach seat on the most convenient flights.

The whole industry is changing and I think we are going to see fewer upgrades on all airlines. Now I am targeting convenient flights and nonstops.

PS. Continental probably offers the highest quality service in the US.

Beware the RJs out of IAD....
 

You might fare poorly, even given a PLAT elite ranking if you fly out of IAD. CO flys quite a few RJs out of IAD, esp to CHI (via CLE). You'll be on RJs to EWR, and about half the IAD-IAH flights are on RJs (that's a long-a** flight to be sitting on one of those tiny planes).

You'll fare no better out of DCA, but at least your chances of getting on a 73x airliner are much better than out of IAD.

PS> I'm a Plat, and fly out of DCA and IAD, and sometime BWI, and my upgrade percentage sucks; its around 60%, and that's as a PLAT. If you're gold out of Washington, you'll be joining me in back on a CO flight.

My husband (sliver) and I (gold) used to get 80+% upgrades out of IAH. Since the new rule, our upgrade is about 25%.

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

Continental Airlines would like to extend a sincere apology to you because you only received the service for which paid for. :rolleyes:

Fair is fair -
 

I do not think the complaint is receving the service he payed for, I think the complaint is that CO did not hold up their end of the expitation bargin. All other facts aside, CO heralds their upgrades and when they fail to deliver the customer feels let down as their expitations were not met.

Well said. And now, Northwest is even promising their Plats an upgrade guarantee, if they dont get upgraded, then they get 1,000 miles every time this happens. Thus, as a top-level frequent flyer, regardless of the airline, one would expect to get upgraded. Sure, CO has a better first class in comparison to NW, but I have a feeling that many of us are going to start flying NW more often.

Looks like the same issues are starting to affect Northwest: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422652

Anything we can do to hasten the demise of Delta? It's these Simplifares that are killing everything...

Yes, Simplifares need to go the way of the Dodo, but don't you think the demise of Delta would make things worse?

why would DL's death be bad?

CO could get their hands on 8 shiny 777 and a bunch of 764/763, south american route authorities, and ATH, BCN.

Casino alse herald their prizes and fail to deliver 99.9999999% of the time. Lots of let down customers on LAS departing flights.

One shouldn't make expectations for ANYTHING THEY MIGHT GET FOR FREE.

I only expect to fly in biz when I pay for it.

While that statement is logical from a technical sense, it's against human nature. One's expectation is set based on marketing and past performance. Marketing issues aside, if a Plat is upgraded 95% of the time one year, then all of a sudden that drops to 60%, there is obviously going to be dissatisfaction. It's just human nature.

Yet another grocery store analogy, but if your local store had a special on a dozen eggs at buy one get one free, and they ran that special one week a month, you may not always expect to get it. But, if they ran that every week for a year, while you took advantage of it, then they suddenly pulled it, it's only human nature to be disappointed, as you're now getting less for the same money.

At some point continued performance sets the expectation, and any changes in that level of performance will impact customer expectations.

Good for you.

I do agree the Stupidfares are killing alot of the inventory we used to be able to have access to, and is reducing the R inventory... but it doesnt seem too bad on NWA... I got all my UG's last week... Friday flights out to the west coast out of DCA and got them at the 5 day window... Russ did mention that MSP-DCA, LGA, ORD, DTW have some of the highest Elite loads, so unless you are a Plat, don't count on it for those pairs.

The upgrade problems are starting to trickle down to CLE. I've flown CLE-LAX about once a month for four years as a Platinum. I always got an upgrade. Since the changes, I've flown twice on that route and didn't get an upgrade either time.

On the one hand, I understand that Continental needs the revenue and I should be happy they can fill the seats that way. On the other hand, part of my loyalty to Continental has been the knowledge that, for the most part, I would get upgraded and past indicators were that it would be no less than 3 - 5 days out. That end of the bargain is falling apart.

Continental offers Complimentary FirstClass upgrades for elites.... Continental themselves has said they expect Platinums to have a certain level of them... Whats wrong with looking forward to an upgrades once and while if you are flyong 75K plus a year... Sure some routes are harder then others, but Continental has even told us they have certain expectation for out upgrade %.

-Vincent

[in my 4pts sheraton hotel room on a bump -thanks continental]

I think the issue is what is best for CO in the long term.

You sell your FC seats at K class prices, and everyone else in coach is at T class (competing with LCC). FF's stop getting upgraded when they travel on a mix of fares, and last minute Y and H FF's can't get an upgrade because all the seats were sold at K prices.

The net is that the FF's will move to other carriers if they offer obtainable FF upgrades. Then CO becomes an effective LCC, with a few FC seats (12 on a 753), that sell at K prices. Somehow - I just do not see the benefit of simplified fares.

CO said they lost $200M due to the simplified fare structure. Was that due to the reduced FC fares, or due to the lost of FF's who have moved over the NW. CO does sell through cheaptickets.com and other discount outlets. One of the reasons CO's international flights are always crowded is because of the third party discount outlets.

Channa identified the solution: Jack up Z fares $100 more than a K fare or H fare, so in that 6-7 day window, Z does not show up as the lowest fare. Folks are requesting coach, but getting Z when they did not expect it. If Z is $100 more, than if you request Z you will get it, it you selected coach, then you will get a K or H fare - still coach fares that are not Y.

Note that not all LCC are coach only. AirTran and Spirit both have a FC cabin (call BC).

The 763 and even 764s show some serious age and despite that commanlity of the 767s I doubt they want DLs 763 -not to even mention they cockpits could be different as can often be the case among same line aircraft (e.g. AA/TWA 757s). The 777s at DL are all leased too I think, so wouldn't they just be returned to the leaser? Then released to who ever offers the most money?

The problem with buying authority through bankrupcy is that when you buy an authority you often will buy the historical resphonsibilities that go along with them, esp. in Europe. ATH I think would be one of them. e.g. AA bought assets of TWA, but did not use the TLV authority because if they activated it or landed a plane there, they would have to pay the former TWA people there nearly insane amounts in pension... Much could be the same case with Delta - as they got many routes across the pond from PanAm...


Continental knows about it and is still trying to figure out what to do, lets give them a chance to make this all right... In the mean time I don't mind the lower First Class fares... :D

-Vincent

[in my 4pts by sheraton hotel room - on a bump Thanks Continental]

It all depends on the time of the flight, day, and equip chosen out of DCA. Also Fare Class comes in to play on occassion, but I have EUA'd this year on every flight to IAH at the five day window and one time at the 3 day, mostly on V and L fares. I have never missed DCA-EWR at any elite level and am 8/8 EWR-DCA this year (a lot of L fares). Those usually clear day before departure through EUA. BWI is known to be a tad easier for upgrades, IAD runs mostly ERJ.

WASJETBOY

I too have taken this route (and SFO) frequently over the past several years and have struggled for upgrades as a Plat and Gold. Beyond the fact that first is being purchased more due to stupidfares, these flights are also full of biz travelers connecting to/from Asia and Australia. Combining these two facts makes a heck of a lot less seats available for upgrade, even with the 738. At least LAX has several daily frequencies to choose, unlike SFO.

Here we go again. The best thing that these airlines have done is to reduce the cost of F so that they sell seats instead of giving them away. Buy the transcon seat. $1100.00 RT, come on, pay the money and enjoy the ride. And this is coming from a Plat who has benefited from X and T class upgrades. Those days are over, but realistic F class is here. Take advantage of it...

Have you looked at AA? AA serves IAD-LAX n/s, as well as IAD-ORD (albeit with ERJs). From IAD, AA also flies to DFW, MIA, STL, and SJU.

Still comes back to the point, we are entitled to experiencing the benefits we are promised once and a while... a Plat with no UG at all this year is just appalling.. blaming it on the facts "it's a transcon and they are always full" is no excuse...

-Cinetn

You aren't entitled to anything. :mad:




Sometimes I wish they would completely do away with frequent flier programs so I wouldn't have to sit next to any of whiners on my flight. Good grief. :td:

I hope we are never on the same flight...

-Vincent

Understand about flight time, day, and equip impacting u/g percentages.

What I am truly baffled by is your reported success upgrading (and EUAing, at that!!!!) out of DCA. (I'm NOT suggesting you are lying about your percentages; I'm just baffled because I am Plat, you are Plat, and our experiences are VERY different.)

Do you mind detailing your flight day/times, particularly for IAH. I occasionally score an u/g to IAH, but I honestly cannot remember an EUA coming through on that route in at LEAST a year. It seems to always be BF upgrades to IAH (not BusFirst, but "battlefield").

And on your 8/8 EWR-DCA: does that include DCA-->EWR, or only the reverse, EWR-->DCA? I am shocked by that one too, though I don't care so much about DCA-EWR. The flight is only 35 mins long, you can't get out of your seat for any reason (due to DCA restrictions), and its only a problem if I've got a tight connection in EWR or if we're running late to EWR and I've got a connection.

The reason I ask is this: if your flight times and mine look fairly different, I wanna know your secrets. If they don't, I wanna talk to CO and find out what is going on. We're both Plats; I've been a Plat since 2001, and Elite since 99. I wanna know if there's something else afoot here in the Elite upgrade game going on. (No, its not a conspiracy theory -- unless WASJETBOY's itins and mine are rather similar.)

If you do decide to share your info, Thank You in advance, WAS.

CALfly5

Fine by me. You keep thinking your entitled to upgrades, I'll pay for mine, and more often than not I won't have see you. ^

It's not realistic when F is cheaper than coach. It's stupid.

Again good for you.

Why do you post? You pay for f and you want them to do away with ff programs.

Sounds like this board would be of no interest to you. Why not try posting at www.ipayforfirst.com?

edited by moderator

Actually, I fly in Y most of the time. However, my head and my ego are not so big as to think that because I fly 30-40 times a year, I am entitled to anything but a Y seat.



Maybe its because in my earlier life I was a gate agent and there was nothing more than I loved to do than informing some card waving arguing a$$hole that there was no upgrades for him.

Treat the gate agents and all the employees with respect, even when your sitting in 37E and everyone will be alot nicer to you. ^

I'm glad you can draw conclusions. ^

Why would you assume the people on this board are like this. The posters at flyertalk nare in my experience the exact opposite.

Also for many of us 30-40 flights does is not so impressive.

I didn't assume anything about anyone... I was merely commenting on this following post.

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



As for not being impressed with my number of flights... that's ok. I'm not impressed when people fly on someone else's dime.