As has become quite common in my experience, this week I ran across another NW gate agent that still hasn't figured out the partnership rules with CO. All I asked her was if there was an upgrade available for the TPA-MEM segment that I was on. It seems like a question that she must have heard many times before from CO elites, but she looked at the ticket, and didn't know if "T" tickets are upgradeable. I assured her that they are, but she looked through her files, called some people, and eventually called CO and had a 5 minute conversation about something on the ticket. In the end I got the upgrade, but it just seems odd that some gate agents still don't know the most basic rules.

Most likely they don't know what the new rules coming down the pipe are. Last year they had absolutely no problem upgrading any fare. Didn't even bother to look at the fare basis. That is the basic rule they all know.

Something is afoot now with CO that brings fare basis into the picture and I suspect the NW agents aren't completely clear about it yet.

Someone posted in another thread that they never got upgraded by EUA, the agents couldn't manually upgrade but they went and got a NW agent to upgrade it. I can only assume CO has sent out some circulars to NW on what can and cannot be upgraded causing this confusion. Smoke continues to thicken.

For every NW agent who doesn't know the "CO rule of the day" regarding domestic travel, I can show you a CO agent who doesn't have a CLUE about NW int'l rules, upgrades, etc.... It's all a wash, IMO...

Hi y'all,

To give the agent an itty-btty credit...

A year or so ago I had a CO ticket that was on NW metal. The fare purchased was a "T" class fare which is CO's lowest bucket. The WorldClub agent knew I was eligible for an upgrade but had a hard time getting the computer to agree.

She knew what the problem was but didn't know how to fix it. CO's "T" fare is the equivalent of a "K" fare on NW. To NW, a "T" fare is a consolidator's ticket and thus not upgradable. She and another agent finally cancelled the CO booking and re-did it as NW "K". This also took some work to get the computer to do accept a fare over-ride since it was only an hour from departure but K fares are advance purchase.

Again, not to excuse this agent completely, but to show that his/her questioning the "T" fare issue wasn't totally "off the wall".

I think it's just a case of the agent not wanting to do it...I called NWA res yesterday and was manually upgraded by the agent since EUA hadn't already gone through

as has been noted ad nauseum on this website, if you don't like an answer, call back. if you don't like that answer, call back. if you don't like that answer, call back.

sense a pattern?