Can anyone explain the logic (from CO's point of view) about the 72 hour rule against BF upgrades? Why shouldn't they want to take your money and have you burn some miles if they have available seats at the last minute? even at flight time?

And if they still have available seats, why shouldn;t they offer them for miles only, just to get rid of them?

I can think of two reasons: preserving the integrity/value of the cabin and keeping seats open for non-rev employee travel.

If CO were to regularly upgrade passengers with miles into the cabin, even within the 72 hour window, consumers may not buy the seats ...and just depend on the upgrades. By doing so, the BF cabin is filled mainly with people who paid for the privledge ...and can be serviced as such.

The 72 hour window also provides a clear view of available inventory for non-rev traffic. Free/reduced travel is a perk of airline employees they deserve...so I have no gripes about that.

I just wish the Platinum pool were a little more elite ...and wish that CO would recognize the elite of the elites a little better with more flexibility --like the waiver of the 72 hour rule.

I thought the 72 hour rule was gone???

1. I can agree with you on the Non-Rev seats. But they also could be subject to a 72 hour or 24 hour rule. ie. thar the employee needs to out in for them prior to 24 hours before flight time or they go in the pot with everyone else.

2. Re: the value of the product. I would guess that a lot of the seats are already taken by reward or upgrade travelers, so why does upgrading a few more diminish the product? And if last minute upgrades were done on the basis of elite level and time on the waiting list, very few upgrades would go to last minute travelers trying to game the system --- most would go to travelers who had booked economy seats well in advance for a planned trip, who would be very unlikely to spring for a BF seat if they couldn't obtain an upgrade. In fact you would think that the nearer takeoff time it got, the more it would be to CO's benefit to lower their reqm't --- less miles, less dollars, lower elite status. That's effectively what they do already with domestic FC.

Have you ever seen a scalper at an event stuck with tickets they can't get rid of? The price drops pretty quickly as game time approaches.

I'm not Plat, but I agree with Weatherboy.

Well, that's great, but employees riding in the premium cabins should not come before paying passengers wanting to upgrade using the miles or other forms of "upgrade currency" (i.e. non-complimentary upgrades).

If CO wants to make sure its employees ride up front even though elites w/miles to burn are in the back, that's their business. But it's my business to make sure I'm never one of those elites.

Sorry, CO. No $piff for you.

I thought one justification for the 72 hour rule was that without the rule, some onepass member would make a BF reservation and then cancel it at the last minute, in order to make the seat available for upgrade. I never thought this justification made sense, but it's what I had heard.

Yes, I don't like this rule either, but would like to add a couple of thoughts:
1. I don't want to spend cash and miles to UG.
2. Miles are money, they are not free. We paid for them.

$400 upgrade fees plus miles is a bigger problem. It may reduce the revenue that CO will get from me next year to $0.

I fly mostly internationally and frankly do not get more in the way of benefits than a silver. Even Delta gives top level flyers some free system wide upgrades.

Now with AA giving domestic upgrades plus free upgrades with VPs or miles, I may just have to move.

What rational choice do I have?

None-- you will be much, much better off at AA (as a specifically "mostly international" traveler.) AA will be a much, much better choice for you-- unless you particularly enjoy flying in cramped coach. Do you, by some chance?

If, in fact, you can reach AA top-level (100,000 flown miles in any class, on any fare-- less on other types of tix) you will get unlimited, free, domestic, space-available upgrades. And international upgrades on virtually any fare for miles alone-- plus a first year "bounty" of 16 o/w SWU's.

And AA will try it's darndest to get you your international upgrade right up until the time the cabin door closes-- none of this 72-hour nonsense-- what a total crock of **** that is. As an AA EXP you will be traveling in business class internationally most of the time that you want to.

Welcome to AAdvantage, in AAdvance.

[This message has been edited by JonNYC (edited Mar 08, 2004).]

I remember back in March of '99 when I just obtained elite status for the first time--silver--and really had no idea of how it worked. I remember checking in at hopkins for my cle-ewr-lgw flight and asking the agent if perhaps an upgrade "was available".

"sorry sir, cle-ewr is booked full in F, but I've got you upgraded in the ewr-lgw leg" !

Imagine my surprise.

Do the initial 16 ow SWU's have an expiration date? I have almost no AA miles right now so they would be important.

How do AA and its partners, in particular, BA and Cathay, treat carry-on baggage? CO (with the major exception of VS code shares) has always been carry-on friendly and that is important to me.

Also, how does the Exec Platinum Challenge work?

I do not want to leave CO, but these upgrade fees (and sometimes paying for it and not getting it) is just absurd.

AA doesn't have an Exec Platinum Challenge. They only have gold and plat challenges. (Now I suppose if one was a really high roller who always flew full fare F they might entertain some kind of deal...but who knows.) go to http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/ for more info on the AA challenges

Per CO's Rev Man, one of the driving forces for the hated 72hr rules was the lost revenue from false "john doe" bookings in J, made by folks looking to insure upgrades would clear at the gate. They tried a few others ideas first, such as a group of people who called out and reconfirmed all BF res, but I guess this still wasn't enough. Given that CO has only a J and no P cabin, the BF seats ended up with a wall around them.

Regarding employees, there was a much smaller problem there too, but a much simpler solution, they would permit them to fly a portion of their trip, and then bust them enroute, fire them, and leave them find there own way home. So no, the 72hr rules has nothing to do with the non rev, and everything to do with greed. No you can read that as CO's or the OP members, but I think it is both.

But shouldn't the 72 hr rule be moot since reservations are only held for 24 hrs before being cancelled? And why is this problem unique to CO? I remember several years ago seeing verbage in TW's FF program stating that they would cancel membership of anyone discovered to be gaming the system by making such fake reservations.

It seems like these policies are governed more by paranoia than sense. It's like the PC requiring ID along with your card for fear that some kid tries to use his Dad's card during a trip. Yeah, maybe they are stopping a few cheaters, but it's not like this was ever a big problem in the first place. If this really were a problem, then they would need to extend the policy to all domestic flights as well.