If it were strictly because of a close connection, the FAs should have moved the pax. up to BF at the end of the flight, not at the beginning. Most FAs on all airlines know and do that if the flight is running late and there are open seats in the forward cabin. Maybe as someone mentioned, these pax. were friends, etc., and the close connection thing was just an excuse...

Ok...help me here..you are complaining about something you were not entitiled to in the firstplace? As we all have witnessed, when the door shuts it becomes the flight crews world..Really all the company is worried about is that all the procedures put in place for Safety have happened...Believe me, the only time the FA's show people that policy about not upgrading is when they dont want to upgrade YOU. Now dont get me wrong, I believe the GA should do her job and follow the upgrade list before boarding and have seen them come on to the plane and pull elites up front..but..once the door closes..all bets are off.. I think this is something that is never going to change and we will just have to deal with it

If they moved Y pax to BF on HNL-IAH as you said, I would write a letter. I mean it didn't directly impact you, but still just giving away BF to anyone with a tight connection? That is absurd and CO should know about it. It isn't even like CO forced their connection, they could have given themselves a few hours in IAH at the time of booking had they so desired. Maybe instead of buying a H ticket to upgrade next summer, I will just book X with a tight connection on the other end and demand my 'tight connection battlefield upgrade' when boarding.

There is a chance you don't know the full story behind the FA's actions, but none the less, this needs to be looked into. Hawai'i is considered 'international' for the purpose of upgrades and seating, and if coach was not oversold, no one should have been op-upped, especially by the FA, and especially for such a lame excuse.

Please write to CO with details of the incident, but let them determine the resolution. No compensation is due, and how, if at all, they handle the FA is an internal matter.

FWIW, 35 minutes is a pretty standard connection time at IAH (my usual flights from EWR or LGA to AUS via IAH have a 35-40 minute connection, for instance), and Continental seems to only do it with flights in the same concourse and with relatively adjacent gates. Particularly if the HNL flight was on time, there wasn't any reason for the FA to be "concerned" that people wouldn't make their connections. There must invariably be plenty of people on that flight with similar connection times.

Btw is it really that hard to get upgraded to HNL? I haven't ever flown there on CO, but I had no problem snagging a miles upgrade on AA the two times I've been.

This is one of the hardest upgrades to get...and anything sub-H class requires a hefty fee in addition to miles. Most people find it much easier to book BF reward seats for 75,000 miles than cough up a handful of fewer miles, but upto 1,000 in fees and little hope of clearing

Had you tried to upgrade using certificates, miles or Dollars? If you didn't, then you have absolutely nothing to complain about. Employees (and their families) are allowed SPACE AVAILABLE Business Class travel. Obviously space was available.

The policy to have the EAU or GAs to do the upgrades is to separate the FAs from any controversies/arguments/annoyances arising from the upgrade process. All that should be directed at the EAU system or GAs if the FAs conform to policy.

Unfortunately, sometimes passengers get annoyed with FAs when they don't get upgraded and someone else (undeservedly or not) does, even though the FAs have nothing to do with it. In the case where FAs stray from policy, they open themselves up to annoying revenue passengers and maybe even fellow employees (e.g. - 2 open 1st class seats and 4 CO employees in coach) by their actions.

It's a good system and they should stick to it, especially when passengers are on board and can see/hear what's going on. In the best case after boarding has started, any upgrades should be handled by a gate agent boarding the aircraft and personally informing the lucky soul(s) of their upgrade(s).

Homey dont play that!!!

FAs are not to upgrade PERIOD!!!!!

Crap like this is really irritating. That "tight connection" crap sounds like someone trying to be creative so folks around did not get suspicious of the upgrade.

Granted...one poster did say that perhaps there is more to the story and the folks were entitled to the upgrade...so who knows...

But how do you know the worried couple were not elites just like you?

Irrespective, rules is rules. The FA has no right to upgrade anybody. If they want to move them forward at the END of the flight to preserve their connection (and I have seen this happen plenty of times), then I have no problem with it. But no reason to do it for the whole flight at the expense of who-knows-how-many-passengers who are paying for their service and much more entitled.

It's possible they were elites. FWIW, they were not seated anywhere near the elite seats. And it's statistically unlikely theses two tight-connection-worriers were also the very elites "most deserving" of an upgrade. That would be me and my friend, of course!

Haha. Did you contact CO about this? I'd be interested to see what (if anything) they say. Obviously if they handle it, the resolution will be internal. That being said, I think every CO elite should be mailed two vouchers for Hawaii as compensation for this travesty! /sarcasm

Yes, but only just now. I requested a response. I'll let you know what I get back from CO.

Amazing... I was on CO2 on 1/15 and it was the first time I've ever been in BF without it being full of non-revs. As a plat I had to pay the "service charge" plus miles to upgrade, but I don't mind that -- as long as EVERYBODY else in the cabin got there the same way. I would have been livid to see somebody move up front on that plane for fear of a missed connection -- especially considering that CO2 is usually serviced by the four-row BF 764 config which means that there is a coach section forward of door 2L.

On CO49 (IAH-OGG) earlier in the month I boarded the plane a little later than ususal (but still well within limits and with most of coach not on boarded). Out of twenty seats in BF I identified at least twelve as employees or other non-revs either by "CREW" tags on their bags or overheard conversations and greetings. When the FA eventually took time out from gossiping with one of her non-reving friends to hand me a menu I selected the steak. She informed me that the steaks were not available to which I replied "I guess I forgot how much non-revs love red meat." Shortly thereafter the lead FA informed me that a steak had become available. A meal choice isn't anything in the grand scheme - but at the same time as one of eight paying (either with a fare purchase or cash upgrade) BF passengers on the plane I'd expect to get some sort of priority in the ordering process. Mind you, as a US Chairman's Preferred I could have flown to OGG via PHX and been upgraded into F at no charge - albeit in a standard domestic F seat.

Lesson to CO: Treat your employees right, but not at the expense of your most loyal elites.