Upgrade Waitlist Processing
 

I ALWAYS put myself on waitlists for upgrades as the flights I want are NEVER available for milage upgrades. I normally ask about the upgrade process at the end and I have been told DOZENS of different things, from the fact that your upgrade could clear right up until the flight to the fact that it drops off 3 days prior to the flight and all in between. Needless to say, I NEVER get an upgrade when I am on the waitlist if it hasn't cleared before the platinum upgrades start to hit. PERIOD. So I ALWAY ask them to take me off of the list and refund my miles and they NEVER charge me.

How can it be that TODAY, in this COMPUTER AGE, a HIGH TECH(or low tech) company that flys big planes and has web based ticketing systems, etc. CAN'T TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE ON THE WAIT LIST?????!!!!!!

Anyone else ever have fun w/this?

I've often wished that Continental would follow in the footsteps of Delta and provide a screen at the gate in Atlanta that display the upgrade list order, so that the process is completely transparent. Probably not going to happen anytime soon, would involve costly upgrades to gates at CO hubs and money could be spent on higher priority items. But if I were King....

I have one data point:

I decided once last spring to use miles for a 752 transcon upgrade ("BF seating"). I was told the "R" inventory became available a month in advance, I was put on the waitlist, and I cleared a month out.

One should view this sort of thing as if all of one's retirements savings are locked up in CO stock. It sometimes makes sense financially for them to give the upgrade, and it sometimes doesn't. Spend enough time watching fares and seat maps, and CO's behavior looks quite reasonable.

I fly CO because they give me the best fares, when I factor in $0.012 as the value of the miles I earn, a value I can consistently extract. Everything else is gravy.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this point. Perhaps I can clarify.

There is a difference between the "Wait" list for reward upgrades and the "Standby" list for Elite upgrades. If you have not cleared the "Waitlist" by the day before travel you will NOT clear it at all. As you know standard mileage reward seats are capacity controled inventory and can be difficult to get. These rewards even when you take the mileage out are not technically eligble for "Standby" upgrade....either you clear pre day of departure or redeposit the miles.

Day of departure is where the "Standby" list comes into play. The "Standby" list is ordered by Elite status with the exception that a full PAID fare FC passenger going to the top of the list. The "standby" list is where the "Battlefield" upgrades cvome from. When you buy the upgrade with miles on top of a low fare think of it as using a certificate that is only vailid if a certain fare is available. The "coupons" are NOT eligible for getting on the "Standby" list.

It is not a "can't tell"....it is a "won't tell".

Re: wiatlists for mileage upgrades, as you know they require R class if upgrading a revenue fare or E/F class if you are listing for an award.

R class is a fluid situation so watch it closely. If you snooze, you (may) loose. Do not wait for the computer.....Keep checking.





How can it be that TODAY, in this COMPUTER AGE, a HIGH TECH(or low tech) company that flys big planes and has web based ticketing systems, etc. CAN'T TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE ON THE WAIT LIST?????!!!!!!

Anyone else ever have fun w/this?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CUSTOMDIRECT]

R class is a fluid situation so watch it closely. If you snooze, you (may) loose. Do not wait for the computer.....Keep checking. [QUOTE]

What's the best way to keep checking?

Anyone else ever have fun w/this?[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't exactly call it fun, but my experience has been similar: if it doesn't clear by the plat window then forget it. All you really can do is keep calling to check the status and hope to see the little red message informing you that you can call and confirm the upgrade when it clears.

My recent experience suggests that this is no longer true.

I waitlisted an upgrade sea-ewr in Jan. I'm silver. The flight was full - sold out Y and F. The waitlist didn't clear by the previously talked about 24 hour mark. When I checked in at SEA (OLCI doesn't work when there is a waitlisted segment) I was told that the mileage upgrade put me at the top of the upgrade list - but as F checked in full it didn't matter. Got a BF upgrade. Checking online at home the next day, it appeared that the waitlisted segment was flown and the previous Y segment was cancelled.

So, I'd have to say that mileage upgrades now seem to take have a higher priority then "free" elite upgrades using "R" inventory.

Sorry to drag up this topic again, but I have a question relating to mileage upgrades. I waitlisted about three weeks ago for a flight I'm taking next Tuesday.
At first, a "new" segment appeared in the reservation saying that the flight is waitlisted. Yesterday this message dissappeared to be replaced with "You are arriving XXX and departing XXX" in red at the bottom of the reservation.
I am now able to assign a seat in First Class, although I also have a seat assigned in coach. So have I cleared the upgrade?
Sorry if the question seems obvious, but I am a new elite, and unused to Continentals systems...
Thanks for any advice you can give...

Your reservation is probably out of sync. Sounds like you did clear to First Class, I would just call CO and have them clean up the record -- this could prevent you from being able to check in online.

You were quite correct- thank you for the speedy response.
The agent had no idea why the reservation had not confirmed, but told me I was indeed in First Class. Made my Friday go a little better. :)
As for the online check-in...well, our friends at the TSA already stop me from doing that...