Not True - Was Op Upped Yesterday LGW-EWR
 

I was scheduled on Flight 29 and had on-line checked in to seat 27 D. I went straight to the PC, where I thought I’d formally checked in to the flight (more on this in a moment), and asked if my row still had an empty middle seat. The very nice agent there told me that the row was now full and that the plane itself seemed almost full. She advised checking with her again later to see if there was an empty middle seat row she could move me to. It never happened.

I went to the gate when boarding was announced for Elites, and went to 27 D. A little while later, a gent came along who also claimed the seat and had a regular boarding pass as opposed to my on-line printer version. We signalled for an FA, who asked if I had a regular boarding pass. I told her I didn’t, and she took both our passes to check out front. Some time later, she came back and told me that I’d missed formally checking in for the flight at the airport or I would’ve gotten my new boarding pass for 9E in BF. I grabbed my bags and moved on up.

I’d say there were 2 other people who’d been moved into the rear section of BF on my flight because the concierge, when she came around to check if BF passengers needed anything on arrival in EWR, she didn’t have my name on her printout, nor the names of 2 others.

So, op ups do happen on oversold flights. I don’t know if they asked for volunteers at the gate because I was in the PC before boarding began.

Which leads me to, I thought when I checked into the PC that I was also formally checking into the flight. Apparently not. I was only checking into the PC. Next time I’ve checked in online, I will formally ask them to check me into the flight. The PC folks probably thought I’d checked in before getting to them, and I thought they did that when I gave them my info.

Before leaving the PC, after checking again on any available rows with empty middle seats, I asked one of the ladies at the desk about this rumor of no op ups on oversold international flights. She told me that it had never stopped at LGW, but only when oversold, then based on status, then revenue. I was on a cheapo ticket, but still was moved up.

Airlines have been doing op-ups for decades, and the cost of not doing them (rebookings, accomodations, disrupting passengers, etc.) simply outweigh any potential benefits (saving $5. on booze, the hokey "preserving the integrity of the BF cabin" yarn).

Thanks for the update, From NYC. Good to know CO is still doing this. As for not giving op-ups when they can convince folks to VDB...if it saves CO more dosh than putting a freeloading plat up front where he can gorge on free port, bombay sapphire and cote du rhone (of which I've been guilty)...more power to 'em. Shame AF is bringing another flight to IAH...I was able to nab an op-up on the IAH-CDG flight last summer (old Bus. Class, not NEV). Doubt that'll happen as much with two flights per day.

I heard "no op-ups ever" from a GA in EWR. I went EWR-AMS and the flight was pack-ack-diddly-acked. I asked the GA if the flight was overbooked and it was, but I joked and 'volunteered' to be bumped to BF if needed. "Oh, we NEVER do that. What if the person next to you who paid $5,000 for the ticket found out?" "umm... sucks to be them I guess." I wanted to ask whether they'd IDB someone and deal with the expense and hostility rather than op-up an elite, but something told me not to press it. it was the usual crushed-into-the-aisle-by-two-huge-Dutch-dudes trip.

but I got an op-up today AMS-EWR which was definitely overbooked as they were asking for volunteers at check-in. so I guess 'we NEVER do that' means 'but sometimes we do.' I'm only a silver, and a NW one at that, so I guess my shiny karmic goodness paid off today :D

there is no way in hell that a flight will leave with empyty seats (J or Y) when paid passengers are watching the AC taxi away. OP UPS happen every day.

my little brother is nothing but a high mileagle holding OP member (no status). in a recent overbook sitch, he and his entire party (4 students traveling to MAD for school) were op up'd to accommodate Y passengers with no seats.

there is no way in hell CO is going to let a plane leave with open seats and leave paid passengers sitting in the terminal b/c they dont want to op/up someone.

this is pure rumor, no matter who it came from. plane and simple.

As the one who had originally been convinced that OpUps were NO MORE, I now stand (happily) corrected :cool: . Earlier this month on a friday evening EWR-DUB flight my name was called just as I was handing my 10C boarding pass to the gate agent. My original BP was torn up and I was asked whether I wanted 'window or aisle' (showing clearly there were a numbr of BF seats available). After settling into my 4B seat, one of the FA's approached me to thank me for being one of their 'best customers'.

Exactly. They may wait til the last minute to do it, to ensure there aren't no-shows or whatever, but it would be asinine to pay compensation to leave people behind when open seats exist.

Not to mention a violation of the company's fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. Unless of course you believe the "sanctity of the BF cabin" argument over the long term. :rolleyes:

But what they really should do instead of op-ups, is, perhaps starting with elites, ask if anyone would like a mileage-deduct upgrade (no copay), or maybe even better, just start offering paid upgrades (say $200 to Europe?) so at least they can get something out of it, either cash or reduced award liability. They could do something similar to AA where these types of upgrades are only offered at kiosk check-in (in AA's case only when it's clear that there will be empty domestic F seats, but in COs case when it's also clear that Y is oversold, but that may be more difficult to discern 2 hours before flight time). Obviously you don't want the folks who actually paid BF fares or paid miles+copay to know that CO is selling the upgrades for reduced rates. Maybe execution would be overly-complicated, but there has to be some good ideas in there, better than giving away op-ups.

It seems ludicrous that the collective IQ of CO would be so low as pay passengers to stay in Europe overnight instead of upgrading until everyone is accomodated. But maybe they get tired of the complaints about the beef tips by those being upgraded.

UA also does what you suggest, somewhat - they offer international upgrades at the kiosk at check-in for prices that vary based on distance, such as LHR-IAD for $550 Y to C. I don't think this would work as well for CO because CO has less J capacity, and J is usually packed anyway. Also, I think the administrative difficulties of offering mileage upgrades with no fees at the gate would outweigh the mileage revenue that otherwise would offset the cost of an op-up. Everyone would hold back on using mileage upgrades until day of travel; there would be dozens of pax asking GAs and ticket counter personnel about the availability of mileage and/or revups; and in an oversold Y situation, GAs would have to take the time to solicit elites to cough up miles, process the transaction, etc., whereas now they can just op-up two or three people and hand them new boarding passes at the podium. Op-ups are just a cost of doing business, and savvy revenue management is the best tool airlines have to keep op-up cost to a minimum.

I know I sure as heck would cough up miles at the gate to upgrade to J for no additional fee if I were in Y on an int'l segment, however.

I recall back in the late 90's, the company I worked with flew a lot of people BF from EWR to MAN in the UK. On summer flights in particular, CO was always upgrading people in coach to BF. It caused resentment among people in the company: they didn't talk about BF and the service, they griped about tourists on $500 tickets getting into BF. Surprisingly, even people flying internationally for the company for the first time whined about it. I am sure that they exaggerated, but I remember one guy claiming that CO had given upgrades to 14 or 15 people. I can attest that, among some, the free upgrades creates resentment.

I did sit beside a lady once who had been upgraded. She was flying on a heavily discounted ticket. She used to be a flight attendant in the UK, but CO didn't know that. We got chatting. She told me that she was called over and asked not to tell anyone that she was a coach customer getting a free upgrade--that part of the plan didn't work. :) I frankly was happy for her good luck.

That's ME!!!!!
 

I proudly resemble that description. :D

Let's say that CO was oversold in Y and forced to upgrade people into BF. Would any of the FF's here accept such an upgrade if it meant getting no miles or EQM's for the flight? If the carrier has to upgrade people from coach, I too often wonder why CO doesn't give priority to its OP members.

When CO bumps due to an oversell, the pax bumped into a higher class of service still get miles and EQM's for the ORIGINAL class of service booked. To do otherwise would be nonsensical. The passenger has paid for a ticket and flown the flight. When CO bumps a passenger into BF, it's generally based on status (but not always...there don't seem to be rules that are as hard and fast for an op-up as there are for EUA's). To deny a passenger mileage/EQM's he or she should rightly earn for purchasing a ticket and taking a flight simply because CO needed to free up some Y-cabin space to avoid paying IDB costs would be ridiculous.

CO usually does give priority to its elite members when op-upping. Plats are usually the first, then Golds, etc. The GAs have discretion on whom to op-up, of course. For example, I was in an op-up situation as a Silver where the GA had tried to op-up two plats. One plat took the upgrade, and the other said he only wanted it if his non-plat wife could be op-upped along with him. As there was only one seat left in BF, the GA informed me that she went to me next on the list, as I was highest in fare class among the Silvers and was traveling alone, and the plat remained in Y. Oddly enough, there were no Golds to upgrade ahead of me. This was several years ago.

The thought of CO offering op-ups but then not allowing ANY EQMs is absurd - I think it would make CO look ridiculous in the name of saving itself the small liability of a few pax' 4000k EQMs for any particular flight.