So currently I am gold elite (platinum in a couple of flights). Unfortunately I wont be platinum until after the flight I am enquiring about. In any case, I am traveling to vegas from Oct 6-8. I was looking on Continental.com and found the following:

Cheapest fare: $450 (O class)
H Fare: $750 (H fare)
Y Fare: $1,300 (Y fare)

My questions are, how likely is it that I would get upgraded to F on the cheapo fare or the H fare being gold?

Should I just pay the Y fare and get the elite Y upgrade or take my chances with the H or O fare?

Will H give me better chance at getting an upgrade over O?

I would get plat after the first flight of this trip but it wont register until after monday. Can I call CO to get platinum status on my return trip (for mileage and better chance at upgrade)?

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

The higher the fare the higher up you would be on the upgrade list.

And in each fare category the higher-level elite status would get the upgrades first. So with an H fare, for example, the platinum elites would be ahead in the list before gold, and the gold before silver. And so on and so forth in each fare category. So by the time you get to O fare, as a Gold elite, there is only a small chance of being upgraded.

If you really want to fly FC, I think the best bet is CO's discounted FC ("A" fare basis). In this case, this would cost you about $1,346. With this ticket you are literally guaranteed an FC seat. My $$$ are based, btw, on EWR-LAS 10/6/06 & return on 10/8/06.

If you buy a full Y fare, you would spend about $1,146 and, although you would receive a space-available upgrade when you buy the ticket, there is a small chance of getting bumped back to coach (there are some interesting threads about this on FT).

After that, the less expensive the fare the less likely it is an upgrade will be available.

This is one of the few domestic destinations which CO flies using 757's which have larger FC cabins than the 737's it otherwise primarily flies on domestic routes out of EWR. The 757's have 24 seats in FC, whereas most of the 737's flown on this route only have 14 seats in FC.

So your chances of getting an upgrade are slightly greater just based on the notion of more FC inventory being available.

Finally, if you do fly on one of the 757's, please note the coach cabin is slightly more comfortable than on CO's 737's. The 757's have one additional inch of legroom in coach, and that makes a big difference (of course, you can always try to get a bulkhead or exit row seat).

If you really want to fly FC, I'd buy the A fare. Otherwise, I'd just buy the cheapest fare. If FC is not critically important, why not just save your money? I don't know about you, but with the $1,000 difference between the full Y fare and the O fare, there is a lot I could do with that money. And, if you do get the upgrade, then it will be not only a great perk but also an incredible value.

Bon voyage!

If first class is important to you, I would buy the Y fare. EWR- LAS is notoriously difficult to get upgraded on because of the high demand for paid FC seats. I have been upgraded maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 times on these flight in the past year as a gold on all sorts of fare classes...not too good....

If not, then take the 1000. put it on your favorite number on the roulette table. If it hits, then you can buy an f/c ticket on the way home and have 31 more grand for spending money

I think upgrades EWR-LAS are a total crap shoot (pun intended). I've seen flights sold out in F a week in advance, and I've seen Gold companion upgrades be processed (and having shelled out of pocket for the full fare first class ticket, I was might peeved...).
With all the convention activity in LAS these days, there can be an influx of business travelers, many of whom can fly paid F on this route (>5 hours, which I believe is a common cutoff for companies). So the timing of a convention can have a big impact on F availability.

The other thing worth pointing out -- the difference between Y and Z (the discounted First class ticket) is only $100 r/t, and besides better protection against involuntary downgrades, you get the 50% class of service bonus miles, or about 2,200 r/t, or 4.5c/mile, not so bad. The "A" fare, full fare first class, is $200 more than Y, so the COS bonus isn't really worthwhile. The only issue with Z vs. A will be availability, but if you find Z inventory and can book it, and don't plan on changing your flight, it would be fine. And if you do need to change your flight, and there is no Z inventory, you can still always buy up to A for $50 o/w.

[QUOTE=TWA Fan 1]The higher the fare the higher up you would be on the upgrade list.

And in each fare category the higher-level elite status would get the upgrades first. So with an H fare, for example, the platinum elites would be ahead in the list before gold, and the gold before silver. And so on and so forth in each fare category. So by the time you get to O fare, as a Gold elite, there is only a small chance of being upgraded.



This is not correct.
upgrades are given first to Y full fare, then its by elite status. If you have plat then you go first regardless of class fare, then come the gold and then silver.
so it is more important which elite you have than which class you bought.

This is off Continental Website:


Priority for First Class/Business Class Elite upgrades is determined by:

Unrestricted Y fare class or Northwest Airlines -26/-27 fare: Allows all Elite members to upgrade at the time of ticketing when a seat is available. If a member is already ticketed and wants to request the upgrade, they can visit Manage Reservations or call their Elite Priority Line and provide their confirmation number.

Elite level: Members are prioritized according to their Elite level -- Platinum, Gold and then Silver. When traveling with other Elite members or non-Elite members, Elite members should purchase their flight on a separate itinerary.

Restricted fare class: Upgrade priority within Elite level will be based on fare class purchased. The fare class structure in priority order is as follows: H, K, N, B, O, V, U, Q, I, S, W, T, X and L.

Booking date/time: All else being equal, the sooner Elite members book their flight, the better their upgrade chances.

Check in time: If your upgrade is processed from the standby upgrade list at the airport, check in time will be used in place of booking date/time.

Welcome to FT all. this is a topic with much discussion, so without being rude, its always best to do a search as most likely the information you need has already been discussed by the FT community.

Here is the definitive thread (confirmed by the CO Insider) about the upgrade process.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=569020