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-   -   EUA Not Running At All on a Flight? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/continental-onepass-pre-merger/602080-eua-not-running-all-flight.html)

bocastephen Sep 15, 2006 8:30 am

EUA Not Running At All on a Flight?
 
I noticed this happens from time to time...it seems EUA does not run at all on a flight even with A9D9 and more than half the FC cabin showing empty. No seat map changes at the 6 day, 5, day or 3 day marks and no change to inventory either.

This is not a flight that usually sells out FC (EWR/FLL) on a late Sunday night - do others see this happening on their flights?

PforPlatinum Sep 15, 2006 8:59 am

Full of plats on the same airfare purchased on the same time, so system can't decide. :D

cova Sep 15, 2006 9:42 am

It means the R seats have not been released. CO releases and disables R inventory frequently. Best way to check for R inventory is to start a booking process on the same flights and check the box for mileage upgrade and see if R is available. You need to do this after 5-6pm, as R might be available in the day - then disabled in the evening for the EUA run. If the mileage upgrade is available just before say 9-10pm, then some upgrades will clear.

Say 2 seats in R inventory - then top 2 Plat fares categories get the upgrade. You need to monitor the seat map and see Elite coach seats vacate as then are moved to F. You can tell if others got the EUA and you did not if folks are moved up front. Check the seatmaps again at say 11pm EST to see the upgrade.

kingalien Sep 15, 2006 10:02 am

channa has posted before about how a glitch in one's itinerary caused the EUA to stop running or something like that.

bocastephen Sep 15, 2006 10:44 am


Originally Posted by cova
It means the R seats have not been released. ...

That's just it - no R inventory was released on this flight since prior to, and subsequent to the first EUA window opening. It doesn't happen too often, but I have seen it on this particular flight from time to time as well as a couple of others.

Not one single upgrade processed, or seats going to R while the cabin remains A9D9 and the seat map remains fixed. Usually by now the cabin is full as generally speaking it's a Plat/Gold only show on this flight.

So my question is...why the holdback? Is it a system glitch? I can't see them holding more than 1/2 the cabin for sale, given the historical propensity of this flight to either sell out FC a week before departure or not even come close to selling out at all.

It wouldn't be a glitch in my itinerary because I verified it was properly synched...and EUA didn't run for anyone else either.

CO 1E Sep 15, 2006 10:55 am


Originally Posted by bocastephen
That's just it - no R inventory was released on this flight since prior to, and subsequent to the first EUA window opening. It doesn't happen too often, but I have seen it on this particular flight from time to time as well as a couple of others.

Not one single upgrade processed, or seats going to R while the cabin remains A9D9 and the seat map remains fixed. Usually by now the cabin is full as generally speaking it's a Plat/Gold only show on this flight.

So my question is...why the holdback? Is it a system glitch? I can't see them holding more than 1/2 the cabin for sale, given the historical propensity of this flight to either sell out FC a week before departure or not even come close to selling out at all.

It wouldn't be a glitch in my itinerary because I verified it was properly synched...and EUA didn't run for anyone else either.

This has been happening for at least the last two years and is a well-know facet of the CO EUA system. CO always holds back EUA on flights that attract a lot of paid F customers. On almost all DCA-IAH/EWR flights, for example, EUA does not appear to run. If there are any seats left for upgrades, they are processed at the gate or as battlefields. I have been on many off-peak DCA-IAH flghts where F had 0 to 3 passengers up until the day of departure and still no upgrades until just prior to boarding. I did get one 3-day EUA DCA-IAH this year, however, but I consider that an anomaly.

Holding back EUA is also incredibly common on transcons. CO essentially bets that by holding back EUA, people will buy the F seats last-minute if they're available. If no one buys the seats, they upgrade elites. That way, it's a win-win for CO.

bocastephen Sep 15, 2006 11:04 am


Originally Posted by CO 1E
This has been happening for at least the last two years and is a well-know facet of the CO EUA system. CO always holds back EUA on flights that attract a lot of paid F customers. ....

I know this...but what makes this situation odd is the fact that this flight either sells out F at least a week before departure (so EUA is not a factor) which is a very rare occurence, or the FC cabin remains at least 70% empty until the first EUA run.

Why I am questioning this situation is due to the flight being wide open in FC on a leisure route which rarely sells out FC or even close...so it appears odd that EUA is being held back.

My question: is this on purpose? (unlikely due to FC being wide open) or a system glitch that just skipped over this flight. It's not big deal...I'm just curious what powers are at play here.

CO 1E Sep 15, 2006 11:11 am


Originally Posted by bocastephen
My question: is this on purpose? (unlikely due to FC being wide open) or a system glitch that just skipped over this flight. It's not big deal...I'm just curious what powers are at play here.

I would guess that it is on purpose, for the same reason that CO holds back EUA on the random empty DCA-IAH flights - the flight historically has shown potential to sell out in F, even if not on every flight or day of the week. My guess is that CO revenue management holds back EUA if a flight previously has any history of regularly selling out in F even if it is totally open two days before departure. As you say, the flight either sells out a week in advance or remains empty; therefore, the flight has some history of selling out in F and CO might want to hold back R seats in the hopes of it selling out again.

Catbert10 Sep 15, 2006 11:45 am

I've noticed a number of times this year that a flight had inventory in the R bucket but EAU was not run. I haven't been able to figure out why revenue management would release seats to R but not allow them to be given out as upgrades. The only thing I can think of is that they are holding the seats for mileage upgrades.

entropy Sep 15, 2006 11:50 am


Holding back EUA is also incredibly common on transcons. CO essentially bets that by holding back EUA, people will buy the F seats last-minute if they're available. If no one buys the seats, they upgrade elites. That way, it's a win-win for CO.
People DO buy out the F cabin on transcons especially SFO, so its not holding back EUA, they just will sell all the seats.

Pinky Sep 15, 2006 12:20 pm

I think this is happening with my flight PHX-EWR Sun. night as well - 6 seats in FC cabin and no EUA (and no change in FC cabin all week)...

cova Sep 15, 2006 1:05 pm


Originally Posted by Catbert10
I've noticed a number of times this year that a flight had inventory in the R bucket but EAU was not run. I haven't been able to figure out why revenue management would release seats to R but not allow them to be given out as upgrades. The only thing I can think of is that they are holding the seats for mileage upgrades.

It is not that EUA is not run, it is that R bucket gets changed to 0 just before the EUA time. I tracked some recent flights DCA-IAH-DEN-IAH-DCA. The DEN-IAH was held back after normal 5 day EUA and released about 3 days out - even though only 2 out of 18 seats were sold. R was available during the day - for mileage upgrade - then R was not available late in the evening before EUA.

On the IAH-DCA R was available over 7 days before, then comes EUA time - it was 0, then available during the day, then off again at night. I believe CO is trying to get folks to burn miles, when there was lots of availability. On the IAH-DCA - 2 out of 12 sold 2 days before then EUA run of 2 days out and many moved up - both Gold and Plat.

I have seen EWR-DEN flights 2 out of 18 held until gate time - then say 14 people get gate upgrade as the boarding process is underway - then lots of confusion.

CO 1E Sep 15, 2006 1:17 pm


Originally Posted by entropy
People DO buy out the F cabin on transcons especially SFO, so its not holding back EUA, they just will sell all the seats.

Right - my statements were limited to the situation in which F is not sold out once the Plat windows open.

CO 1E Sep 15, 2006 1:21 pm


Originally Posted by cova
It is not that EUA is not run, it is that R bucket gets changed to 0 just before the EUA time. I tracked some recent flights DCA-IAH-DEN-IAH-DCA. The DEN-IAH was held back after normal 5 day EUA and released about 3 days out - even though only 2 out of 18 seats were sold. R was available during the day - for mileage upgrade - then R was not available late in the evening before EUA.

That's interesting. I wonder if CO has been doing this (releasing R seats and withdrawing them before EUA runs in the hopes of mileage upgrades) for awhile or if this is a more recent strategy.

UA Insider Sep 15, 2006 5:56 pm

Let me see if I can add some clarifications.
1. EUA is the name of the system that wants to upgrade you, not the upgrade itself. It looks like the term "EUA" is being used a couple different ways. In some posts, it's the system that runs and automatically upgrades Elite customers in ranking order. In other posts, it's the upgrade inventory itself (R class through 19-Sep 2006 / F class 20-Sep onward). To be clear, it's the first one - EUA's the name of the system. So, while it's true we might hold back some upgrade inventory in advance because we're really hoping someone might still buy a First Class fare, we'll never hold back EUA from running on any upgrade-eligible flight. If you ever think that EUA didn't run on your flight (meaning there are upgrade seats available after EUA should've run), please send me a PM, and we'll definitely research it.

2. EUA doesn't run in real-time. Currently, EUA runs at specific intervals during the week before departure: nightly up to the departure day (depending on your Elite status) and one last time at 3 hours before scheduled departure. In most cases, it's well-timed with when we release the upgrade inventory, but there's always rare exceptions.

3. Upgrade inventory sometimes disappears before the nightly EUA run. EUA doesn't run right at midnight on the calendar day intervals. It actually starts running 1-2 hours before, which may explain why it looks like the upgrade inventory vanished. I'm willing to bet that when upgrade inventory vanishes instantly, it's because EUA just ran or because someone just made a significant contribution toward my profit sharing. If you ever suspect that something else happened, please send me a PM and we'll check it out.
Hope this helps.


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