How do Elite Upgrades Work?
 

I am pleased Continental awarded me Platinum elite level and certainly intend to give them lots of business. But being new to the airline, can you tell me how the upgrade system works? Do I need to request upgrades? Or, does Continental simply upgrade based on available seats, etc., five days out?

Thanks!

Congrads on getting Plat.

The short answer is that you do not need to request complimentary upgrades. In theory they will process at the 5 day mark but it can also happen at any point before the door closes on the flight you're on.


For more details see here:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US.../upgrades.aspx

The issue is that upgrades are based on availability. Paying customers obvbiously get first dubs. Then customers paying at full Y.

Upgrades are then allocated based on elite level and fare basis. So a Platinum on an H fare is first in the queue, then K, N, B, etc. And so on down the line through Gold & Silver.

The computer will allocate the upgrade and notify you via email (an option you can select in your OnePass account page on the website).

Then, this being FC, some passengers end up not showing up (most of these tickets are refundable) and CO fills these seats starting with 2 hours to go, based on the order in which passengers check in. That's why elites are very keen to use the On Line Check In process, which gets them in this queue as early as 24 hrs to go to their flight time.

I've noticed that you are based in Seattle. You're essentially going to be flying either to (or through) IAH or EWR. While the equipment CO operates will change over time, they are currently operating mostly 737's, which is the bulk of their fleet, and two 757-300's (these operate to IAH).

There are a number of different versions of the 737, with FC cabins ranging from 8 seats to 18 seats. Most of the 737's currently operating out of SEA have 12-14 FC seats, with a few 18-FC seat configurations.

The 757-300 has 24 FC seats.

Although not a hard and fast rule, generally you'll find that it is harder to upgrade on the flight which have the smaller FC cabins, simply because the seat inventory isn't there.

While there are a number of SkyTeam Alliance carriers that serve Seatlle, you will only have this same kind of access to FC upgrades on NW. My experience has been these are much easier to access. The only down side of flying NW is thart, if you're flying on an inexpensive ticket, you will only receive 50% of your miles toward your elite qualification (or EQM).

You can use miles to upgrade on CO but the airline does not have any revenue upgrades.

Good luck!

To clarify this a bit: any upgrades that are processed after the online checkin window has opened are still prioritized in the order of elite status and fare class within elite status. Time of checkin only breaks a tie between two elites on the same fare class. For example, if there is one seat left and two Platinums with H fares are contending for the seat, the Platinum who checked in earlier will get the seat.

PLAT traveling with non-elite
 

What's the best and most successful strategy for getting both travelers upgraded when a PLAT is flying with (on the same itinerary/reservation) a non-elite flyer? I've heard splitting the reservation helps, but then I might get the upgrade but would she then have NO chance? I guess I'm asking how do I let CO know that I want her to get a 'companion upgrade'? Will they grant an upgrade to her if she's not on the same reservation as me?

You MUST split off the non-elite from your reservation, or else EUA will skip over your reservation and you'll both be stuck in the back. Companions may be added to the upgrade waitlist only at the airport within two hours of departure. There is no EUA for companions - they are only upgraded at the airport.

What are the chances of another 30k mile special to PEK this fall? Best EVER use of my miles last year!!

Gotcha! Thanks for the tip....unfortunately my outbound segs are both in RJs, but my returns are 737s and those flights are 5+ days out so I'll call up the Elite line today to get the reservation split in to 2. Thanks!!

I'd say 0%.

Yes, I should have clarified this. Thanks CO 1E

That was the best use of my miles ever as well. Had a great trip out there...


and to answer your question, about 0% :(

FYI you can do this yourself via the web site.