The only ways a Gold or Silver elite would have been ahead of you on the upgrade list would have been if they had purchased a full Y ticket or were waitlisted on a mileage upgrade. H, K, B, N, O, etc. fares, while earning 100% EQMs, do not allow you to jump ahead of higher-level elites in the upgrade queue.

And, if the 2-3 people ahead of you on the upgrade list are all Platinums, why would you assume that you should be ahead of them? CO basically uses fare class a method for ordering the upgrade process within elite levels, and then uses things like check-in and ticket purchase times for breaking a tie within an elite level. But it would be extremely rare that a Gold or Silver would be ahead of a Platinum on the upgrade list, and in those cases it would mostly be due to that Gold or Silver purchasing a full Y fare or using miles to waitlist for an upgrade.

Odds are the passengers ahead of you were Platinums on higher fares. I is a very discounted fare class.

I thought I might be very high on the list because I checked in about 22 hours before the flight with OLCI. Maybe fare paid trumps check in time. Personally I prefer when there is some strategy you can use like check 9in 24 hours early but I see why CO would do it by fare paid...except maybe it makes more sense to do it by customer overall revenue instead of the one fare they paid on that one ticket.

Fare paid does trump time of checkin and has for years now.

As for total revenue, It's all been discussed before and this is how they measure it: by what you paid on this flight. Basically what you're saying is that you wish the upgrade process were tailored such that you were upgraded on this flight, and in a larger sense, every flight you take. I think the upgrade process as it is now is a pretty reasonable way of implementing CO's goals and rewarding those most valuable to CO. Sorry you weren't upgraded.

Would YOU have an attitude if you were called the help ?

^ ^ ^

Okay. I'm going to pick at you. IF you knew for a "few weeks" ... that really is no excuse to cut it close. You should have allowed more time.
Having said that. I do agree that things are not functioning as well as in the past. But that is very widespread. Everybody cut, and now the planes are full. I had to fly AA to london this week. No international online check in, No international Kiosk check in... so I get to the airport and the first class line has 4 people in it. It takes AA over an hour to get to me. Two people need re routes. Do they EVER pull from my line to one of the THREE people helping coach... Of course not!
There is plenty of stupidity going around.
But, I do think they ought to be able to check your bags, when you check your dog. I am going to suggest it. There is no good reason why that wouldn't work. Presumibly, the TSA has to check Fido's cage out for a explosive. Why not check owners bag at the same time?

Cigar, your point about TSA checking the dog cage is interesting. When you ship via QP, they do NOT. The guy just had me stand in front of a camera, and took a photo. The old procedure required we go to the CO cargo facility at the north end of the field, and they would process animals there, which is how we got in the habit of doing that first.

I use Alaska from EWR to SEA. They are no longer handled by CO (Air Canada does it now). The procedure is more in line with standard practice at most airports. You bring the dog to the check in counter, fill out some brief paper work, pay the flat charge, and then you accompany the pet to a TSA station on the floor, where they have you take the pet out, while they examine the carrier. It takes a few minutes, and since you are doing bags at the same time, it is a one stop shop.

Continental does a nice job with pets, but it is a revenue item, and unlike most airlines, they do not flat rate. You pay by weight and volume, which makes them twice as expensive as most other carriers. As part of that charade, they claim the pets receive special handling, but I have never observed anyone handling them, except regular ramp workers.

Paying twice as much, for a process which takes twice as long to perform, and appears to be less stringent, is not, in my mind, useful in trying to streamline the airport check in experience.

Arguing over whether I need to arrive at a domestic airport at 4:30AM for a 6:30AM flight on a Saturday, when I (a) know where I am going, (b) have full fare first class tickets, and (c) have top tier OP status, is a zero sum game. I can't win that, but the facts are what they are. I was led to believe the QP office had moved (by a cargo rep in Houston, when I called to reconfirm the pet reservation), could not find anyone capable of putting a full sentence together, to direct me within the C Terminal, and took lip from an agent for asking for some help. Add to that, a lousy meal.

I am trying to find something redeeming in that experience, but disappointng is the only descriptive term I can come up with.

I have friends who live in other countries where more chaotic customer service is more the norm, and they survive through empathy and charm. These aren't my long suits, but I have long operated from the assumption that NYC is a third-world country. I'm flying something like 100K miles out of EWR this year, and I haven't had any bad experiences, and I have had various notably helpful interactions.

The Beatles' last line of lyrics says it all: In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

"Quick Pak office is like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party."

I wish I could come up with as good a characterization! I visited the QP office in EWR twice, as a scouting expedition for future shipment of 2 cats (<10 pds each) to our part time home north of Tampa (if they ever get it built). My impression is one of mass chaos. As a result, the cats will probably travel with us as ' cabin baggage'.


"You bring the dog to the check in counter, fill out some brief paper work, pay the flat charge, and then you accompany the pet to a TSA station on the floor, where they have you take the pet out, while they examine the carrier"

I'm curious how this works for a cat. Dogs can be pretty docile, but taking a cat out of the cage can be a risk to your life and limb, not to mention a squirming, frightened cat getting loose and then trying to catch the frightened cat in a terminal, as he weaves between passengers, with my wife in hot pursuit. Similarly, with those 'puffer machines' and the noise they make. I can only see my cats going crazy if subjected to the noise/air if being held in one's arms, and the attendant possibility of him/her getting loose, followed by the same crazed attempt to recapture the frighetend animal. Do they keep butterfly nets nearby, just in case.

Finally, at least at Newark, the 'special treatment' the animals get includes their own van ride to the plane. Next time there, look for a white van with decals/pcitures of cats/dogs all over it making a mad dash for the plane, just before takeoff.

I seem to have gotten in trouble for using the word "help" to describe employees in the terminal, I apologize for my political incorrectness. There was a time when you could have the pleasure of the type of attitude I described, being delivered by the "employee owners" at United, "cast members" at Song/Delta, and various other types, from associates to "neighbors". A secretary is now an assistant (personally, I liked typing wench). Presumably, a garbage person is a waste technician, a plumber is just a crook (couldn't resist ) , etc. You definitely showed me, but to complete the drill, you will have to convince every newspaper in America to change the name of its principal section on jobs to something other than "Help Wanted". We can change the terminology, but it won't change the fact that a number of the line employees at CO, who deal directly with customers, are developing attitudes of the kind that will sink a good business.

Slightly off subject, but has to deal with the CO upgrades and some of the less enticing changes that we have all seen lately. I have stoped crediting CO flights to my OnePass account several months ago when i hit 80K EQMs. All ST flights since then have been credited to my FB account since it seems that I get better treatment on AF/KLM as an FB elite vs. a CO elite. Last month I found myself about 7 segments short of getting FB PLAT, so I decided to find a cheap fare on any ST memeber and go for the segments. I found a NW trip that would give me 5 segments for under $100 and booked it. This morning when I checked my e-mail, I found out that I have been upgraded on all 5 segments. On one flight on NW, I received the same number of EUAs that I received on CO ALL YEAR LONG; and I am not even a NW elite.

CO seems to be doing a good job in keeping its planes full. There is nothing wrong with that, however it seems that those of us that have flown with them in the good and bad times are being left out. When I was typing this I had to go back and count the flights when I got EUAs on CO while I had to count the flights when I did not get EUAs on AA. I think that says something about which airline is looking out for their elites.

I was not particularly saying that I should have been upgraded, although of course I would have preferred that outcome. However, CO and the others, do seem to treat customers on a transactional basis. Hence them looking at what you paid on this particular ticket, instead of say the total revenue you have brought to CO in the long term. It is curious too that people seem to have such better lukc with NW upgrades. Why would NW apparently have such a more generous upgrade policy, or conversely not be selling as many revenue F seats? Personally my NW upgrades typically clear days ahead of schedule as opposed to CO which usually clear 0-1 days before the flight even as Platinum. And even though the op had top status and bought an expensive ticket he was treated kind of like dirt anyway by CO at EWR with no special elite or VIP handling, etc. He would have probably been nearly as well served to buy a ticket on B6 or WN for $75 to Florida .

My 2 cents.

NW uses upgrades as a strategy for FFers. Since you have flown NW in business, you realize that not too many people would actually pay for NW business. CO, on the other hand, has an excellent business class and likes it when consumer actually pay for it. So, I would rather have a CO upgrade than a NW upgrade; but that is comparing apples and oranges. Different stratgies towards making profits.

Note: NW is in bankruptcy and CO isn't.

CO has been in bankruptcy court twice, I think this is the first time for NW. The only legacy airline that has never declared bankruptcy is AA.

Ok then, so you are "the help", s/he is "the help" and I'm "the help". I believe we all know we are "the help"; but is it really necessary to make a person feel like "the help"?

I believe the poster is pointing out a simple, yet apparently elusive, tactic used in dealing with "the help"; treat them as you want to be treated.