Was First Class Full?
 

I was on EWR - SFO yesterday and it looked like there were some first class seats open and I was not elite upgraded - anyway to determine if I am correct...thoughts?

I know someone who is a GA at CO who allowed FC to fly with empty seats. She got pulled in front of her supervisors to explain why that happened. This is apparently a big no-no at CO.

She probably "explained" that she didnt feel anyone was eligable to be upgraded..and thats the end of that!..and its more of a "No No" to upgrade someone who is not eligable.

CO can check the status of each flight and determine the situation. I suspect the likely situation here is miss connects and the GA did not bother to pull folks up at the last minute.

The other situation is the seats were occupied with children and you could not see their heads - if counting heads was the evaluation factor.

Don't board until all the First passengers are on the plane.

I hang back now and a couple of times have got the upgrade because someone has missed a connection.

On my flight yesterday? or on my flight the day before?

Yes, first class was full.

When CO status-matched me from AA EXP to get my business they explained that they want their most frequent flyers up front, and that a first class seat empty should be almost nonexistent. (It was commonplace on AA). I find it kind of hard to believe that there was not SOMEONE with at least silver status that could have gotten the battlefiend upgrade. If not, personally, I would have found an excuse to upgrade SOMEONE. Was there a military serviceman on board? An elderly flyer? Someone in a middle seat?

--PP

Why should a non-elite in a middle seat get an upgrade?

With all of this talk about upgrades, I though I'd add my two cents. As was stated in previous threads, there is a definite upgrade order/list which, in fact, even FA's have access to once on the A/C. GA's don't make up the order and shouldn't deviate from the rules. Believe me, even non-rev's keep a close eye on that first class cabin during boarding, not just elites. Final decision goes to the GA so if you feel there was a discrepancy, let CO know. We ALL want there to be consistency in the process.

And trust me, most FA's will make sure all the seats are allocated in first class before push because if we don't, we will hear about it from someone who thought they should have been upgraded.

Keep in mind also, many times I've had a PAX convinced that they were eligible for an upgrade but upon asking the GA, they were not. Although it seem all of you on this board are well versed enough to know all of the ins and outs (I don't).

CO has said that they are streamlining the upgrade process to make it agent proof at the gate.

Now when you have a situation were someone missed a connection - but was close - the agent may not choose to release the seat at the 10 minute mark- since the person might make it at the last minute and want their seat. But the gate knows when the connecting flight landed and whether they are going to hold the flight for that person.

Maybe the FA should use the standby list to be able to bring someone in order up? But then the system would not show them upgraded.

I had a situation a few years back - where about 3 of us in F connecting from the same originating flight rushed and made it to the gate about 3 minutes before departure - the aircraft was at the gate and with no agent in sight. Turns out the agents (a couple of them) hid inside the closed gate door until the aircraft departed about 10 minutes later before they appeared. I suspect they knew we were coming and gave up our F seats.

I once had a guy get upgraded from a middle seat while I was sitting in coach. He had ordered his meal in first and was sitting there grinning. I called the FA over and told her loudly that he was sitting in MY seat as I was Elite and he wasn't. She ran to the front, talked to the GA, and lo and behold I was moved up front. The man was fit to be tied when I passed him in the aisle but I didn't care. The only glitch was I had to eat his yucky dinner since the FA claimed it was too late to order something else for me.

I am not following what happened. Did they manage to upgrade him and get him a special meal all at the gate? That must have happened years ago; nowadays, I can't imagine that you could order some kind of special meal right at the gate.

Let's suppose there is an empty first class seat (very unlikely), AND...


...there are no plats to upgrade
...there are no golds to upgrade
...there are no silvers to upgrade
...there are no ST Elite to upgrade
...there is no one extraordinary making themsemves readily apparent (clergy, military, someone elderly)

then WHY NOT upgrade someone in a middle seat? This imediately makes THREE Y pax have a much more comfortable flight. It's called customer service and this is what CO has become exceptional at. I can't imagine a flgiht where there's not SOMEONE in the back who is OP or ST Elite who would like the bump up to the front of the plane...but just supposing this ever happened, what's the downside of making three Y pax happier?

--PP

No, he was upgraded on the plane. We were going from EWR to SFO or LAS. All the seats were full in coach and there was some kind of hoopla about where he was suppose to sit. They should have seated him in coach in my seat and upgraded me; instead they moved him to first class and left me seated in coach. I complained, as I said before, and we switched seats. We were on the plane and they had ordered meals already in FC. He didn't have a special meal just a meal I didn't like. I think it was a meat meal and I am a vegetarian. It happened less than 2 years ago.

Actually there were 3 empty FC seats on a recent early morning (0600) BWI-IAH flight. Flight was not full so I guess there were no other elites and I did not see any obvious occupied middle seats (didn't try counting heads ;)).

So should three pax be upgraded anyway? Heavens forbid no, integrity must always be maintained!

:p

Wouldn't this be a sight to see....

A PAX gets yanked from the back (Y Pax in a middle seat) to be upgraded to FC as the door is closing...the FA's make their usual announcements after take-off and the PAX then opens the CO magazine and fills out the OP enrollment card while sitting next to you, then handing it to the FA during the flight.

Before my husband was Silver elite I would try to get him upgraded with me, also Silver. An upgrade only happened once and that was because the GA felt sorry for us because we had to put our cat down the night before our trip to Puerto Rico. Other than that, I have flown several times up front with the front of the plane empty and the back jammed packed. In the olden days, last month, we could sit in the Exit row, so it wasn't so bad. In this new era of no silvers in the Exit row it will be difficult for us both if we don't get upgraded..

The downside is that it would result in a completley arbitrary decision by the GA or FA. How would they determine which middle seat passenger to upgrade? The one who offered the largest bribe? The one is the best looking? The one who flirted with them the most? The one who is most obese?

You see the point. As I've stated numerous times on this forum, rules exist for a reason. And, the rules are that non-elites don't get upgraded even if there is a seat in F.

I can see the new OnePass published elite upgrade order now: "CO elite upgrades are prioritized in the following order at the airport: Plats, Plat companions, Golds, etc. . . . . In the event that all elites, elite companions, other Skyteam elites who otherwise would not have upgrade privileges on CO, elderly people, priests, rabbis, nuns, and elites from other alliances like OneWorld or Star have been upgraded, the Gate Agent will upgrade a passenger seated in any middle seat. Such a selection will be completely arbitrary and based upon whatever criteria tickles the Gate Agent's fancy at that particular moment, including, but not limited to, bribes, obesity, looks, charm, height, or hair."

On most flights, this point is moot. Seems like everyone and their brother is Elite nowadays. Unless the flight is flying with a 10% load. I've seen flights where there are more people in F than in the back (I wonder if the plane will tip over with all that weight up front).

I may start doing this to mess with FlyerTalkers minds.... :p

I will just add that CO Senior Management has assured me that a report is generated every day which shows any flight which operated with any seats empty in F, and the status of those sitting in coach. I can count on one hand the number of flights which have had empty seats in F over the past 4 years, and I have never flown in the back with any empty seat upfront.

Of course - YMMV.

Were they to implement such a policy, it might occur to them to select the lucky non-elite by, say, class of fare, time of booking, time of checkin... just like they prioritize Elites for EUA.

If filling up the forward cabin is a requirement at CO, then it sounds like they should change the name of that cabin from first class to upgrade class.

Then again, CO makes a big deal of its "complimentary space-available first class upgrades."

Does this phrase not imply that, as long as an FC seat is unfilled, it would be available for a passenger who is eligible for an upgrade?

Yes, there is a report generated every day showing what flights went out with empty seats in First Class AND ELITE CUSTOMERS SITTING IN COACH. It is a BIG DEAL when this occurs out of our station. The company is huge on fufilling our commitment made to you regarding "unlimited complimentry upgrades". It is not about just filling up the First Class cabin.

Hope this clears up any confusion......

Have a great day!

This is absurd. The proper thing to do would be to upgrade no one and given an elite an empty seat next to him in F.

LOL....Good Idea!

I flew last week from DTW to IAH and the last two rows of 1st were empty. I know b/c at the last minute they upgraded a NW Elite to the seat next to mine and she promptly fell asleep on me. I moved, looked over my shoulder, stood up and asked the FA if I could move to the last row of 1st. She said we could ALL spread out, and as I took my seat in row 4, I asked the FA how could there possibly be free seats on this flight. I don't always get upgraded on this route and it's usually a guessing game until I get to the counter, so I found the empty seats odd.

She told me that there might be Elites in back BUT the GA should've upgraded them if there were. I'm remembering that in case I miss an upgrade in the future. For the record, there were about 6 people in 1st Class. The back seemed pretty full, but how can we tell who is Elite or not? I've only once before ever flown in such an open 1st Class cabin.