Last week EWR FLL I checked at the PC to see if any chance of upgrade.(I know it is a tough one). The young lady said (as I have often heard) "that flight has checked in full" OK not so uncommon. I checked the availability tool while waiting in the club and it showed 5s in first. Seat map showed 4 seats.
I went to the gate and asked if any seats have been released and the gate agent did not look at my ticked and said no chance, flight is checked in totally full. I had a few minutes until boarding and wandered over to the customer service center.(Very friendly agent) The young lady took my ticket and checked her computer and said that indeed there were seats available in FC but the waitlist/standby has not cleared yet. She told me to wait and a few minutes and Bingo a new FC boarding pass was issued.
Maybe the UG would have cleared anyway but why can't the GAs be more accomidating

I don't see why it matters. You're name would have been called at the gate just before boarding or as you were boarding. I just can see what the big deal is over when you get your upgrade?. The best attitude to take is that you won't get one, and you'll be thankful when your name is called.

Every once in a while you will see unfriendly or preoccupied agents. They have other things going on besides your upgrade request on a 1000 mile flight. Just because the upgrade is your top priority, don't kid yourself by thinking that it is everyone else's.

The vast majority of the agents are considerate, polite, and do their job well. You can't lump them all in with this one agent.

You know the rules. You can be polite. You can get mad. It may work or it may get you taken off the list by *mistake*.

Bottom line is that they hold the cards and it is up to them to deal you into the hand.

My favorite is in IAH when I get the 3-hour EUA on the way in and am notified by email, go ask the PC agents if there's any chance of clearing an upgrade on this segment, they tell me it's "checked in full."

I then say, "I know, and I'm one of them. Just reprint the pass."

When confronted like that, they often make up an excuse. "Oh, I was looking in the wrong place," or something like that.

I believe CO was talking about moving some of the kiosks inside security for people to look at stuff like this themselves. It would eliminate this problem.

IAH does have several inside security. I use them all the time. There is one in E right outside the restaurant area. I think there is also one by the service center near gates C37 and up. As well there are probably others.

Do you know how many people ask about upgrades into FC? Take the number of elites per flight and then add the people that think if they ask nicely (because there have been so many articles written about getting free upgrades) times the number of flights an agent works per day.....

This question gets old really quick. That doesn't excuse an agent's bad attitude but it might explain why they always say "we're full" even if the flight hasn't checked in full yet.

Next time try asking if the standby list has been cleared. If the GA has started clearing ask if you should board or wait in the boarding area for your upgrade.

Upgrades aren't the most important thing the GA is doing. They are trying to get people onto the flight that don't have seats first.

Good luck on your upgrades.

I think CO agents just automatically respond that "first has checked in full" when one asks about one's position on the waitlist. That is why I never bother to ask, except in the P Club under some circumstances (like when I see a reliable agent who I know will give me accurate waitlist information), or when I know I have received a three-hour EUA and cannot find a kiosk from which to print my boarding pass.

Here's the issue. If customers are constantly asking the question, the Continental Airlines, not the customers, is doing something wrong. As was discussed in another thread, there should be a way to definitely answer the question without passengers milling around the desk at the gate. Having the ability to check with a PDA or introducing those DL-like flat screens full of detailed information about upgrade and other lists would go a long way to solving the problem.

I think most times the "First has checked in full" is a very polite way of saying, "Leave me alone and let me tend to this flight, you'll get your upgrades in due time"

sfogate, so let me get this straight, because the question gets old, justifies a GA giving out the wrong information?

I have seen this enough that I don't ask any more, but this is a good example of how beneficial screens in the gate area listing passenger upgrade and standby status would be.

You�re correct in saying that tracking upgrades is not the most important thing that a GA is responsible for. Where you�re wrong is, one of the most important responsibilities that any GA should be concerned with, is giving out accurate information to your customers no matter how old it gets. Better to tell a passenger that seats are still open and if they are still available after boarding you will upgrade elites on the plane.

"small rant" about what?

oh. small rant about the helpfulness (or lack, thereof) of continental (CO) staff.

i am split on this one. sure, the question must get old. but, it is the gate agent's (GA) job to answer the question (in addition to getting the flight out on time). my boss asks me the same question every day but it is my job to answer. i can't blow him off or give him false information (unless i want to get fired).

i think the answer is delta's (DL) monitors. i am sure it must be expensive, but it is quite the value add in terms of pre-departure experience.

+1 !

Give people accurate and timely access to the information they want in a clear and easily interpretable format and shazamm ....satisfied customers and GA's that don't have to spend their valuable time answering the same questions over and over.

I agree--just because a question gets old does not give customer service personnel the right to lie to their customers.

Just shoot me now!

Remind me that I should never respond to upgrade threads! GA's are caught between a rock and a hard place. CO does not want the list posted and elites want to know where they are on the list and when/if they will get their upgrade.

I always tell elites where they are on the list and I sometimes post the list behind me so that I can demonstate the unlikely hood of getting that upgrade. I can't tell you how many people argue with what they believe their position should be verses what it actually is, so the list is a good tool for me.