I had an interesting experience today with the CO Reservations line. After making an international reservation, I decided that I wanted to waitlist for a BF upgrade on the return segment. Unfortunately, I'm not a CO Elite. But here's the catch, I am only 3000 miles short and as soon as I complete the first segment of my trip, I will have earned my Elite status back. So the question I posed to the Reservations people was that, knowing this, was there a possibility of putting me on the BF waitlist for the return segment (I have all the miles necessary etc and by then would have my status).

First call:
The reservations agent said this wouldn't be a problem and created a reservation for me with PNR A******. I looked online and sure enough, everything was there including a BF waitlist segment for the bucket F. Of course, by booking over the phone, I was in danger of losing 50% of my EQM and paying an extra 15 dollar reservation fee, so I decided I'd just book it on CO.com and request the BF waitlist segment myself once again. So I did this and received a new PNR A*****.

Second call:
Reservations agent says this is impossible to do (the BF waitlist) as I'm not an Elite, and even if I qualified this year, my status wouldn't be active until the next. I insisted this was not true (you qualify for the current program year and continue to enjoy status for the following as per the rules on CO.com) and asked her to check. She put me on hold for 20 minutes then came back to say that she had not been able to contact the Help desk but was sure this information (hers) was true. I again mentioned it wasn't and she put me back on hold, after asking for my PIN number for my account and verifying that I had the miles in there to make an upgrade. She then kept me on hold for another 10 minutes and then came back saying that she had spoken with the help desk and that she couldn't do anything via her "wizard" unless my account indicated I was an elite. I said thank you and hung up.

Third call:
After sifting through old threads in this forum, I've read that sometimes it helps to call back and get a different agent (Atlanta is better than Houston and so forth). So I did and explained to the new agent my situation. The agent looked up my record and said there had been a note made from the previous agent and that she couldn't do anything and referred me to the CO OnePass center (which is not open over the weekend). I personally find this a bit annoying that I've become a CO "problem child" for requesting something that had already been done.

I was wondering what everyone thought about this and what they think my best course of action is. I feel that since one agent already managed to process my request the first time (even though I didn't follow through on the reservation), others should be able to as well now that I'm e-ticketed and confirmed.

Thanks.

Is it too late (> 24 hours) to cancel your booking and re-book it with a new, clean record?
Won't they let you buy the extra 3,000 miles? They let you do this for reward tickets, I don't know about upgrades.

Do you have Amex Membership Rewards points that can be transferred in? Or even Starwood Preferred Guest, or maybe some other program?

You don't need status to go on the waitlist for a BusinessFirst flight. It obviously helps your position, but if you're not even going to qualify until after your outbound, it'll probably be too late by then.

as the previous poster said , there is no need for status for this, read all the details there

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


Call again and say ,' I want to request an upgrade reward for the return leg of this reservation'

See for instance the details of the series 6 (North America to Europe)

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...s/chart_6.aspx

you need to pay with miles AND $, so have your credit card handy and the fee is according to this

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

I've always been told that you cannot waitlist for a BF award without Elite status. Are you sure this is the case?

This is the first time I've heard of that you can't waitlist for a BF upgrade without status.

Friend is waitlisting for BF GUM-HNL-EWR with no status

well, its a way to redeem miles, a BF upgrade reward, if its not available at the time you can (and it probably won't be depending on the route/how full the flight is /how soon your flight is leaving) why can't you waitlist, you are paying for with miles and cash so this is not a free ride at all

do you see any reference to status in the links I posted? if you don't ..then you are all set

look at it from a different angle, go and read the perks that you get from being elite and see if waitlisting for a BF upgrade reward is listed there

See http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...e/default.aspx

You can waitlist for BF and First and Business upgrades. Except Series 0 upgrades, at least that's the way I read the website.

I keep hearing/reading the same thing, that you can't waitlist without status, but I don't see that on the website.

Correct, the only award you need status to waitlist for is the Series 0 (domestic) upgrade awards.

I know that is what the website reads, but CO Reservations says that (even though I am on an international itinerary DCA-EWR) you have to be an Elite to waitlist for the BF cabin. I don't know when they implemented this rule, or if it even is a rule, but considering the fact that one of their agents didn't know that when you complete requirements for status you are automatically given it for the remainder of the year plus the following, I think there is something odd afoot.

call the number listed in the BF reward page which is 800.621.7467
and see what they say, that is the number that deals with that stuff (I am guessing its a separate department but anyway, its worth a shot)

maybe that is the problem: you are trying to travel BF for a flight between DC and NJ.............

of course, you think CO.com is bad, wait until Homeland Insecurity tells you your State Dept issued passport isnt acceptable identification to fly........

My only comment regarding BF upgrades, is that in all my years flying CO (as an OP elite or peon) I have never actually been able to snag a BF upgrade...

Sorry to hear that. My wife and I were able to snag BF upgrades to rio de janeiro on-line. The system worked quite well.

Glad to read it. I've never been able to find an actual BF upgrade in over ten years.

Usually I wait for the BF sales. Recently I've been flying L'Avion to ORY, it's sometimes cheaper than coach on CO...