sailanacra

Remember in June when CO insider said this...?

Yes, it's true, at the beginning of next year, we'll be adding a new Elite reward ticket upgrade benefit exclusively for our Continental Chase Presidential Plus and OnePass Plus MasterCard members (OnePass Plus is the new name what is currently known as World MasterCard). Once effective, customers who have one of these credit cards will have their complimentary Elite upgrade benefits extended to OnePass reward tickets. Here are some of the key points:
The Elite upgrade boundaries are similar to revenue tickets. This upgrade benefit will apply to the same flights where we offer complimentary Elite upgrades for paid tickets. It will only apply, however, to flights operated by Continental.

The prioritization of these upgrades will be similar, too. Reward ticket upgrades will be prioritized within each respective Elite tier, just behind the lowest revenue fare class. And because I know you’re going to ask, EasyPass rewards won’t be considered eligible for instant upgrades.

It’s for Presidential Plus and OnePass Plus MasterCard cardmembers only. This benefit will not not extend to any other Continental credit or debit card.

This is a OnePass benefit for the primary cardmember only. This means that in order to take advantage of this benefit, the OnePass reward tickets have to be redeemed and used by the Elite member, and the Elite member has to be the primary cardmember. This will not extend to rewards redeemed for other individuals, rewards redeemed from anything other than the primary cardmember’s OnePass account, nor will it apply to additional cardmembers.
Platinum and Gold Companions benefit will still apply. This policy will mirror what we do for revenue tickets.

Has this started? Has anyone used it? Where does it fit in the scheme of this tread (mileage upgrades)?

Sail a Nacra

ijgordon

Yes, but you will be trumped by any higher level elites or any same-level elites who requested mileage upgrades earlier than you did. Can I assume you are non-elite based on the fact you refer to "miles+$$" upgrades since elites have no co-pays on domestic mileage upgrades?

I believe it goes back to the underlying waitlist infrastructure. My understanding has been that the central reservation system/GDS that CO uses handles the waitlist, and either they're not capable of or they charge more money for maintaining the waitlist within 24 hours. So CO has always just let it expire. It was only within the last couple of years that CO even allowed those expired waitlists to transition to the upgrade standby list that is processed at the airport. CO could move waitlist handling in-house, but I suspect that would make it more difficult for travel agents to access it directly.

Because there was availability. There isn't this year, and that can be for any number of reasons. Perhaps the flight is fuller, perhaps CO expects more sales of first class fares (the economy is a bit better than a year ago).
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. No real way of knowing.
Not really. If you are on the waitlist, then the upgrade will clear automatically when the inventory becomes available, subject to the priority ordering of the waitlist. There have been reports of delays between inventory availability and waitlist upgrading, but the only way to find out about it is to constantly/periodically check on continental.com by creating a new reservation with an upgrade request. If you see upgrade availability for a new reservation, then call CO and request them to process your waitlist. We don't really have a sense of how widespread this issue is.

Be aware that if you have 4 passengers on the same reservation with upgrade requests, I think they'll only clear if 4 upgrade seats become available, otherwise I think it skips over you to the next passenger on the waitlist. You might consider dividing the reservation into 2+2 to improve your chances of at least some upgrades clearing earlier. You can do this over the phone or online at co.com
No, you could be waiting forever. It's in your best interest to get on the waitlist as early as possible.
If the others are elite or requested upgrades before you then they will clear the waitlist before you. There's nothing you can do about that. And as I mentioned, I think you might be skipped over if there is not enough upgrade inventory for all passengers on your reservation.

And just for some perspective, most of us elites here would probably think that upgrading IAH-MCO is a terrible use of miles, as the flight is pretty short. Of course we can get exit rows for free, whereas non-elites have to pay for them, and we often get free upgrades anyway. We would most rather save our miles for upgrades on long international flights or for free business/first class awards on long international flights.

TriSeb

Thank you very much for addressing all questions, I really appreciate your time and the recommendations you provided.

...and the perspective actually makes me feel much better as I agree with this approach for elite, it makes total sense.

For me, our one big summer vacation it is totally worth usage (even though it is a relatively short flight, the family loves FC), so hopefully that will be the case. Again, thank you.

ijgordon

Well, if your family loves domestic first class, you should really try and save to get them in international first class on a top-tier airline, which may look something like this:

McHugh

I'm trying to use a SWU for flt CO1 to HNL tomorrow. The waitlist expired and an email from CO said that I would automatically be added to the standby list after check-in. I checked in, but do not show up on the standby list. (Currently, no one is on the list.)

Does the pda site standby list work for flights with BusinessFirst service?

In other words, am I missing from the pda site list because there is no pda site list for BusinessFirst or do I need to call to get something fixed?

DCP913

You should call immediately and let us know how you make out

dergon darkhelm

Maybe it' the same as the Waitlist to EUA list bug. It says you will be added, but you actually can't get onto the list until you check in at the airport (not online).


Please some other FTer confirm I'm not talking crazy....but I think that is the case.

JerseyScotsman

[QUOTE=McHugh;16472336]
Does the pda site standby list work for flights with BusinessFirst service?

QUOTE]

Yes, it works for BF.

I have had a similar experience - call them to check everything is correct with the booking and then ask at the airport to check you in again. It worked for me!