Is it Me or Has EUA Become Almost Impossible Lately?
 

Last week, I thought I was going to get EAU'd LAX-IAH when F was more than 9. Upon Check in, I was #6 on the list and 12 people had already been upgraded. That made me Platinum #18.

It was the same for IAH-ORD. 10 people were upgraded and at check in I was #3. The return I cleared at 5 day out for ORD-IAH but IAH-LAX again, 20 people were upgraded (753) and I was #7 on the list. That made me Platinum #27.

For the DO, 6th day out it was F > 9. After EUA, it became F5 and now F3. I didn't clear. All of the exit row occupants but 1 stayed clued to the seatmap. I don't even want to know what number I will be when I check in.

I just checked the return, now F2.

Buh bye First, here comes coach. :rolleyes:

Will it get better after March 1, when all the outgoing elites drop their levels?

It is the BUrP Syndrome.

I got upgraded 5 days out for both my DO flights.

deleted...obviously my mind is still napping, I was thinking of something impossible hehe

It usually gets marginally better.

I have not noticed any drop-off in EUA's, however - currently 7 out of 8 EUA-eligible flights. The only one I have missed this year was DCA-IAH on a Thursday afternoon on a 73G.

Also, the "Customers Upgraded" list displays Y-up's (and presumably B-up's), so on the IAH-LAX 753 you mentioned, you were not necessarily Platinum number 27 because there could have been several Golds or Silvers on Y's or B's that were upgraded at the time of ticket purchase, but who were still listed on the upgraded list.

IAH-SoCal (especially LAX) can be difficult any time of the year.

If I didn't know better, I would say that BlissWorld started a "will my upgrade clear" thread.

*grabs popcorn*

;)

West Coast based CO Elites fare very poorly for upgrades. I got 33% last year as Plat, and some of the flights I managed to do well on no longer exist (e.g., SJC-EWR, OAK-IAH). But as of recently, even SFO-IAH doesn't clear anymore.

The worst flight I experienced was a SFO-EWR with 66 Platinums in coach. They had to do boading by status -- Plats, then Golds, then Silvers, then Rows.

I often find its the companion upgrade that kills my chances dead in the water.
I almost always travel by myself.

I often don't care about North American first class (what a joke), unless it's a transcon.

Dragon at the gate told me "Mr. meFIRST, you are not in the running"
When I walked past F, I noticed that half the cabin were kids under 12. Some platinum or LK's friend with a large family?

I hope the catering stocked extra sundaes. This was EWR-SFO.

I was happy to sit at the back. Thank you.

I'm quite happy with my upgrade success after moving some of my business to CO.

Sure, sometimes my upgrades don't clear in advance, but I have a 100% upgrade success this far on both CO and NWA as a Plat. (except for the one flight I got denied boarding and got rerouted on a pretty full Sunday)

I don't EVER want to see when my name shows up as #65 on the upgrade list...

Good point. With CO's generous Y/B-Up policy, you do get a lot of them, especially out of the West Coast.

Yes, CO would not be my first choice of program for top tier if I were based in California. I probably would do 1K as my primary and AS or AA as a secondary program.

That's exactly how I felt last year when I first switched and flew 10 segments with CO and 4 segments with NW. My upgrade was 100%. Now, this year, I'm starting to fly a lot more now and I was stunned by how many Platinums were on my fligth last weekend :mad: But then again, it's nothing compared to channa's 66 Plat flight

I've been an 1K for 3 years. I still have mixed feelings about UA. I am enjoying CO thus far, but just wish my upgrade rates could stay higher. I've already booked enough on CO this year. We'll see what happens. I guess I can always try AA is this doesn't work out.

UA definitely still has its issues with upgrades due to all the 1K's and GS's in SFO and LAX, but it still probably offers the most routing options of any of the legacies to West Coast-based flyers. I would give CO this year and see whether it works out. If not, as you say, maybe try AA.