Please be nice, but I need a good explanation about upgrading in general, specifically BF. I am fairly new to CO and do not quite understand how it works even after reading the information on continental.com. I understand (mostly) how the EUA system works and makes sense. If there are EUA's then what is the point of the mileage upgrades- is it mostly for non-elites that want to sit in F or what? And if you use miles for an upgrade, are you guaranteed the upgrade or not? Now, for BF, when you are looking at the flight information on continental.com or the PDA site and it shows a BF flight with the upgrade list, how are those people on that list? Do they request these upgrades with miles or is it like domestic travel where you book as an elite (say plat.) and you will clear an upgrade 5/3/1 day(s) in advance? Please provide as much information as possible and thanks ahead of time for all of your responses; the understanding and explanations are of great help!

As an elite, if you use miles for a domestic upgrade you get a few benefits. 1) You can confirm your upgrade in advance, if there is a seat available. 2) You can waitlist for the upgrade, and if a seat opens you automatically get it. 3) You are prioritized above EUAs at the airport if your mileage upgrade doesn't clear in advance

You can only be guaranteed an upgrade using miles if the upgrade is available when you request it. If you have to waitlist, there is a chance it won't clear.

Cleared customers used miles (or the elusive BF upgrade cert?). Customers on a standby list are most likely displaced BF customers. Possible non-revs...not sure about that -- maybe someone else can provide clarity.

There are no EUAs on flights to BF markets. You can only request upgrades with a combination of miles+copay. The only exception is HNL which allows rev-ups.

There is a lot of information on this in The CO FAQ which is a sticky thread at the top of the forum.

Specifically relating to BF and EUAs, the simple answer is that EUA is not offered on any flight with BF service. The miles-up and rev-up options for BF are in the FAQ, located here.

Also, welcome to FT.

Thank you very much for the information, it is greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the welcome and pointing me in the right direction!

It took me forever to figure out a BF upgrade. It is not clearly explained on continental.com (CO, if you're listening, now it's two of us saying we didn't understand it!)

BF upgrades needs to be "paid for" via miles/co-pay. If it is open (R bucket availability) then you can have it at the point when you choose to pay. Choose your seat, enjoy the flight.

However, if it is not available you go onto a waitlist. Folks on the waitlist are prioritized by elite status and then the day/time they were added to the list. That waitlist expires at T-24 to departure, but everyone left on it goes to the airport list (the one you see at co.com) to be cleared by the airport. It's by elite status.

What makes it all clear-as-mud is that R comes and goes based on projected buying. It has little to do with the number of seats available and everything to do with how many seats they think they can sell. When/why/how is unknown to us, but there are clearly points prior to departure that the system runs some calculations and decides to release seats into R. If people are waitlisted they get the seats, if that is all clear then it shows up as mileage-deduct for fresh new bookings, and then if it stays available it eventually pops up in already-booked ressies as the elusive "upgrade this reservation with miles" link.

You can call to be put on the waitlist anytime prior to T-24, sooner the better. Cancellation or failure to clear gets your miles and money back.

I find doing it online when "upgrade with miles" appears in my ressie to be the easiest and least stressful way after the initial booking. If you're curious, search for your itin on Co.com as if it were a new booking and have it show award upgrade availability. If your itin is showing as allowing it for the segments you want you can call and be bumped right up despite the link not working in your online reservation.

THANK YOU!! I thought I was the only one that found continental.com confusing-I guess it's because I'm relatively new to the process and most people on FT are quite frequent travelers. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who has had trouble and thanks for the additional information!

Don't forget: if you do use the BF upgrade and waitlist on a multi-segment trip, and you don't clear for an over-the-ocean (aka: the BF segment itself) then you get everything refunded - even if you flew in F for the domestic segments. It's essentially a freebie/gimme for the wasted time/effort on your part. It does not work the other way around though (if you clear the BF segment but not the domestic segments).