emcsweeney

Now that's what I'm looking for sbm12...this does appear to be total BS based on Flyer737's account which I doubt is an isolated case...like somebody already mentioned, just be straight with us so we can make an educated decision on where to invest our travel $$$ going forward. It would take a great deal to make me switch carriers, but this conversation is very disturbing to me. I understand the reduction to 100% bonus miles (like UA), but to me this (would) erodes the value of plats more than anything. It almost seams as though this goes hand in hand with the new upgradeable "M" fares as a way to get plats to spend the additional money. Oh well, I guess the days of buying lots of cheap fares in hopes of an upgrade are coming to an end. I can handle that and adjust accordingly, but please just be honest with us.

lindaiah

I'm wondering about the fee schedule myself...
Returning from LAS the other day (to IAH), my non-elite friend was offered an upgrade for $150. I had already been upgraded 24 hours out, so nothing fishy there, as far as I'm concerned. But I had told her that the fee should be $100, according to the published fee schedule. The upgrade was offered the night before (checking in on the pda site) at $150, and then again on the airport kiosk for the same amount. What happened to the $100 fee for a flight of that distance?
BTW, on the flight from IAH, no 'cheap' upgrade was offered to her, and I wasn't upgraded, either.

sbm12

Interestingly enough, I just went to find the fee schedule on co.com to confirm the numbers and I cannot find it now. Alex isn't of much help.

I wonder if they jacked the prices up and forgot to tell anyone.

Bonehead

I wouldn't be surprised...I've sat next to folks in FC who've said that they bought up and thought that it was a great deal. They certainly might be monkeying with the price points.

lindaiah

https://www.continental.com/web/en-U...dUpgradeNotice

I looked at this section ("Day-of-departure First Class Upgrades are now available") a couple of weeks ago, and the prices were there for the different mileage levels. Now they are gone. Looks like maybe they did change them and haven't re-published...?

Bonehead

Boy, this would be a great thread for a comment from Scott (aka "the man himself"...).

UA Insider

Hi Everyone, before you start marching down to Smith Street with your pitchforks and torches, let me fill in some of the blanks about our upgrade programs. I'll start with some important clarifications about our program:
Hi Flyer737, this one took a while to research, and in the end, we did find an issue to resolve.

As you may know, our Elite Upgrade Automation (EUA) does not upgrade customers who are in the same reservation as customers who do not have Elite status. For EUA to consider you, you have to either book your reservations separately, or separate yourself from the reservation (which can be done via continental.com or over the phone). In your case, Flyer737, had you separated your reservation, you would've cleared your upgrade at the 3-day mark. Same was the case for another Platinum member whose multi-party reservation wasn't divided until check-in. In the end, this customer and his Platinum companion got the last two First Class seats.

Here's where we could've been smarter. Our process that ensures we've accounted for all of our Elite customers does not appear to factor in the multi-party reservation that includes an Elite member. It's not until the Elite member declares the desire for an upgrade at check-in that he/she is divided out and added to our count. In your case, Flyer737, the Platinum member and companion who ultimately got the last two First Class seats did not get divided and added to the upgrade standby list until very late in the check-in window. We have identified the solution that will ensure Elites in reservations with non-Elite customers will be considered in our Elite counts. It is in development and should be loaded very soon.

OPFlyer

Thanks for the clarification CO Insider.


I hope this means the ability to add the companion to the Airport Upgrade Standby List online.

Bonehead

Scott: Thank you for the information!

Regarding the above quote...does that mean that as a Plat, the "lowest available front cabin fare" might be "M", or does it need to be a true FC bucket?

sbm12

Too late.

Yeah, we all figured this one out, and I think that this is the one that most people are seeing and are upset about.

I believe that the non-Elite buy-up isn't really displacing all that many people.

But anecdotal evidence here suggests that the fare-difference to F approach actually is, or at least is visible much more than makes the elites (self included) comfortable. Y'all clearly need the money but it sucks for the platinum to know that a silver with $100 can beat them out for an upgrade. Of course, it is good news for the silver so ther must be some balance struck, but perception is a big part of reality here. The fact that it appears that you are selling upgrades out from under your top elites, combined with the fact that you sortof are, albeit at the price of the fare difference without a change fee, doesn't really look so good.

But, as long as you're doing it and owning up to it, a couple questions about the process:

1. Will it always be available for everyone, or only sometimes? If the latter, how do you decide?
2. Does the buy-up actually change the booking class for purposes of mileage accrual and IRROPs handling (and anything else that might affect)?
3. Is it always a buy up to an F fare or does it take into account elite status, AN/B/M inventory, etc.?
4. Has there been a wholesale change in policy to permit buying up to a higher fare class on the same itinerary with no change fee?

Good news.^

Thanks, as always, for chiming in.

Flyer737

Scott, Thanks for the reply on what happened! Could you please clarify one point? If there happens to be a Platinum in a 2 party reservation and a Gold in a 2 party reservation, will Continental "protect" 4 seats from the non-elite day of departure upgrade offers? If you only protect 2 (for the Plat and Gold Elites), the plat companion will beat out the Gold Elite like in my case. You would have to protect a minimum of 3 to cover the Gold Elite (and leave the Gold companion unprotected). If there are Silver Elites not yet upgraded, it seems you would also have to protect the Gold companions along with the Silver. Do I have this correct?

UA Insider

Fair enough, sbm12, but we've always said that our first priority is to actually fill the First Class cabin with customers paying First Class fares. Our buy-up option is simply a matter of more proactively merchandising these fares (as opposed to keeping them hidden behind a veil of secrecy).

The buy-up option is offered when the difference in fare falls within a reasonable range. For example, it's unlikely you'll ever see a check-in offer that says "Buy up to a First Class fare for just $3,800."

Absolutely. When you buy-up to a First Class fare, you're effectively buying the published fare and getting booked in the corresponding fare class.

Yes, by lowest available front cabin fare, we also mean instant upgrade fares, when applicable. In full disclosure, however, we do have a known issue where we're not offering the instant upgrade fares correctly between Los Angeles (LAX) and Honolulu (HNL), and in some of our International Business Class markets in Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and the Pacific. This will be corrected later this month.

Yes, but other than check-in, we're pretty low-profile about it. You can also accomplish this by calling us directly, and plans for adding to continental.com are in the works. When buying up in advance (outside of check-in), we will allow you to buy up to a front cabin fare on the exact same itinerary without having to pay any applicable change fees. In these cases, we'll simply charge you the difference between the fare you paid and the premium cabin fare. The applicable change fee will be waived, but the most restrictive fare rules between your original fare and the new fare will apply to the new ticket. If we're ever confused about this over the phone, politely refer us to GG BUYUP.

If you'd rather not keep the rules of your original ticket, you'll still have the option to pay the change fee and enjoy the rules of the new ticket (however, in these cases, if the new fare is refundable, only the difference in fare is considered refundable).

For now, Flyer737, the quick and easy fix is to at least account for the Elite members that are in multi-party reservations. To also make assumptions about the companion is a little more complicated, but something we'll absolutely factor in as we plan changes to our companion upgrade program.

CHIC SILBER

Right on time Scott

We all appreciate your continuing concern & help

"Dynamic Pricing" how remarkable

Love to know who the VP of the Dynamic Department is

Clearly with the great losses continuing we all understand

the need for any & all revenue streams but many of us

have been lucky for so long it's hard to lose any perks

With any additional luck if we live through these rough

times we will look forward to getting them back

Thanks for all you do

mbreuer

Scott,

Overall, good news (looking forward to the co.com upgrades as well).

As to the buy up, is it possible now to buy up to a higher fare class in the same cabin? I'm specifically thinking about those pesky 50% eqms forced by corporate travel agents. Sometimes it's cost effective to buy-up to a higher fare class (perhaps B or Y for this gold, or M if I hit plat). However, not that long ago, my significant other did this within 24 hours of ticket purchase and got hit with change fees. When I checked at the time, it seemed that there was no wiggle room, and no grace period for tickets purchased through a travel agent.

toby182

i guess this clarifies things. my takeaway is that this can diminish the chances for a platinum upgrade.