chances of FB waitlist upgrade
 

Hello,

does anyone have experiences with wait list upgrades HAM to NWR?
I checked for end of October ( for miles and fee upgrade) and cant find any available upgrades online and would consider going wait list.
It seems like most days there are 2-4 seats available in FB.

Also, do I have to make the reservation online and then call elite line for wait list?

Would they upgrade for fee and miles rather then let it stay empty?

Your input?

Thanks,

I hope this helps some : I was told that the miles which comes from a Plat account will have top priority ( besides the fare classes, time of purchase, etc. ).
And when you look at the seat map, CO blocks like 12 seats ( whole 1st row in the BF cabin on the 772s, and whole 1st row in the 2nd BF cabin ). I did not pay much attention to the 764s or 762s.
If the WL does not clear...they will give you back the co-pay and reinstate your miles. What do you have to loose ? :p

Thanks for your input.
What I have to lose? I would fly with a different airline if I chnaces are not good to being on wait list.

BTW: The aircraft is a 757-200 and they sometimes block 2 seats in first row for pilots.

You don't have to but you can. If the flight is after October 27th (or is it the 24th for 100% EQMs) then there is no penalty for just doing it all on the phone.

Absolutely.

If there is a seat blocked for the reserve pilot it should only be one BF seat, not two of them, and I believe that they give the pilot the BF seat only if there is no paying customer for it (including miles upgrades). Otherwise the reserve pilot gets 16DEF, IIRC.

Fare class does not factor into BF upgrades (only domestic). Just as an FYI I think Continental has recently changed their clearance of customers waitlisted for BF. I fly EWR-HKG often and always use miles and co-pay to upgrade and I am platinum so I have always cleared. I used to clear upgrades about 30 days out. Recently it seems they wait until just before takeoff to clear the list, even though BF was half empty. It stinks if you want to use the lounge before the flight. I can understand holding some of the seats, but half???

Ah, so your upgrade did clear.
I would have gone to the lounge anyway and explained your situation, perhaps they would have let you in as a courtesy. Though I doubt it would work in HKG or for any contract lounge, just the PCs.

Yes my upgrade cleared after I boarded the flight. The flight had 18 seats empty in BF. I tried to talk to the Presidents Club but they said until my upgrade clears there is nothing they can do. I won't even try it in HKG because I know the answer. Of course my upgrade has not cleared yet on the return and there are many seats open. Very frustrating to say the least.

Hmmm...well that was bad form by CO, if you ask me. I have no idea why they held so many seats. On other int'l flights I've seen them clear, for example, 2 of the last 3 seats before the 24 hour mark.

Heh...good one. Leniency and discretion are not things CO PC agents are good at, and you're asking for both here. I've had CO PC agents attempt to deny me when presented with valid credentials. Now you're asking for a stretch of the rules to get in? ;)