This just came up in another thread, but it'll get lost there. I think it's a significant issue, so I'm starting this new thread. I hope PMNW fliers can tell us about their actual experience, and that by calling attention to this we can get DL to consider re-instituting the program. Personally I feel it will benefit both customers and the airline, and be a significant step towards "best in class"

One can only dream!

Don't see any reason why they can't. It's probably that they don't want to do such a thing. I personally don't see any harm in putting a few medallions up front given there is space.

Being nice to the GA never hurts, but for phantom upgrades there was a very well defined list of criteria, as well as a very well defined list of eligible elite flyers (who were ordered by upgrade status). If I remember correctly, the guidelines for GAs were something like:
If seats are available, you may provide upgrades to (in order) flyer A, flyer B, flyer C, Flyer D, Flyer E. These passengers (max. 5) were ordered based on some combination of elite status, annual/lifetime spend, and fare class.

This may be a simplified version, but I think it covers the bases. It was never expected (even if WBC wasn't full, since it was limited to a max of 5 pax per flight).

Your "phantom" upgrade is to the middle seat on a 767 in the last row of Y.
THat's where they keep passengers who are "valuable" like you.

<<<<<<If seats are available, you may provide upgrades to (in order) flyer A, flyer B, flyer C, Flyer D, Flyer E. These passengers (max. 5) were ordered based on some combination of elite status, annual/lifetime spend, and fare class.

I did three overseas trips within the period (March, June, December) and got the phantom upgrades all three times. Plat, and always on lowest possible fare. NWA ff flyer since the '80's. but elite only maybe in the last 5 or 6 years (silver to gold to plat; all personally paid leisure travel at lowest possible fare). It felt like a very fond farewell from an airline that valued people first.

To clarify a bit, on TATL flights it was only eastbound -- i.e. where there was NW staff.

I had 3 TALT flights during that time. One was DTW-DUS on the 757 and there weren't that many WBC seats so it may not have been included in the program. The other two trips were DTW-FRA and MEM-AMS on 333's and I got it on the latter. It is possible I could have been on the list on the DTW-FRA but the inbound flight was late and they basically closed the door behind me so if I was on the list I'm sure they gave it to somebody else.

If DL just called up to 5 people up to the podium (when empty BE seats) and asked "Would you like to use a SWU?" it'd go a long way towards making people happy. I fly anywhere from 3-5 TATL trips a year on my own dime and all I'd really like is to sit in BE on one leg a year. With NW once a year I'd buy a B fare ($1000-1500 from LAX) and upgrade with miles and I was a happy camper.

NW Phantom Upgrade program worked like this:

Flight Eligibility: US to Europe, US to Asia, Asia to US, within Asia. The reason Europe to the US didn't work is because all of the European stations are managed by KL or third party staff (and I believe they ran on a completely different mainframe. I might be wrong about this fact).

Elite Eligibility: Platinum and Gold Elite only.

How it worked: based on seat availability up to five elites as defined above would be upgraded to the WBC cabin at the gate, usually 15 minutes before boarding. NW wasn't forthcoming with the exact criteria for selecting the five lucky flyers but it was generally believed to be Plat first, Gold second. Then within the elite ranks it was based on LTV (long term value) to NW as well as either YTD EQM or Lifetime EQM. It *appeared* that the value of the specific ticket you were flying on didn't play too big of a role.

This program was designed to specifically reward those travelers that have stuck with NW for the long haul if you will.

My experience: I only missed one international upgrade while this program was in effect (technically two but that's a different story). The upgrade I missed was MSP-AMS and there were five people upgraded so there were a lot more HVC's on that flight who outranked me. I don't have my records in front of me but I enjoyed the phantom upgrade on DTW-AMS (several times), MSP-AMS, SEA-NRT, ICN-NRT, NRT-SEA, etc.

Hope this helps.

PS - there were times I was upgraded after I had already boarded. NW was always VERY GOOD about coming on board to move someone up who had been upgraded, domestic or international.

-RM

+1.

I received 5 total Phantoms and they were not op-ups but confirmed phantoms. This was indeed a structured and managed process though it was not publicised or stated as a benefit. The GA (and in one case the Plat Line) informed me of the PU and thanked me for my business. It really was a great program.

1. Not a published benefit so there is no fighting for them. You get it you know it...you don't, that's life.

2. By limiting it to 5 per flight NW ensured that Plats would not "roll the dice" on a phantom and thus take away revenue. It was never a sure thing and if you really wanted Biz you would pay for it.

3. They only did it on flights that had the space and would have otherwise gone out empty.

4. It was EFFECTIVE! There is nothing like a surprise "thank you" that is tangible to keep flyer's loyal. I enjoyed those upgrades more than any other WBC flights I took and I took dozens. It is kind of like getting a bottle of wine (well it depends on the bottle) for a Holiday bonus and getting a check for $5k. That is a REAL incentive to be loyal and know that loyalty is appreciated.

If DL is on the fence on this they need to talk to people who were part of it. It was a great program and I really believe it cost almost nothing for NW to do it (other than the time spent managing it).

I don't understand this thread.
12 years of Medallion and I've been upgraded TATL a grand total of 5 times. In all cases Y was oversold.

That's right. I was there and we all didn't hear Bob Soukup not talk about the phantom upgrade program which never existed.

If it had existed it would have allowed (as noted previously) a max of 5 elites to be upgraded when WBC seats were unsold as of departure time. It represented zero cost (hint for Jeff) for the airline.

Since the program never existed, it was never a published benefit, and elites couldn't complain if they didn't get the upgrade. It would be great if something that never existed could "not exist" again.

Yes they were there, I was beneficiary of them. I would intentional

I notice I am flying in Y all the time on TPAC now. M too expensive to justify even with the platinum SWU's.

However I like the suggestion of calling up Y passengers by status and offer empty BE seats for the SWU certificates at the gate.

The reason you don't understand is because you were a DL flyer, and not a NWA flyer. This program was just for NWA elites on the US-AMS and TPAC flights. Never published and never acknowledged by the agents or management.

The Phantom Upgrades were NOT op-ups.

>>>>>>The reason you don't understand is because you were a DL flyer, and not a NWA flyer. This program was just for NWA elites on the US-AMS and TPAC flights. Never published and never acknowledged by the agents or management.


And it happened in the period after the DL merger was announced, but prior to the full DL-NW integration.

I was NEVER upgraded as part of the phantom upgrade program... But I certainly kept buying tickets on NW, even when it was more expensive to do so, in part because of the possibility that it might happen.

I should say that I don't buy WBC/BE, not because I don't want to, but because I simply cant afford to. And my job doesn't allow me to (Uncle Sam frowns upon that sort of thing for employees at my level).