aubreyfromwheaton

I think there should be a Lowly Silver Upgrade Success thread

GM/PM/DM/KM get love from GA announcements but Lowly Silvers wallow in the bottom quartile of UG list registrants

But every once in a while, a Lowly Silver is bestowed with a banana laden snack basket and the honor to rub shoulders with the paid F players and ham sammies.

Ledfish

Something tells me that as far as actual upgrade success, this will be a rather short thread.

Last year while silver I went 2/35. Of those 2, one was a Early Saturday morning flight from DTW-MSP as part of a 3 segment trip to SJC. The other was on MSP-PHX on a Monday morning which was a surprise due to it being on a Monday morning.

Being DTW based and traveling outbound on Monday mornings and inbound on Friday afternoons, on mostly elite heavy routes, my optimism for upgrades at almost any level is rather none existant.

lexi

Last year as Silver, I was 1/43.

It was a few days before Christmas, X fare class, on the very short hop from LGA to SYR.

Was very pleasantly surprised for the upgrade - even if time in the air was probably less than 45 minutes. Us lowly FOs appreciate the occasional crumb thrown our way.

CAETravlr

Somehow, I have had a confirmed upgrade on my flight from ATL-CHS later this evening. However, I'm flying out of BOS to ATL with a 36 minute connection to catch that flight in ATL. So, hopefully I actually get to sit in my first class seat.

Currently I am #1 of 2 on a waitlist for 3 first class seats for the BOS-ATL leg. Hopefully that doesn't change in the next 4 hours.

orr333

I have not been a silver since the NWA days - but have a neat story - which was possibly a SHENA event. Last year, I was on the last ATL-MSP (flight 300) on a Friday night so most road warriors were home already. The GA made an announcement that "Kettle 'X' just achieved FO today and also was getting her first UG".

I feel for that person as their expectations were very falsely set!!

FlyDeltaJets87

Was a GM for 2013 but was FO from 2010-2012 and will be dropping back to FO on March 1. Those first three years as an FO I averaged around 25-30% UG success, including some unexpected ones like clearing on a DTW-LAX on a Friday night on the 777 (at the window no less) and RDU-LGA on a Friday afternoon and LGA-RDU on a Monday morning.

As a Silver I found if my UG didn't clear before check-in, I probably wasn't going to get it. Of the approximately 20-25 UGs I got over those three years, only about three were BFUGs at the gate.

plinko83

I'm flying right now at this very moment BWI-ATL-BNA my first flight of 2014 and was upgrade on both legs. Ticket was actually purchased this morning (one-way in U for $200 AI) and both segments upgraded at purchase.

I was 14/32 last year, so I am very happy with my upgrade percentage as a FO. my travel is 98% on my own dime (almost no business travel) so I have the ability to pick and choose often based on where my best upgrade chances are. I am DCA based and fly a lot if DCA-ATL and I hit less than 10% on that route but do well on others. I'm actually batting 1.000 on upgrades in and out of BNA over the past 4 months (4 RTs).

So I guess the moral of the story is that the upgrades do exist.

EmptyKim

8/27 as FO last year. Not too bad, most upgrades were on short hops: LAX-LAS, LAX-SFO, etc.

steex

Unusual travel patterns last year resulted in many flights that weren't upgrade eligible (50-seater, longhaul, award, companion pass) as well as more flights than usual on other carriers. At any rate, I received 10 upgrades on 18 eligible segments in 2013 - definitely a higher than usual rate of success.

mrlittell

Ended up 14/26, on paid, upgrade eligible tickets (including aircrafts without an F cabin).

Was also upgraded on award tickets twice, as GAs in DTW usually upgrade me after playing dumb about not being on the upgrade list.

First medallion UG was a 6am Saturday BUF-JFK, I had the F cabin to myself on a CR9.

Best UG was on ATL-LAS on a Friday evening MR, was #15 with 8 open leaving home. Arrived in ATL and ended up clearing at the gate.

3 segments left me #1 on the list with 0 seats open.

fsuj25

I had a near-success story from LAX-DTW on January 7. I was the next name up on the upgrade list. THe flight had been delayed about 2 hours at this point. The GA started calling names and mine was the first one she called. I pointed to the screen and told her i was just waiting to see if my name cleared the UG list by any chance but I was there. She barked at me that all seats up front were occupied. Lo and behold, when i get on the bird, there's an empty seat in First. The seat that is right in front of me. I told the other GA while on the plane that if the seat was empty i thought i'd go to me. she said if the seat stayed empty they'd come back and move the next person on the UG list. Alas they never did. Meanwhile, before I could plead my case with the FA a DYKWIA that had been fluttering around the GAs and FAs the entire time convinced the FA to move her friend up from the back. Had i not changed my connection in DTW I would have cleared that list. I ended up on my original flight out of DTW after all, and the entire list had cleared by the time I got to the gate. I had been somewhere in the top half of that list before I had them re-book me only to get booked back on my original flight. I was a long day. Other than that so far I'm 1 for 4 so far in 2014, my first year as FO. I made the cut in early December 2013. I feel exceedingly grateful for my 25% success rate for the year so far, in spite of the bad taste in my mouth from that LAX experience.

Oakshadow

When I was an FO in 2009-2011 (and will be again on March 1), my UG success was about 25%, generally on short to medium haul like LAX-LAS, LAX-SLC, FLL-ATL or ATL-BDL. Probably the longest UG flight success was a LAX-MEM red-eye. Never LAX-ATL, LAX-JFK or LAX-MSP.

Flinders

I was 2/8 after I requalified as a FO late last year. From 2006-2011 I averaged about 35-40%. I travel on my own dime as well, so I have some flexibility about routes and times, but ex-DCA is also tough at times. Though the 6am DCA-ATL flight is usually decent for upgrades--I've been on it a couple of times and cleared; often the UG list is only four or five people deep.

knively

3/3 so far this year (first time medallion)

Flying 4 segments this week... My 100% is definitely going to drop

Dieuwer

In 2013: 4/6 on upgrade eligible segments.