apolloms

It's oversold by X with 2 seats available for sale. already more checked in than seats available. I'm not posting actual numbers since when I have tried to help in the past i've been scolded by FTers for trying to help out.

davetravels

Well, I certainly don't claim to be a know-it-all, but, in theory, usually F7 Y3 - or, 10 seats available for sale means that it's not overbooked/sold.

yohanson

I was flying from BNA with my GF, who had no status, and neither of us was on the upgrade list but I can't remember why. It certainly wasn't because we were on a companion cert because I've never used one in all the years I've gotten them. This was during the DMQMs from STL, BNA, RDU and PIT so I was either a GM or a PM at the time. Anyway, the GA (who was a rather attractive blonde in really nice boots) called First Class and a few people boarded. Then she called Zone 1? (I think this was before Sky Zone) and the GF and I walked up to her and I handed her my boarding pass. She asked why I wasn't upgraded and I said the GF wasn't eligible (so maybe I removed myself but I highly doubt that) and she said F was wide open and then hit a few keys on the keyboard and out spit 2 boarding passes in F with us seated right next to each other.

Another time we were on a long layover in LGA and she was on an award ticket with no status and I was able to get the GA to upgrade her by asking nicely. There were a number of open seats in F and it was a Saturday.

I failed to mention that when Zone 1 was called in BNA, we were the only 2 people that walked up to the gate. One other thing...the people that boarded in F (4 maybe?), had all been standing in line (gate lice) for at least 15 minutes. Our gate was right across from the SC and I would poke my head out occasionally to see if they were boarding.

Profchemnerd

Thanks for the info. We will be at gate early (don't want to pay $58 to get the fam into the SC for 30 min), so I'll be sure to ask nicely of the GA whether we can get an opup.

apolloms

we will agree to disagree since i'm not going to reveal the numbers here. You are confusing "available" with "authorized"

yohanson

I don't think that's true Dave. Those numbers are actually what is for sale. The airlines know that a certain percentage of people will not show up or will SDC /SDS to another flight. I used to know a woman (a flaming lefty that deleted me finally off of FB for some political post...hehe) who was working on the algorithm for NW that predicted no shows shortly before the "merger". The whole purpose was to maximize revenue by overbooking to the point where NW could send out airplanes that were as full as possible but not have to pay compensation for IDB.

Some things that they use for their prediction is the time of day of the flight, the number of flights to that destination after that flight, day of week, history for that destination, etc. I know her contract ended a long time ago but I believe they have been tweaking that algorithm since then. Delta, that is.

Oh, and, I met her through Single Divers. Go figure. That was for the other Dave.

davetravels

Yes, of course, and I said that a couple'la posts back - that, the "show up rate" is likely higher on a Saturday, and particularly during the holiday season.

audio-nut

that doesn't mean they are willing to sell 10 seats. they might only be willing to only sell 7 seats. You could buy one seat and it might go to F6Y2.

hurnik

Maybe they changed things, but a few years ago, I had purchased tickets to Cancun. On our connecting flight, they had 9 seats left in FC and were offering paid upgrades. Only 4 of us wanted to pay (nobody else did). Me and another couple (unrelated). We both got to the counter and inquired about paying and were told that our tickets were not upgradeable (I forget which class you needed to have purchased).

Even worse, as we were boarding the plane, some guy in coach was telling the FA that his wife had a bad back and she put both of them into FC (no charge). Really? I was willing to pay and couldn't.

Oh well, that was the last time I flew Delta to be honest. Went with USAirways after that. Maybe I need to have a bad back from now on?

LOL!

Anyway, good luck on your upgrade, hope you do get it.

Profchemnerd

Update from yesterday. Got to the gate 1 h before flight and they had already processed the opup for me and Profchemnerd jr (on companion ticket). I asked nicely whether there was any chance they could move Mr profchemnerd (on separate PNR, no status) into F, and they looked at the manifest and said "sure" and gave us 4A,C,D. When asking, I phrased it that I was fully prepared to hear a "no" but was asking just in case it was possible. I know that PM doesn't mean much in the grander scheme, but I guess when you're just about the only medallion on the flight, they're willing to throw you a very nice favor. I made sure to say thank you and happy holidays both at the desk and when boarding.

Despite 8 open in F at T-2, they flew with a full F cabin. I know there was at least one NRSA they UGed, and not sure how others were chosen (for anyone who didn't read the OP, the UG list was empty). Didn't see whether Y was completely full, but they definitely did give away our original seats in EC.

I may still be less than happy with the recent enhancements to the medallion program, but the SLC GAs definitely did a lot to cement my loyalty with this one.

My only regret is that I didn't have my AJWD certs handy, but I bet I can find the same GA again when we return home or next time I fly.

relangford

I thought both the paid passenger and the one using the companion cert were both ineligible for UGs. Not true?

StrandedinSLC

Generally yes this is the case, but on oversold flights they will upgrade medallions and companions in advance. Happened to me as well MSN-SLC earlier this year as GM/no status.

Maybe it's a SLC/Midwest thing

mnredfox

KVS still works? I thought they shut it down???

Jay00848

Last year 3 open seats in FC on sin to dtw, wife and I were returning from honeymoon. Coach was even but I asked anyways and agent said no but when boarding our tickets reprinted in fc. We were so surprisded.

SamOF

You're forgetting that available F seats influence the amount by which Y is overbooked. If it doesn't look like F is going to sell or go to medallions, a good RM software will overbook Y, in this case, by an extra 7 beyond what you would normally see.