2018 Upgrade Success (Or Lack Thereof)
#391
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
RDU-NYC used to be my most reliable route and for a while I never missed it in either direction as a Silver but in the last year or so it's gotten harder, especially up to JFK
#392
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
The timing of this one made it particularly challenging because it was the 350pm timed to be the the feeder into the Friday night JFK - Europe flights (though we got diverted to ABE so all those connections turned into IRROPs for folks connecting on to Europe).
#393
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: BNA
Programs: DL GM, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,027
Unexpected C+ upgrade with 3 companions
A few weeks ago, BNA > SEA, the GA must have upgraded the 4 of us to C+. At first I was a little annoyed because I wanted my 3 companions to get the row to themselves, and one of them to get a window, and I had an exit row seat. The 2 kids don't need free drinks or extra leg room so didn't really need the upgrade.
The upgrade put us B/C/D/E and I didn't notice until boarding when it printed out new seat assignments. I was grumbling about it, then after boarding completed I felt guilty because the A seat was empty so the GA ended up doing us a huge favor, so I hope she didn't hear my grumbling.
The upgrade put us B/C/D/E and I didn't notice until boarding when it printed out new seat assignments. I was grumbling about it, then after boarding completed I felt guilty because the A seat was empty so the GA ended up doing us a huge favor, so I hope she didn't hear my grumbling.
#394
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Plat Pro, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, JetBlue Mosaic 3, Amtrak Select
Posts: 966
PHL to BOS, upgraded at PM window
#395
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC/ EWR/ PHL
Programs: UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,210
JFK-MCO upgraded at upgrade window
#396
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 3
Silver medallion, JFK-MCO on DL2162 last night, upgraded to Comfort+ 24 hours before and to First around 40 minutes before scheduled departure alongside four other people.
#397
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC/ EWR/ PHL
Programs: UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,210
#399
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC/ EWR/ PHL
Programs: UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,210
#400
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. / Washington, DC
Programs: AA PPro/DL PLT, PPass, Marriott / Hilton Gold, JetBlue Mosaic, Hertz Presidents Circle, Amex Plat
Posts: 4,630
SDQ-JFK: Monday early morning flight, in the past as a FO or GM I would clear as well, however, this year I’ve seen a long list at the gate and very few seats left. The return is usually on Friday evening or Saturday morning. Friday is a bit challenging (my GM companion missed the upgrade back in May) but Saturday morning is easy.
NYC-DCA: Monday noon flight is usually very easy as a PM. Monday evening flight is more difficult but still as a PM I get the upgrade in advance. The return is usually an easy upgrade.
DCA-ATL-FLL: DCA-ATL is a very difficult one no matter the time or day. ATL-FLL is an easy one.
I don’t have the flexibility to SDC and the only time I did was on a Sunday and I was booked in F, so no impact on upgrades.
#401
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New England
Programs: American Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,640
Gold Medallion
PHL-BOS on a Basic Economy ticket: No official UG but the flight was oversold, so they "upgraded" me to C+ an hour before departure to clear standbys.
BOS-PIT and PIT-BOS cleared at the Gold window at T-72
BOS-BUF cleared at the Gold window at T-72.
BUF-BOS cleared into C+ at the Gold window at T-72. Cleared upgrade to F around T-65. (System must have had a hiccup to clear me into C+ first since the upgrade list was empty at that point)
BOS-PIT and PIT-BOS tomorrow cleared at the Gold window at T-72.
All of my flights except for PHL-BOS were less than half full.
So far this month, I'm 6/6 for F, and 1/0 for C+ (1/0 because it wasn't an official upgrade, simply a seat change since my ticket was ineligible for upgrades.)
PHL-BOS on a Basic Economy ticket: No official UG but the flight was oversold, so they "upgraded" me to C+ an hour before departure to clear standbys.
BOS-PIT and PIT-BOS cleared at the Gold window at T-72
BOS-BUF cleared at the Gold window at T-72.
BUF-BOS cleared into C+ at the Gold window at T-72. Cleared upgrade to F around T-65. (System must have had a hiccup to clear me into C+ first since the upgrade list was empty at that point)
BOS-PIT and PIT-BOS tomorrow cleared at the Gold window at T-72.
All of my flights except for PHL-BOS were less than half full.
So far this month, I'm 6/6 for F, and 1/0 for C+ (1/0 because it wasn't an official upgrade, simply a seat change since my ticket was ineligible for upgrades.)
Last edited by diburning; Nov 13, 2018 at 7:06 pm
#402
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,371
PM+1 cleared at the window for ATL-DCA (Sat 17 Nov/1755) ... still five open on the (not representative) SEA-ATL seat map, but I'm not holding out much hope
#403
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: BOS
Programs: DL GM
Posts: 300
PM-lite.
Op-up on AMS-DTW (on the A350) from Premium Select to Delta One Suites on Sunday. I'm guessing that W was oversold, as the seat map was full several weeks out (yeah, a full seat map doesn't necessarily mean sold out - but for what other reason would I get upgraded on an international flight into D1 Suites?).
Also got the regular upgrade on DTW-BOS 5 days out.
Op-up on AMS-DTW (on the A350) from Premium Select to Delta One Suites on Sunday. I'm guessing that W was oversold, as the seat map was full several weeks out (yeah, a full seat map doesn't necessarily mean sold out - but for what other reason would I get upgraded on an international flight into D1 Suites?).
Also got the regular upgrade on DTW-BOS 5 days out.
#404
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,640
SMF-SEA 11/12 DL5699 F upgrade at window
SEA-RDU 11/12 DL773 no upgrade
CLT-MSP 11/18 upgrade at 4 days after getting my jacked up reservation fixed by Twitter team
MSP-SMF 11/18 stay tuned
SEA-RDU 11/12 DL773 no upgrade
CLT-MSP 11/18 upgrade at 4 days after getting my jacked up reservation fixed by Twitter team
MSP-SMF 11/18 stay tuned
#405
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: MEM
Programs: Starbucks Green Card
Posts: 5,431
Does anyone understand how the upgrade list is actually cleared at the gate? Does the gate agent manually assign travelers to seats or does the computer fill them in?
I am guessing that the gate agent manually does it because it seems that in cases where there are multiple gate upgrades (which is becoming rare) they are sometimes filled front to back and sometimes back to front.
There have been a couple of occasions this year where there were multiple window and aisle seats and I get assigned an aisle even though my preference in my profile is for windows, though this has been the exception, usually in these cases I get a window.
I am guessing that the gate agent manually does it because it seems that in cases where there are multiple gate upgrades (which is becoming rare) they are sometimes filled front to back and sometimes back to front.
There have been a couple of occasions this year where there were multiple window and aisle seats and I get assigned an aisle even though my preference in my profile is for windows, though this has been the exception, usually in these cases I get a window.