Originally Posted by JFKEWR

I totally agree. And I believe price is another factor drives people to buy F. I had a SLC-DFW trip last weekend and I only booked the ticket 7 days ahead. At the time of booking only 3 seats left in F and the price was $500 while the price in Y was already $300. It's a no brainer for me to buy F.

Originally Posted by FlyingPants

Has anyone noticed it becoming way more difficult to get upgraded to F? It seems like a combination of more outright purchases of FC and more higher status Medallion members. In 2019, based out of IND, my success rate to F as a SM was roughly 50%. In the past two months I have taken 8 legs as a PM and they were all C+ upgrades at booking and 0 upgrades clearing to First. There as also very limited F availability at the 5 day window. Last Friday, I couldn't believe that at check-in, my wife and I were 25!!! and 26 of 56 for a F upgrade on an IND-ATL flight.

Thanksgiving weekend has usually been pretty easy to get upgrades due to less business travel, but I am looking at only 4 FC seats available on the IND-ATL leg and we are 8 days out. So my hopes are really being dashed.

I see this as three main factors: 1. All the extensions and status acceleration leading to more Medallion members. 2. Still fewer flights on the schedule than 2019. 3. The post-pandemic drive for people not wanting to sit next to strangers and purchasing FC seats outright.

What do you all think?

Originally Posted by HoldenC

New DL GM here (status match challange to Jeblue Mosiac). Trying to figure out if I understand how the upgrades works.

Booked round-trip BOS->MSP yesterday for outbound flight today(Wed), and return on Friday. Yesterday at T-72 for the return flight, I put in the request for upgrade to both F and C+ (window or Isle). I don't see anywhere where there is a notification that anything happened, and there are at least three FC seats open on the flight for purchase.

For today's flight, since I checked in yesterday, I seem to be moving down the upgrade list. Started at 9/24 for FC just after checking(T-24), now 26/41 or something like that. For C+, I was 1/2 on the list, now 3/11 on the list. Not sure why this would happen. Wouldn't all the PMs and DMs already be on there before T-72 ? Only 1 name listed on the standby list, if that makes any difference.

Originally Posted by HoldenC

New DL GM here (status match challange to Jeblue Mosiac). Trying to figure out if I understand how the upgrades works.

Booked round-trip BOS->MSP yesterday for outbound flight today(Wed), and return on Friday. Yesterday at T-72 for the return flight, I put in the request for upgrade to both F and C+ (window or Isle). I don't see anywhere where there is a notification that anything happened, and there are at least three FC seats open on the flight for purchase.

For today's flight, since I checked in yesterday, I seem to be moving down the upgrade list. Started at 9/24 for FC just after checking(T-24), now 26/41 or something like that. For C+, I was 1/2 on the list, now 3/11 on the list. Not sure why this would happen. Wouldn't all the PMs and DMs already be on there before T-72 ? Only 1 name listed on the standby list, if that makes any difference.

Originally Posted by Qwkynuf

The upgrade list only shows and ranks people who have checked in for the flight. So if you are a GM who checks in exactly at T-24, you might find yourself at #1. But any PM or DM who checks in later than you will end up higher on the list because status is the first tiebreaker. "Time of request" is way down the list and isn't likely to ever come into play (unless another GM on the same fare class, Reserve Card status, Corporate account status, etc were to check in after you)

Originally Posted by flyerfirsts

time is low on the list but it is there, and by waiting until t72 he completely missed out on the pre clearing

Originally Posted by HoldenC

My flight was ticketed only an hour or so before the T-72 mark for the return flight, and only a few hours before the T-24 for the outbound. I'm pretty sure I hit the 'request upgrade' just before the T-72, but I can't recall. Didn't know that the time you hit that had anything to do with the position on the list. This is far more complex than Jetblue, where if you show up at the airport and there is a upgrade available, you ask for it, and you get it.

Question: If you hit the confirm(on the upgrade request section) later-on, and then hit it a second time say a few hours later, does it reset the clock? When I did this the first time (on the web interface, not the app), there was no feedback whatsoever from that button that anything happened. I see where it says "upgrade requested" in green, but that was there all along before I did anything.

Originally Posted by HoldenC

I don't see anywhere where there is a notification that anything happened, and there are at least three FC seats open on the flight for purchase.

Originally Posted by HoldenC

This is far more complex than Jetblue, where if you show up at the airport and there is a upgrade available, you ask for it, and you get it.

Originally Posted by HoldenC

Question: If you hit the confirm(on the upgrade request section) later-on, and then hit it a second time say a few hours later, does it reset the clock? When I did this the first time (on the web interface, not the app), there was no feedback whatsoever from that button that anything happened. I see where it says "upgrade requested" in green, but that was there all along before I did anything.

Originally Posted by HoldenC

My flight was ticketed only an hour or so before the T-72 mark for the return flight, and only a few hours before the T-24 for the outbound. I'm pretty sure I hit the 'request upgrade' just before the T-72, but I can't recall. Didn't know that the time you hit that had anything to do with the position on the list. This is far more complex than Jetblue, where if you show up at the airport and there is a upgrade available, you ask for it, and you get it.

Question: If you hit the confirm(on the upgrade request section) later-on, and then hit it a second time say a few hours later, does it reset the clock? When I did this the first time (on the web interface, not the app), there was no feedback whatsoever from that button that anything happened. I see where it says "upgrade requested" in green, but that was there all along before I did anything.

Originally Posted by MarkCron

As others have said, time of request rarely if ever has any impact on upgrades.
As a Gold, if you get any upgrades I would be surprised (there are way too many Diamond and Platinum). On routes I fly, upgrades as a Platinum are rare. But they could happen.

Originally Posted by flyerfirsts

I have never not gotten an upgrade to c+ as gold but have also never gotten first as gold

Originally Posted by FlyingPants

Has anyone noticed it becoming way more difficult to get upgraded to F? It seems like a combination of more outright purchases of FC and more higher status Medallion members. In 2019, based out of IND, my success rate to F as a SM was roughly 50%. In the past two months I have taken 8 legs as a PM and they were all C+ upgrades at booking and 0 upgrades clearing to First. There as also very limited F availability at the 5 day window. Last Friday, I couldn't believe that at check-in, my wife and I were 25!!! and 26 of 56 for a F upgrade on an IND-ATL flight.

Thanksgiving weekend has usually been pretty easy to get upgrades due to less business travel, but I am looking at only 4 FC seats available on the IND-ATL leg and we are 8 days out. So my hopes are really being dashed.

I see this as three main factors: 1. All the extensions and status acceleration leading to more Medallion members. 2. Still fewer flights on the schedule than 2019. 3. The post-pandemic drive for people not wanting to sit next to strangers and purchasing FC seats outright.

What do you all think?