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And I thought DL was stingy with upgrades..NW F half empty

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And I thought DL was stingy with upgrades..NW F half empty

 
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 10:13 am
  #1  
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And I thought DL was stingy with upgrades..NW F half empty

MSY to MSP last Tues. night on NW I heard the man behind me ask a buddy who was just boarding if he got his upgrade. Buddy says, no he didn't and ambled on back to coach. The flight took off with the F cabin half empty.

MSP to DSM was half empty also and coach was full. Are they stricter than DL with upgrades?
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 10:46 am
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One flight does not even come close to provide a good sample size for any type of study. Just because a specific flight is half-empty doesn't mean anything.
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 11:04 am
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I don't see how either NW or DL's domestic upgrade policies ever come close to be "stingy." Most people here would argue that they are too lenient.
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 12:07 pm
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I have never missed an upgrade on DL and seen an empty seat in F on the same flight. Stingy is certainly not the word I would use to characterise the DL upgrade process.

If I were non-elite, I might feel differently. I have sat next to a few empty seats in DL F, but AFAIK only after every Medallion on the aircraft who asked for an upgrade got one.
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 12:34 pm
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My UG rate as a NW Silver was over 90% for a 2.5-year period. When I was Silver, I did put more effort into selecting flights with the best UG chances than I did when I made Gold, but based on my experience, NW is very generous with UGs. On the NW board, you will regularly see people post that NW's F is among the worst there is, but the consistency of free UGs coming through wins loyalty versus other propgrams where UGs are harder to obtain.
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 12:44 pm
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Just have to think that the guy you overheard was not a NW or CTL elite. Their policy is auto upgrades for those groups if the seats are available. Now is he was a DL elite, I could see that. I have been back in steerage as a DL elite when there were empty NW seats up front.
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Old Aug 21, 2006, 2:38 pm
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Originally Posted by jeffreyt
One flight does not even come close to provide a good sample size for any type of study. Just because a specific flight is half-empty doesn't mean anything.
Well, actually that was 2 flights. Both full in coach to & from a major NW hub, which was why I thought it odd. I just find it hard to believe that there were no elites sitting in either Y cabin on a Tuesday evening. Or maybe they thought it wasn't worth the hassle?

I agree that F on NW was not much to crow about. The FA's were extremely nice on the way up. Not so nice on the way home yesterday (which was full in F by the way).
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Old Aug 22, 2006, 3:36 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by Marylou
Well, actually that was 2 flights. Both full in coach to & from a major NW hub, which was why I thought it odd. I just find it hard to believe that there were no elites sitting in either Y cabin on a Tuesday evening. Or maybe they thought it wasn't worth the hassle?

I agree that F on NW was not much to crow about. The FA's were extremely nice on the way up. Not so nice on the way home yesterday (which was full in F by the way).
If there's an empty seat in F on a NW flight, a NW or CO elite should get it.

I think you're perhaps seeing the effects of CHAOS affecting NW's elites? Flocking to other carriers (like myself) until everything's settled with the FAs.
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Old Aug 22, 2006, 5:04 pm
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Was his buddy a non-Plat with 1 or more non-elite companions on the same PNR? Or a Plat with 2+ companions on the same PNR? Or a Silver on an award ticket? There could be a number of explanations.
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