bpnd

This is just an FYI. Flew KOA-LAX on a two-person B-fare itinerary in early January. Both of us were waitlisted for SWU upgrade. First time I had flown to/from KOA, so didn't realize how slow security, etc. would be. When checking luggage ~1.5 hours in advance, asked agent about status of SWU request. Was told to check with GA.

Took nearly ~1 hr to get through TSA and then the Hawaiian agricultural check. Got to gate agent about ~35 mins before departure, and they were about to start boarding. Gave GA boarding pass and politely inquired as to status of upgrade request. Agent said something to the effect of "Great! I just need your credit card for the 2 * $225 charge. We're overbooked in coach." (They were asking for bump volunteers at the check-in kiosks.) What?? Told agent was waitlisted for SWU. GA said "Oh... let me look at this...". GA then said something to the effect of "since we don't do upgrades to/from Hawaii, I didn't think to check the upgrade list". My companion witnessed this.

Really? The GA would have sold the $225 upgrades to a random person before processing my SWU request? I was somewhat upset, especially since there were no longer any seats next to each other (and the seat map indicated there were several ~3 hours earlier). But, in the end, we got the upgrade, so I guess all was fine. But could we potentially have lost out?

Just a warning for others, since it appeared to be contract workers (not DL employees) at KOA. Lesson learned: should have gotten to the gate earlier ...