Chances are they were bid upgrades. LATAM has been clearing my last upgrades 2 hours - 90 min before the departure. I get along with Special Services girls in SCL, and they told me the bidding list is getting roughly 50% of the available seats. So if there are 6 seats, 3 will go for bidders and 3 for upgrades with segments.

so last seats get assigned T-2 as you say. Interesting is that the 4 BS cleared T-6 when there were 5 seats available (current inventory in EF is 5J). Now with 1 seat available, that will go to the black in T-2 unless anyone bids or a confirmed in J from a another flight changes to this flight (and eventually could even downgrade assigned upgrades)

Last time in SCL, there were 5 seats available. At the airport (T-2) while I was at the Signature Check-in, SS told me that the system had already upgraded 2 bidders, and told me literally "the system is still waiting to see if it's gonna assign more upgrades through bidding" (again, 2 hours before departure). 90 min before departure, while I was grabbing a snack at the lounge, SS texted me "hey, I got good news for you, you will be upgraded". I barely made the cut to get an upgrade. In the end there were 3 upgrades through bidding and 2 upgrades through segments. Fun fact: I remember in that flight, there was Black tier passenger that was fuming at the raw 12 (I assume becase he didn't get the upgrade), asking the business menu and demanding business meals to the crew. F*cking weirdo.

classic black/platinum fuming cause he did not get the upgrade.

I have black status and have 3 segments remaining so got 5 upgrades out of 8. Last year got all 8 upgrades. Now that bids and instant upgrades accumulates miles and points the value of segments isn�t really there anymore since bidders can just jump the line. Or ideally to book way in advance in business.

in my opinion more than the bidders having higher priority (i barely see bidding activity in long haul which is what I care about), its the new 787-8 with only 20J down from 30J. For example I had a LA533 next month, it was a 787-9. There were 12J available T-45 and i bought Y. T-40 LATAM changed equipment to a 787-8 with retrofitted 20J. Now there is only 1J seat (also, how stupid is to have only 1J available for sale T-40 in a corporate heavy route as SCL-JFK-SCL. Huge lost amount of revenue there. Also, LA532 the day before has 3J so its not cause the incoming flight is empty)

Need to select benefit for upgrades to earn miles and points in the Latam pass app. Seems like MIA GRU has doubled the amount of BS from a year before on the upgrade list. I don�t know if people are spending more or they are finding other loopholes to reach BS. Either way now bidding just jumps the line so the segments are of no use as a Black status.

I dont think there are more BS this year. What you need to consider is that Feb/March is the worst month as you have all the new BS (who got status in 2025) and those who did not make it but still have BS until end of March.

furthermore, all BS now dumping their coupons as they get reset end of March. Plus MIA is a heavy family destination so perfect for a BS upgrading all the family. In fact in the bidding list you can check at what time each submitted the upgrade request so easy to know who is a BS and who are families. Last week MIA-SCL a BS had the entire family upgraded (5 out of 5 seats). Lastly, February is holiday season in south America so a MIA trip is even more likely to be with family.

regarding BS loophole, what do you mean?

There was one.. now gone

Flight LA500,SCL-MIA March 11th, I was in seat 4 and there were 6 seats available on the list. The T-12 seats were reduced to 4. When I boarded, SS told me, "No one got an upgrade." all the seats went to bidders.
On LA flight 503 MIA-SCL, of the 6 available seats, T-12 4 seats available. At least 4 Signature members were able to get upgrades. 38 people applied to an upgrade:There were 14 Signature members on the list, plus 8 more Black members, and so on. At least I was able to get seat 12J, which had plenty of space

Since the 787-8s were remodeled, the number decreased from 30J to 20J, making very difficult to get an upgrade, especially on routes like MIA, BOG, MEX, JFK, GRU, and LIM from SCL, also with the high priority of bidders is become difficult to score a upgrade in routes within South America.

SS agent told me that several Signature members have migrated to other airlines because of all the changes LATAM have made.

Since the changes in the middle of the year i decided to stop flying in latam and be more a freelance traveller, at least for me, no more Signature,. I prefer to switch to OneWorld or Star Alliance airline member for the benefits in other airlines.I wish good luck to the all Signatures who will follow this year!

I'd dare to say that over 90% of BS passengers already book premium cabins. For a typical Black Signature flyer, the service level is unchanged. It’s mostly those relying on upgrades all the time who are b*tchig about . Personally, I fly 60% premium and 40% economy... but if you aren't hunting for upgrades, there’s really no reason to look elsewhere

[QUOTE=pickyflyer;37677583 It�s mostly those relying on upgrades all the time who are b*tchig about . [/QUOTE] you always find in all FF programs people who complaint for everything, over the years i saw BS, Black complaining for not obtain the upgrade or try to request meals or the amenity kits and other didnt care about it (one time was a Platinum demanding the upgrade), i believe the upgrade is a benefit not a right so if i didnt score i take two melatonins and fall sleep after the plane takes off.

In my case I used to fly exclusively with Latam on national routes and within South America, most of the time in premium cabins, I have to fly other routes with other airlines, but I always choose Latam over others to maintain BS. The few times I traveled in economy I applied for upgrades and saw how the lists were filling up with a los of BS due to the changes, most of the times i get the upgrades but every year was harder to get it, years ago you can move from one flight to another 24 hours before and still have a chance to score an upgrade.

Personally now I prefer to stay Black or platinum and not stick to latam routes and try to chase others elite FF programs with better partnerships for the routes that latam dont fly ( within asia and europe).

Bro, I have a relative (former Black Signature) who isn't good enough with tech. Every time he flew, SS would add him to the UPG list at the check-in counter (literally), and his upgrade would clear at the gate 90% of the time. Good old days...