Great post, it's always nice to wear another hat once in a while.
Q1: C-Everyone who flies that much knows the rules and the 100K flier new when he purchased it that it was not upgradeable. The 50K fliers is a loyal customer and has the upgradeable fare, it's a no-brainer for him.
Skipping Q2 for now.
Q3: B-Mr 100K flier again knows the rules but is being insistent that they shouldn't apply to him. As a 100K flier I always take exception when high status fliers can't seem to get enough of how important they are. C should only be an option if Mr Self-Important insists on it.
Q4: B-He is a 50K flier who is unhappy that he can't upgrade further out from his departure date and that chances are the 100K's will get the upgrades. Subverting the system seems to be the best way around this. I've been at the counter twice now when this particular tactic was denied. It was beautiful to hear "I'm sorry sir but your record indicates that you upgraded with a confirmable North American upgrade. I will need to see that certificate"...."but I don't have that one with me"...."I will have to assign you a coach seat and put you on the waitlist, you're currently 8th"
Back to Q2: A-This question went back and forth on United board and it was clearly divided between singles and married/attached fliers. I for one am married and I see this as one of the best benefits, I strongly disagree with the mixed policy of stripping the shared status on the Departure Management list. Most married 100K's get to that level to the detriment of their spouse/significant other. Lots of nights away and such. My wife should be able to reap the rewards of my dedication to airlines and the status I've earned. I have never begrudged being in coach while a couple gets the upgrade. Now employees getting my FC seat is another matter.

Edit for duplication!

[This message has been edited by ORD1Kguy (edited 03-02-2001).]

What about when myself and my companion are on different PNRs? eg. I'm doing a RTW ticket and she's doing a standard open-jaw ticket, but we're both travelling together for these sectors and the airline has no way of hooking the PNRs together.

This is one area I'd like to see improved in reservations systems. Once you have two people travelling together on different PNRs, the airline seems to have no way of marking that you are together.

I agree with William that IF you're going to give someone status based on whom they're travelling with, marital status should be irrelevant. But I still don't buy the underlying premise. That's hardly surprising.

It IS interesting to see how airlines handle the same stuff differently.

If LexPassenger and I are on the same PRN, we have to call and get our records separated before 72 hrs out. On Delta, you cannot request upgrades on-line with a multi-passenger reservation. Pain in the whatnot. Delta generally seems to know that we're together anyway, but we do make a point of picking our fallback coach seats far in advance.

[This message has been edited by GG (edited 03-03-2001).]

The reason I prefer the same PNR distinction is that I have friends who have actually become "friends" with someone at the airport... and got upgraded with them. (YES, it even happenned to me once!) I got over feeling like I took something away from someone else when there were 4 empty first class seats left on this US Air flight.

I believe we should be able to "carry" one person with us if we planned in advance. But feel that someone should not "jump" over others at the gate.

Just my two cents... will accept three cents in change.

William

Opus,

If the choices were automatic and rule based we would not need gate agents for these decisions - software and systems can take care of it. My answer (if we were gate agents) would be: No right answer for all occasions. Depending on the circumstances every answer is correct. As a gate agent I would use my judgement within the broad policies of my company and its customer needs. I need computers as tools to give me info to make the choices and let me know of specific entitlements (a voluntary downgrade who should be upgraded, etc.)

Let us start with the first scenario. What if my airline screwed up and I had this particular pax on a non-upgradable fare (RTW) who has travelled already for 18 hrs and has been delayed because of the error by another gate agent, airline procedure, etc. I would upgrade him first (especially if he is an elite pax).

Also, what if I had a lot of open seats and our "general policy" is to deny upgrades most of the upgrade candidates (either because of the fare basis or some other restrictions). Shoud I consider the "open" nature of my biz section, to allow some exceptions or stick to the rule. Mind you by "doling out" upgrades that pax are not entitled to, I may "dilute" the product (biz experience). It is judgement call.

If I have my company's best interests at heart AND feel empowered and feel supported by my mgmt I would risk decisions and not always play safe. I know that rules are there for the norm and when I trust my experience and judgement in spotting the exceptions (empty biz class), I will make the not so easy decisions (allocating upgrades to select sub-group and not all). It may actually be the Honeymooning couple in your example 2 (in addition to those entitled). These couple may be loyal to my airlines for the rest of their lives.

I sympathize with the core point you make - sometimes elites act as crybabies and there is arbitrariness in expectations and gate agent behaviour. However, I do think, that is the nature of the beast. There has to be room for variance, gate agent flexbility, elite expectations. If there is no charm of surprise, some of the intangible benefits of FF programs is lost. It cannot be common sense always http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

(Moving travel-related threads forward to "just get on with life.")

Maybe we can call airline and let them enter a note of the other PNR as a companion for each PNRS...well, I think this can technically be done but I don't know this can result any good to actual operation.

My good friend lives the other side of pacific. I often go her side, we fly back together and see her off, or vice versa. Thus we can hardly be on the same PNR. I wish there would be some 'standard' way to handle two (or more) separate PNRs as one group.