Random upgrades and other mysteries
 

Recently, I checked in for a flight from JFK-LAX and was issued a seat in business class, even though I had booked a coach ticket. I'm a UA premier, nothing fancy. No miles were deducted from my account, no explanation given. The flight wasn't full. Also, I was only given coach credit for the flight in my MP account.

It got me wondering: how efficient are the computer systems that keep track of seating classes. Are there any good examples of big mistakes for the better? Or, possibly, are there secret do-gooders in reservations that from time to time help people out?

Do totally random upgrades just happen?

They're often "operational upgrades" because economy/coach is overbooked but the premium cabins have space. They upgrade some pax to maximise the number of bottoms on seats on that aircraft.

Of course this is less likely to happen if the airline concerned has policies which give pax entitlements to upgrade, whether by status, miles or certificates. For the same booking pattern, there'll be more people who have an upgrade by right, given that there's space - and fewer people whom the airline needs to upgrade for free.

Welcome to Flyertalk, daniels! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

This seems a perfect topic for TravelBuzz!

The MilesBuzz forum is about the latest frequent flyer program buzz -- miles and points. So rather than leave the post here, I'm going to move it over to the more general discussion of travel.

Thanks,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator