wldtrvlr

On Wed. August 4 around 2:45 pm I received a page from NWA telling me that my 5:45 pm DFW-DTW flight would depart at 6:55 and arrive DTW at 10:28. Unfortunately, my connecting flight to ORD was scheduled to depart at 10:12. I called the Platinum Elite line and told them of the misconnect situation and she immediately protected me on an earlier flight. She gave me the option of earlier or later through MSP and I chose earlier since I thought I would be able to arrive in enough time to catch the flight. One of my main concerns was dinner; however, the most important concern was to arrive in ORD that night so I would not miss an 8 am graduation about an hour from ORD the next morning. I was already upgraded on the DTW flight and had not eaten knowing that dinner would be served on the flight. She could not guarantee me the upgrade, only a seat. Being within two hours of the flight I did not think I would have much of a chance at an upgrade. Now I can tell you I understand the reason that NWA generally holds a seat or two for gate upgrades. This change was not my choice, and I was very thankful that the airline took a proactive approach to the delay. The decision to notify me made things run much more smoothly for them and me. (IE. No need for a hotel in DTW and no mad Plat for missing an important Graduation). As far as I was concerned how it was handled was a Win-Win situation. If I had not been upgraded I would have stopped by McDonalds or somewhere in the airport and carried a meal on with me. However, upon arrival at the airport I explained to the ticket agent what had happened and that they would have to UN-check me from the later flight and check me in on the current flight, that I could not use the Kiosk since I had checked in at the 24 hour window for the original flight. She handled it expeditiously and got me what I believe was the last First Class seat. I thanked her for her efforts and knew that I would not have to eat McDonalds that night.

Sitting on the plane I got to thinking about the upgrade process. Did a gold or a silver have to ride coach and miss a meal because I switched flights. I don’t know for sure, but I would tend to think so. However, I understand that no one is guaranteed an upgrade, but Platinum’s are supposed to receive them before anyone else. If all the seats had been put into R inventory at the 24 hour window I would have been sitting in the back eating McDonalds and NW would have been giving me a 1000 mile bonus for not upgrading me. In this instance I was very thankful for the upgrade and thankful that I started to see that there generally is a reason behind the policy and it is not always just the hope of selling the seat. Although an elite on my flight might have lost the upgrade an elite on the delayed DTW flight was now eligible to take my abandoned seat and meal. I know we don’t always know why the airlines work the way they do, but after this experience I am glad that someone with more experience in all the potential situations made the rules instead of me. It benefited me in this instance, in other instances it might benefit you.

Radiocycle

I've received the last seat (battleship upgrade) as a Plat Elite when my schedule was changed due to a canceled/delayed flight.

The other senario is when there are many. many business travelers (Plat Elites) all flying on the same flight (for example the first DTW/LAX flight on Mondays) I've seen 44 Plat Elites on standby (for 2 seats) and in these situations it is unlikely you would have gotten a FC seat.

Fortunately, on most routes you WILL get the "P" seat as a Plat Elite (because very few pax buy a full fare ticket/or a Full fare/FC pax changes onto a flight and grabs the last "P" seat) in the last 4 hours before departure.

Glad it worked out.

RC

wldtrvlr

I did not mean to imply that I got the seat due to the schedule change. I just wanted to give some insight into one of probably many reasons why all the seats are not upgraded 24 hours in advance. If there were 44 plats on the U/G list (not very likely out of D/FW though) or even 1 or 2 others I would have been happily sitting in the back eating my Double Cheesburger. I was just overjoyed that technology has reached a point at NWA that you can have time to react and make changes PRIOR to arriving at the airport. What I thought was really neat is that as the agent I was talking to was trying to protect me on the earlier flight, "someone else got in my reservation". The agent said, OH, someone else is in this res. I guess they are automatically trying to protect you on the later flight. She waited a few moments and then was able to get me on the earlier flight. I just think it is fantastic when all the departments work together and it all works out.

We sometimes hear complaints, and I have probably lodged them myself about having to wait for the U/G at the gate, or putting more work on the Gate agent by not doing it in advance. I now realize that there are legitimate reasons other than REV MGMT to hold back a seat closer to departure.

Radiocycle

I know, from talking with senior Worldperks management executives that NW is actively working to distinguish (and improve) the value of Plat Elite status by doing more for the most frequent pax that fly NW.

Sometimes that means that they have special waivers, policies, or rules in place that are "unpublished" and don't get advertised.

The "P" seats that are held until 20 minutes before departure are now being utilized to upgrade PE's and agents that upgrade out of sequence can get disciplined.

RC

SteveinA2

If NW are serious here then they ought to copy AA and give 8 one way upgrades. Confirmable and transferable on any domestic flight in advance, and on international AA have a few seats in advance, but upgrade at the gate on space available.

The new plat points promoition is a start, but my 25 ow full fare tickets at a cost of over $20,000 have yielded only 250 points. Had I spent this $20,000 on 3 RT WBC tickets at $7K each then I would have 480 points. Hardly an equitable system.

nosoup4you

Are you an NW employee? That is good information to know, how did you have access to the information that shows that there were 44 Plats on standby for F? ^

nosoup4you

While I do agree with you and believe that NW management understands the value of their higher elites,(hence the fabulous Platinum Points Program, or as I like to call it "The Triple P") having some one tell me that “they have special waivers, policies, or rules in place that are "unpublished" and don't get advertised” hurts my ears and questions my intelligence.

If these rules are unpublished and unadvertised then who knows about them from location to location?

My questions to NW would be how were the original “special waivers, policies, or rules in place” disseminated from the decision makers to the front line employees?

Or does each business unit operate independently and there for make the rules as they go along?

wldtrvlr

RC is NOT a NWA employee, he just flies alot. I mean a whole lot. I fly alot,he takes it to the extreme. However, when he says that the rules are "unpublished" that means that they are not published for the general public like in the "Elite Guide". Although each station manager AND each gate agent has ultimate control over the flights in and out of that station there are "rules" that are generally followed. That does not mean that the flying public will know all the rules. The public definitly does not know all the background information on the implementation of the rules.

I had an agent on the Plat line tell me the other day when I was asking about a specific policy that "The rules are made in Reservations, but they are not necessarily applied the same by each gate agent." Each agent has a bit of discretion to provide the best approach for the most people. The ultimate role of the GA is to get the plane out and to get everyone on board.

themicah

As a silver, I've had two upgrades miss EUA but clear at online checkin in the last month. These were the first two times I've ever seen "You've been upgraded" at online checkin. Usually it either says "You've been waitlisted" or "You were already in first class." Both of these flights were between MSP and LGA. One was IAH-MSP-LGA, and the IAH-MSP segment cleared at EUA with every seat in FC full, while MSP-LGA didn't clear until the second time I tried to check in online, at which point I still had a choice of FC seats!

So they're definitely holding back FC seats. But I haven't seen an empty FC seat on any of my 6 LGA flights this month, even though I've had at least a couple open seats to choose from at online checkin for all of my flights (except one where I didn't get upgraded at all).

Either they're selling last-minute P fares, or someone's getting upgraded even after me (a silver flying on $200-300 tickets, mostly K fares).

Live4Miles

I'm sure he was just told this by the gate agent...they usually tell you when asked...I was told recently on a non-upgraded segmetn (bos-msp) that there were 6 people ahead of me on list...as platinum it was the only flight I haven't been upgraded on!!

Radiocycle

I just asked the GA at DTW what my chances were, He told me that there were 44 Plat Elites, however I was at the top of the list and should clear unless two Full Y tickets were purchased in the next 15 minutes.

RC

faflys

I am so impressed and entertained by the "frequentflyerspeak."
Battleship Upgrade= I sunk yours, so slink yourself back to steerage.

Very tactical - and appropriate!

Okay, back to your musings.

TrayflowInUK

I thought the more accepted term was "battlefield" upgrade, i.e., when elites aren't upgraded the gate area resembles a battlefield with a swarm of FFs around the podium.

I've never noticed anyone but RC call it a "battleship" upgrade, but since he flies about three to four times as much as me, I am not one to pass judgement on the vernacular.

Of course, given the last time I asked about the possibilities for an op-up on a MSP-LGW flight, I thought "battle axe" upgrade might have been the more appropriate term (And, no, I didn't get it; they'd rather fly a half-full WBC out of MSP than upgrade a Silver on a B fare ).

channa

For those interested in the phrase's etymology, I believe the original phrase was battlefield promotion referring to the promotion into First Class. It originated from CO, who has a tendency to upgrade people who have already been seated in coach. More info at the NonePass site.