mmaddog

My wife and I were going from SFO-NRT-HKG (NW27/NW17) a few days ago, and on NRT-HKG segment Y was oversold. According to the FA NW 17, there were about 15 pax got upgraded to C, including a UM from Y. I am a Plat and my wife is a Gold and we were holding a B fare ticket, but both of us did not get the upgarde . I couldn't help to question that why didn't we get the upgarde? Could there be more than 15 Plats on this flight who pays for a higher fare? Including the UM? Do Elites have a higher status than an UM? At least, the FA on the flight also thought that we should have been upgraded instead of the UM. She said that the GA might have forgot to check if there were any elites on board before up'ing the general public. She also asked me to complain to NW about this.

Have you guys come across this? Any ideas?

And if I were to complain, where or who should I write?

thezipper

When it comes to OP-UP's, it's all in the hands of the GA. Sorry that you didn't get the upgrade, but it happens. You can write to Customer Service, but since you paid for a Y seat, you got a Y seat... I understand they should have upgraded a Plat, but I've been on flights where half the upper deck on a 742, that was empty the day before, was filled with non-status pax. It's a crap shoot...

tcook052

Am I alone in thinking the GA's have too much discretionary power? I mean, the do have to be equipped with some latitude to do their jobs well, but upgrading a non-elite UM ahead of a plat seems a major oversight. There have been many stories (beleive them or not) on the AC forum about LOL (Little Old Ladies) who haven't flown since Pan Am was flying float planes upgraded ahead of some super duper ultra special Plat, Elite or whatever. I on the surface looks like the GA's chose for whatever reason to ignore the airline's own rules on Op-Ups. Or is that not so?

I should mention that I'm a non-anything elite as far as airlines are concerned and so haven't had to see such cases firsthand as I'm back in cattle, er I mean economy class.

fromYXU

Maybe the UM had a Y fare?

It is always hard to know all of the details in cases like this. I usually sit back and not let it bother me. Life is to short!

NWAMileageSlave

I have seen UMs in seats 1 A&B on many flights. Most recently I saw a six and eight year old flying together on a 757 from DTW to LAX. I think the UM get the wide chairs so the lead FA can watch their behavior and keep them from causing chaos in the aisle, or maybe mommy/daddy bought them the wide chair... or maybe they are plats and got upgraded before I did.... who knows...

Maybe some of the outstanding flight crew members that post here can enlighten us.

jjvan

I have seen a lot of UM's with status, including an 8 yearold that was Plat. Dad lived in GUM and Mom in OMA. Just because the're young and alone does not mean they do not have status. These kids can do alot of traveling durring the year.

ewj

It is clear that international op-ups are a privilage not a right for Plat/Gold whatever. I do 2-3 internatioanl trips a year and have never been upgraded. My big complaint that Plat/Golds should be able to use miles to upgrade as long as a seat is available and they purchase a B or y ticket.

wldtrvlr

I don't think that the GA's ignore the policy, because I honestly don't feel that there is a hard and fast policy. As was stated before, we do not know all the details. The UM could have paid a full fare, they could have been a VP's daughter, they could have status, you just don't know and honestly it does not really matter. The GA might have just thought that you would like to sit with your wife and so she did not seperate you.

I think that the GA's primary goal is to get that flight out on time! Pecking orders would be nice and as a Plat I would be in favor of them, however, as thezipper said, you paid for a Y seat and you got a Y seat. All of the Perks for elites as far as upgrades are concerned are not guaranteed, they are merely on an as available basis. Would you have felt better if they left the seats open and let everyone sit where they had paid for? I am sure that would save the airline some money in that they would not have to cater as much if they did not OP-up people and just let the seats stay empty.

What kind of a response are you looking for? I don't think that Customer Service would be able to tell you much else than the GA has discretion and is in charge of the seating.

X NWA FA

If there is room up front, I will bring the UM up. I also upgrade veterans from "the Greatest Generation." Everyone else has to talk to the gate agent. We are technically not allowed to upgrade anyone. Sometimes the gate agent will tell us which pax we can upgrade before closing the door, which means they didn't do their job correctly, imho.

FlyingScott

In five years flying NW to Asia as Silver and Gold, I have only once been pulled from the back to WBC and never received any other operational upgrade. That was on a flight from NRT-JFK. I thought all WP members can use 25k miles to upgrade Y, B AND M tickets to Asia (except HKG and Shanghai).

JennyElf

I know that when my sister flew NW as a UM a number of years ago, she was upgraded. The reason given was that this way the FA could keep track of her easily when the flight landed (so that my sister wouldn't exit the plane on her own and get lost in the shuffle).

wldtrvlr

The airlines have a larger legal responsibility when they accept an UM. They need to put a little extra care into their transport. They don't necessarily deserve the UG but I think the FA has enough on their mind that placing them where they can be observed better makes logical sense to me.

notsosmart

No, you have to go through a whole g-dd-amn song and dance with phone agents before you can even get a B fare on a flight where "upgradeable bucket" seats are left. I'm sure that on the flight mmaddog was on, the 15 empty seats were not out of the upgradeable bucket and therefore he did not "deserve" to have one.

You can bet your a$$ they would have flown empty if Y hadn't been oversold. Fine with me if I'm on a V fare, but B?????

tcook052

So this is the fountain of Op-Up we've all been searching for? Turns out the answer is to be a UM! Who would've seen that one coming? Someone send a PR to the media: "Here's an easy trick to getting your son/daughter to ride in the front of the airplane for the cost of coach, tonight on news at 11."

Guess we can put the whole Op-Up debate to rest now.