A very basic question from a non-elite!

I am flying out on an award ticket on Saturday morning. The system would not let me select a seat when I booked the ticket because it's an almost-full flight. I'm assuming that once elites are automatically upgraded that there will be available seats. Can someone tell me when that starts to happen?

I really, REALLY want a seat assignment before leaving the house. Gotta get out of this cold dreary weather and into some sunshine! I'd be willing to take a bump on the way home but not going out. If I got bumped on the way home, the worst part would be missing work and having to spend an extra day in the sun, LOL.

Thanks for any advice you may have!

I used to think over night -- but sometime between 9 a.m. this morning and 1 p.m. this afternoon (Pacific time) my upgrade for a flight next Sunday appeared.
tom

Upgrades will processed 5-6 days out for Platinum, 3-4 days out for Gold and 1-2 days out for Silver.

I suggest that you checkout FC seats to see how many can be upgraded.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the last of the elites are upgraded 24 hours before the flight, so I assume the rest of the seats are released at that point. Try checking in online-you can do that 24 hours before the flight as well, and it should let you select a seat during the checkin process.

If you want to check the availability on your flight, you can check fare buckets at this site.

[QUOTE=rose42]I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the last of the elites are upgraded 24 hours before the flight, so I assume the rest of the seats are released at that point. Try checking in online-you can do that 24 hours before the flight as well, and it should let you select a seat during the checkin process. [QUOTE]

Does anyone know if the seats are released all at one time or if they're released as they become available? In other words, if two Platinums were upgraded yesterday will their coach seats show as being available now?

If EUA runs as scheduled, some coach seats will probably open up at 5-6 days, some more at 3-4 days, the rest at 24 hours. But the seats that open up will mostly be premium seats, and, if you're not elite, they won't do you any good til the 24 hour mark, when the remaining premium seats are up for grabs.

Since it only takes a couple of minutes to try to get seats online, I'd do it every day in the week before the flight. Try first thing in the morning, or late at night if you stay up past midnight.

I was upgraded this morning (Monday) sometime between 9 and 11 AM for flights this Friday as a gold. I checked when I got to the office at 9 and I wasn't upgraded, then this noon I was. It usually appeared to me that the upgrades were done in the late night/early morning hours . . . but this proves that theory wrong. Both of my flights still have at least one F seat still available.

I purchased a ticket less than 20 hrs. before the flight, and got my upgrade about 2 - 3 hrs. later, so the availability tool is your best bet to see how many seats are really available.

-Ed

I used Rose42's link and found the following for my flight:
P4 F4 Y8 B5 M4 (all other letters 0)

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean there are still 25 seats available on the plane? Nwa.com still won't let me select a seat (grrrr)

It used to be processed in the late evenings/early mornings but these days, it can be anytime.

For a redeye last Thursday, the upgrade came late Friday, for 2 flights the following Friday, 1 flight was UG'd before 2pm PT, the other still unUGd. Of the return flights Monday, the 1st was UG'd before 2pm PT and the other 2 not UG'd yet. Don't know when these flights will be UG'd if ever so it pays to keep checking (but P seats won't be available until checkin.).

The unupgraded flights have 3/16 or 4-5/22 allocated in FC at most.

The 2nd flight on the return leg just got UG'd after I posted this.

The 3rd flight following the above got UG'd about 1 1/4 hrs after the 2nd.

Nope--chances are there are 4 First class "seats" available, and anywhere between 8 and ZERO actual coach "seats" available. F is a subset of P for first class; and B & M are subsets of "Y" in coach--so the Y number shows the actual number of tickets (not actual "seats") that NW will still dare sell in coach--but this number nearly always includes the number of bookings that NW is willing to OVERsell. Some flights get oversold by a couple, some by a whole bunch, depending upon how many people historically show up for that flight, and how many people tend to be no-shows (since people DO make reservations and then not show up--and computers can calculate how many people that tends to be, the airline will sell more tickets for that fight than the aircraft has seats).

So the number of "seats" available is 8 or LESS--maybe even LESS than zero--and you will have to wait till one of the no-shows doesn't actually turn up (for which they may already have a seat reservation), so you can be assigned that person's current "seat".

It's possible that the 17 seats in coach (if they are actual seats) may all be premium seats, and only those pax who are elite or on full fare tickets would be able to select a seat. They stop issuing seats completely when the flight is oversold (except for full fare - if they held some to issue for Y), since they can't issue a seat to more than one pax, at least not intentionally.

-Ed

It might not be a bad thing to take a bump. I've taken a bump for $300 ECV and a $5 meal voucher (which I used on the MSP flight), been put on an earlier flight to MSP (rather than DTW), received more FF miles for the trip, picked up a quicker connection there, and arrived slightly sooner than my original flight! Always check out what they are offering as well as how and when they can get you there. Usually they can at least get you out on the next flight, although I've taken a bump which required an overnight stay - but I knew that before I accepted the bump.

-Ed

Nope, don't want a bump at any amount of compensation. I want every moment in the Florida sunshine I can get. Now, the airline can bump me in RSW or DTW on the way home if it likes....

Back to my outbound flight.....am I at any kind of disadvantage in terms of being able to get on an overbooked flight because I'm on an award ticket? I plan to be online right at 24 hours out to attempt to get a boarding pass. If that fails, does getting to the airport really early help me any in terms of getting a seat assignment?

Hey, we've kicked people off the board for that kind of foul language!