EUA algorithms
 

Does anybody know how the EUA process actually works? Several mundane and trivial questions, but I just want to know...

1. How do the upgrades actually run? Is it exactly (or a close approximation to) 72 hours in advance of each specific flight? Or is it three nights before?

2. If my upgrade doesn't clear at the gold EUA window, will I have a shot when the computer runs the silver EUA's, or is my only chance at checkin/at the gate?

TIA.

While the NWA guidelines state EUA's are run at 5-3-1 days out, in reality they seem to run between 5 & 6 PM EST at the 6-4-2 day window. In addition EUA runs at various intervals right up to the 24 hour OLCI time, so if you don't get it at your scheduled time then wait and see if you get swept... Some posters have said that EUA will run within the 24 hour mark, but my experience is that if I do not have it by then I have to get it at the gate.

If you do not see an EUA at the 24 hour it has been suggested that you OLCI to get on the wait list as I think that checkin time determines your place on the airport wait list with in your elite catagory.

I concur with the 6-4-2 day window thing. Most of the time it happens this way. My upgrade had cleared by 3 pm PST yesterday on both segments for a flights on Saturday (6 days ahead of time as plat).

There may be some give on fare class. For a while as gold, I was clearing at the silver window, even though my ticket was clearly registered at gold.

They do seem to change algorithms periodically - although this may reflect my changing travel patterns more than anything.

OLCI at 23:59 before flight time is key for snagging upgrades at the gate. I have slid into many more than one upgrade by using this information. Often I was the only one to snag an upgrade at the gate.

Also, there have been several threads that state you need to be willing to give up the elite pre-boarding sometimes to snag the upgrade. I have done this as well.

This may be old advice as my upgrades have pretty much all gone through ahead of time since reaching platinum.

Good luck!

I made Gold a couple of weeks ago.

I went through the exercise of cancelling/adding my WP number to all my open reservations.

It shows me as Gold on my account summary and on all my reses.

I didn't get an Upgrade last Friday MSP-DTW. My boarding pass all showed me as Gold.

At DTW they handed me a battlefield upgrade, where the BP listed me as Silver.

...??

As been widely noted on this forum, when you switch to a higher elite level, you MUST call to have WorldPerks manually take off and reenter your WorldPerks number. Doing it online does nothing more than jeopardizing your chances for an upgrade.

I learned it the hard way as well.

I'm not sure I agree about the time -- almost all of my upgrades (as a plat) come through overnight at 6 days, sometime between 1 am ET (when I go to bed) and 9 am the next morning (when I log on and see them cleared). YMMV.

Been through this before (as you may recall :))

So I called WorldPerks, and the CSR told me, "You're Gold; wadd'ya want me to do?" Naturally, I assumed I was Gold, right?

If we look back at that (those) threads, we see there was a difference of opinion as to whether doing it yourself would work; after all, some of us were told by WP personnel to do it ourselves.

At this point, I'm going to approach the GA sometime before boarding and make sure it's in the computer as Gold. My future bookings have been/will be made after achieving Gold status, so they should be all right (or not ... who knows these days?)

At least I get access to the exit rows, so all I really miss out on is the free booze and the Spinzels. Ah, for the days when First Class was First Class!

Based on my previous three trips and the oncmoing one (this Friday) where I have been keeping a close eye on when EUA runs, the first attempt (for NW gold, paid discount coach ticket) made by EUA is always 12:00PM EST 4 days before departure.

For example, today at 11:55AM EST, EUA did not clear for any segments on my Friday (09/16) trip DCA-MEM-DTW-LAS; at 12:01PM EST, EUA cleared only for MEM-DTW(ITN shows P9F8); EUA cleared for DTW-LAS as of now (P4F2 is shown on ITN). I don't know the exact frequency of EUA runs after the first attempt, but it looks like hourly.

I do recall the thread, now that you mentioned it. :)

Better safe than sorry, is what I'd go with. Even if the WP CSR told you you were still Gold, I'd still ask if s/he could still remove the WPs # and add it in again.

Either way, checking before departure with the GA is always a prudent thing to do.

>>>>the first attempt (for NW gold, paid discount coach ticket) made by EUA is always 12:00PM EST 4 days before departure.

I have also found early afternoon CST 4-days prior as the magic time for Gold upgrades. But my connections in the last five months have always upgraded at different times, with the earlier flight upgrading first, and the connection upgrading an hour or two later.

Thanks for the info, I'm gonna try this...I have a flight SFO-MSP-YUL on Friday and the YUL seg. cleared but as of right now there is one seat open on the SFO-MSP segment...do Plat. Companions get priority over Gold?

Yes. Plat companion on the same PNR gets the same priority as the plat.

but if they're not on the same PNR as the Plat, and they go on the standby "companion upgrade" list at the airport, are they still above NW Golds?

I assume since the EUA ran already for Platinums, all on that were already on the same PNR were already upgraded

No. Those are after the silvers even.

What is everyone's "at-gate" UG success? Just curious, as the waitlist always seems endless...