I was wondering when does the actual upgrades get processed. I have a flight in 3 days but i checked at midnight and i wasn't upgraded online. I have gold status though my flight doesn't leave till the night. Is the upgrade 72 hours before the flight? or is it on the midnight of that day? Also the online seat availability for FC says it's really empty.

Should i call them and see what's up?

thanks

Upgrades are generally processed prior to midnight, but just because there are empty seats in F does not mean that there are the seats in R required to support elite upgrades. And no, calling won't help.

I just called the elite line and they gave me some generic stuff. They said my upgrade went through the computer and there were no more seats in FC for me to take. I've never had this problem before. There are literally 50% of the FC seats empty. Everytime i've been upgraded FC is full when i check in online. I've never heard of them holding so many seats that basically elite status is worthless.

Is this the new nwa?

What flight and when? Maybe we can give you some information regarding chances for an upgrade.

Note that seat maps are useless in trying to determine loads.

Flight 331 DEC 23 DTW->LAX

The flight has all seats filled except for the 13 FC's seats open

Check out the "plats ride in back while bumps ride up front" thread.

Yes, NW has been holding back LOTS of seats lately. It used to be 3-4 on average, now it's often 8 or more.

That is perfectly normal and happens all the time (I have been on a flight recently with P9 and EUA did not clear). You might get upgraded one day out, if they release more R inventory. Else, get yourself on the upgrade list by doing OLCI.

It all depends on the airports involved. I've noticed that NW is holding back more F seats for sale out of LGA. LAS is also tough to get early.

To say your elite status is "worthless" is a bit much. Maybe we've gotten spoiled by this 1,3 and five day window. Although it's nice to know in advance, the bottom line is the upgrade, whenever it is issued.

Right now, the flight shows:

P9 F6 R0 Y8 B3 M1 H1 Q0 V0 L0 T0 K0

Booked to 11/22 up front, authorized to be booked to 22. No upgrades in advance though, even with 11 seats unsold

Maybe its time to come out and reveal the great conspiracy:

Every night Steenland hosts a big party as a morale booster for all the unhappy GA's and FA's. The highlight of the evening is the "Great Elite Shoot'em-up". All of the Elites with upgrade potential appear on various video game screens as Vultures trying to scoop up their upgrade candy from the gound and each FA or GA is given a joystick and trigger trying to shoot them down. The game moves pretty fast and they've had some beer so many elites escape with thier candy but many 'hoo-yas' are heard as the GAs and FAs kill our hopes with great delight.

Of course all those denied upgrades turn into battlefield upgrades with Elites begging at the gate, making the GA's mad enough to return for another round that night.

And so the vicious cycle continues....

A great post! Thank you for finally revealing the truth. I assume more points are awarded for platinums than golds and more for golds than silvers. Is it true, however, that all the FAs and GAs have to buy their own meals?

100% of my upgrades first post to nwa.com between noon and 3pm EST. I then receive the EUA Notification the next morning at 9am without fail. If I get upgraded at the EUA window (5 days for me) that means I get the Notification at 9am on the 5th day prior to my flight but I actually can see it on nwa.com starting sometime between noon and 3pm EST on the *6th* day prior to my flight.

Like today: in the last two hours my upgrades for 2 segments on 12.26 cleared and are now visible on nwa.com. Those flights are still more than 6 days away.

So far, yes, this is the new NWA and you'll get sympathy from no one because they have all taken a 25% pay cut.

I'd be interested on the routes. between 12/20 and 12/25 I have segments:

MSP-DCA
DCA-MSP
MSP-LAX

All of which have yet to upgrade as a platinum, despite more than 10 empty seats on each of them. Grrr!

On the 26th I'm flying GRB-DTW-EWR and was just upgraded on both segments in the last few hours.

Before then I'm flying BOS-DTW-GRB and neither of those upgrades have cleared. I actually prefer the 1,000 mile Plat bonus to the upgrade for these short segments though so I'm actually hoping I don't get the upgrade. First time in months I've had a flight that isn't zero'd out and not gotten the upgrade at 6 days though...