frequentfoulup

A lot has been said about the poor upgrade results coming out of several cities, mostly SFO, SEA, LAX. There are more cities impacted and if you are a veteran plat you are feeling it. Is it reasonable to assume things will get better? There are less flights with the downsizing of the fleet. There are more elites in these markets for various reasons. There are ALWAYS 20+ plats on most routes, many times no preboard is allowed due to the high number of elites.

I wrote to Russ Hinckley about this and he did respond promptly. He acknowledged it was a problem and needed to be resolved. What can they do to get the upgrade %'s up to past levels? Short of adding more departures, I don't see this improving at all in the short term. They are proud to point out that systemwide it's 90% and above, and that is their target, but we got too few seats and way too many takers presently.

WildcatJer

I am not a veteran Plat but a newbie Plat. I can only speak on my experiences to the West Coast, primarily LAX and SEA. Seattle has never been a problem for me as a Silver, Gold, or even Plat. LA has been hit or miss but I am fortunate that a lot of my travel has been on the nonstop out of Milwaukee and that is usually an easy upgrade. SF is another beast all together, it seems like the only time I get upgraded is on a Saturday morning flight out to SF and never coming back East.

I am wondering if NW will continue to substitute larger aircraft in needed situations?? I ask this because I read a thread last week on the upgraded equipment from MSP to LAS based on loads and out of dumb luck if nothing else, I was on flight 165 last Thursday from MSP to SEA that was upgraded to a D10. I must say it brought back memories of when that was an expected aircraft on that route.

I would be pleased if NW would start to incorporate one or two larger aircraft on heavy West Coast flights. Once they get their expenses stable, perhaps they will investigate that option more, especially with the addition of the 787 coming down the road. It is an excellent question that you pose though. And granted FT is not the best cross section of typical fliers but it sounds like people are jumping ship quite quickly with the recent changes and that should only help as well.

WildcatJer

DistrictOfColumbia

LAX will get worse before it will get better. With the elimination of ONT and reduction at SNA (service is now only to MSP) every flight out seems truly like a battlefield in the terminal.

sbagdon

The issues I've seen are not only related to certain routes, but to certain flights on certaiin routes. I can understand why NW would be hesitant to fly a 757 for road-warrior flights (early am Monday, late afternoon Friday), DC9s for noon, and CRJs for mid morning and afternoon. Talk about a scheduling nightmare. I'm sure even one-off re-routings of DC-10s to fix single city issues is a logistic issue. Even on a 757 20 Plats almost fills up F... and the routesflights I'm referring to have 40-50 Plats. I don't think NW is going to fly a 747 or A320 on that route... but it sure would be cool.

Besides... that specific route/flight issue will go away, and go to another route. There's the Plat Guarantee Bonus Miles program, which doesn't fix the problem, but does, of all things, indicate that NWA admits there's a problem. Do you think they would have come up with the program, if no Plats complained about not getting their upgrade? I'm not sure this is a problem that can be fixed, given the dynamic nature of route/flight load, and the static nature or aircraft assignment.

Steve B.

aw

I concur with the above. I'm a Silver and the only time I've been able to upgrade out of SFO was on the Sat. morning flights. Coming from either MSP or DTW it is almost impossible. One time I even had a Platinum sitting next to me in a middle seat of the exit row.

SchmutzigMSP

What works wonders for me is leaving a little earlier or a little later than the ideal flight time. If you'd normally take the 6am flight, why not take the 12pm flight? If you can afford those extra 6 hours, I bet it works wonders for your UG%. It has for me, and even on the primetime flights, my battlefields have been halfway decent.

The main issues have been hit so far in the thread: more elites, less flight departures, smaller equipment, less airports served. Mix all that up and you've got much stronger competition.

I expect, in my fully unqualified opinion, that if NW emerges from BK and settles with its unions, the 757s are going to be coming back and no more of this 320 crap they've got now. And I think they'll increase the frequency. I think the O/D demand is high enough, but they just can't afford to run the extra flights right now. I'd hope, assuming the birds are still flying, that by fall the route frequency will be increased and upgraded.

NWA-PLAT

I have been upgraded on every domestic NW flight in my life out of LAX. I live much closer to SNA, but would usually drive to LAX because I know I have a much better chance at the UG. About 1/4 of the times I have a companion, they get uprgaded too.

I'm usually flying from LAX to IND, MSP, DTW.

I was upgraded just this morning to IND, but 2 silvers I travelled with were not.

SchmutzigMSP

It's my understanding that if there's a Plat and a Silver on the same PNR, the 5-day companion upgrade will not process for the Silver; only if the 2nd pax was not elite would it process at 5 days out. Also, if there is a Plat and more than one other pax on the PNR (elite or not), the 5 day EUA would also not process for the companion, only the Plat (if available).

n7371f

The numbers don't lie...upgrades are down. Not sure what's behind it. All I know are the percentages compared to other years as Platinum:

2002: 99% (75/76)
2003: 99% (151/152)
2004: 99% (179/180)
2005: 96% (82/85)
2006: 86% (18/21)

NWA-PLAT

I never have a companion on the same PNR. I just always check in at the gate and ask if a companion upgrade is possible.

NOLAnwGOLD

Often taking the redeyes going East and evening flights back West to LAX, both Golds, we've only had maybe 25% EUAs, o/w it's coach. Most of the upgrades are on off days. Hence why I'm totally pee'd off about CoachChoice....

Now hopefully the CoachChoice will scare off all the Plats flying out of LAX...

ironmanjt

But statistics do lie. Based on your small 2006 sample size, you can't say with statistical confidence that 96 vs 86 is different.

psychtobe

hmmm... can you please define 'statistical confidence' as you use it here?

n7371f

Whatever. I already have 3 non-upgrades in just 21 flights compared to 1 for 150+ flights in two straight years. Seems like a difference to me.

HeadInTheClouds

Recently lost LAX-MEM on a Saturday morning. Yes, A SATURDAY MORNING TO FRIGGIN MEMPHIS! I had figured that one was a slam dunk.

The only other factor not mentioned here is that F fares have also been lower than in years past... don't forget that.

The bonus miles though make a huge difference to me, though I don't really know why! But knowing that I at least get something makes things much easier to take. Kudos to NW for that program. ^