No waitlist for mileage upgrades?
 

I just booked my first TATL flight on NW and was astonished to hear that there's no way to be waitlisted for mileage upgrades. It never occurred to me that it might not be possible to be added to the waitlist. Failing that, is there any way for me to keep track of upgrade availability on my flight other than calling NW every couple of days? Do they do EUAs for TATL flights?

You can also check on nwa.com. Just check the mileage upgrade box and see if it comes up. IIRC, upgrades from B are 30,000 each way and upgrades from Y are 15,000 each way.

No EUA for TATL flights. It sounds like you're an elite, so there's a chance for an op-up but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Note that upgrades from B come from the "I" bucket while upgrades from Y comes from the "Z" bucket. You can track Z availability using any of the regular availability tools. The only way to see I availability is the above method. Or to call every few days like you said.


Op-ups generally happen only if coach is oversold.

That's good to know-- thanks! I'm booked in Y right now. ExpertFlyer shows J9/C9/Z0/I0, so I'm hoping that means things will open up closer to departure. Since I'm now back to being a WP base member,

Coach is *so* not oversold. If you look at NW 54 on 6/6, you'll see that there are still tons of open coach seats, so I'm not betting on an op-up. Time to cross my fingers, then periodically uncross them to check ExpertFlyer :(

I didn't know EF could show the I bucket. That's good to know.

If your TATL flight is headed to AMS, it might be worth checking some of the other flights (there are usually 3-5 DTW-AMS flights per day, for example) to see if Z is available on another flight.

Also, I believe EF offers some sort of availability alert feature, although you may need a higher level subscription for that.

EF shows both I and Z as zeroed for all DTW-AMS on my travel day; there are Z seats if I'm willing to go DTW-{ORD, IAD}-AMS. I'm not 100% that EF is correct, though. Their alert feature accepted an alert request for NW 54/Z, but the accompanying PDF that lists the airlines and fare classes supported by the alert feature says that NW isn't supported, so I'm not certain that it will alert me. I guess I'll find out!

Well, this is interesting.

The Z class that we support in the Flight Alert feature is because it is one of the fare codes used for RTW Skyteam tickets and the alert feature will work on this class. The fact that it is also used for Y to Z upgrades is interesting. Although this is similar to AA's A inventory which is both a revenue and upgrade class.

As for showing I inventory, yes we do. If this is also an upgrade inventory class, as well as a revenue class, than we will update our Special Classes PDF to include these Z and I classes. We will also add I class to the Flight Alert drop down list so an alert can be set on it.

We would appreciate it if someone can point us to a link that lists all the NW award and upgrade classes or PM me with any details and we will correct our site features and documents accordingly.

Thank you for your support,
EFV

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....ss_Definitions

I believe everything on that page is more less correct.

To summarize: Standard ("perksaver") awards come from W (all coach), A (domestic first), and D (int'l business). Mileage upgrades come from R (all domestic), I (int'l upgrades from B fares), and Z (int'l upgrades from Y fares).

The only thing not noted is the fare classes for rulebuster ("perkpass") awards. I believe int'l rulebuster business awards come from C. I'm not sure which bucket coach rulebusters or domestic first rulebusters come from.

Purchase Ticket line for day of flight upgrades
 

If haven't been able to get upgraded with ff miles before your flight and you know there is space in WBC, but it's in the wrong fare bucket; Goto the purchase tickets line at the airport on the day of your flight. I've had an agent call somebody that could get the inventory moved so my upgrade could be processed.

Note, If you're not plutonium elite you will be subject to a $50 WorldPerks administrative change.

We now have I, Q, Y, Z classes for NW added to the Flight Alert feature. These classes are also visible using the Flight Availability search.

Thank you all for your support.

EFV

Does ExpertFlyer currently display the current World Business Class upgrade classes for NW and KLM flights? On KLM-coded flights, B inventory now upgrades into the D bucket. And on NW-coded flights, B inventory upgrades into the U bucket.

Also, I am still not sure: is waitlisting available for World Business Class mileage upgrades from B (and Y fares) on NW flights? On KLM flights?

EF supports the following hidden classes (don't worry about the Yes/No part)

Does anybody know what happens when I use the "WorldPerks mileage upgrades" feature in the drop-down "Change or Upgrade Reservation" menu of an existing reservation at nwa.com? What is the consequence if I check the box and click "Upgrade Existing Flights" if upgrade inventory exists on some, but not all of the flights? Will nwa.com let me know or will it deny the upgrade effort entirely without breaking down whether inventory was available on none of the flights or just some of them? And will I automatically be upgraded having checked the box and clicked the "Upgrade Existing Flights" button if some or all of the applicable flights have inventory or will I have a further opportunity to see which flights have inventory and which do not before making my final decision? What I don't want to have happen is that I get stuck with a mileage upgrade if only the intraEuropean KLM segments have upgrade inventory, but the transatlantic segment does not. Is this a potential danger?

nwa.com will let you know. There is another screen after you click "Upgrade Existing Flights" to put in your address (or CC # for non-elites if there is an additional fare collection).

Thank you for both of your previous posts, slippahs.