Spoiled Silver
 

Terribly disappointed - I have not been upgraded for my MCO-DTW leg tomorrow afternoon. First time I will have to fly coach in 23 segments. GRRRR.

Oh well, only 5k away from Gold, hopefully this won't happen again ;)

If you are on 426 or 422....don't worry too much about it. I see good things for you in the battlefield. ;)

Report back!

Wow, many Plats would love to have your upgrade record for this year.....

Yeah, I haven't had that good of an upgrade record this year as a GE.

Since making SE I've done 8 NW segments (LGA-MSP-SEA-KOA-SEA-MSP- EWR-MSP-HNL) and 3 partner segments on HA (HNL-ITO-HNL-ITO). Got EUA'ed on LGA-MSP-SEA, was in Y SEA-KOA, and upgraded myself KOA-SEA-MSP-EWR-MSP-HNL.

Alas, the rest of the year looks like ITO-HNL-NRT-PEK-AMS-EDI-AMS-NBO-EBB-NBO-AMS-EDI-AMS-PEK(-SYX- PEK?)-NRT-HNL-ITO (with possible substitution of ICN for NRT) and everything the other side of PEK will be KE, KL or KQ, so I'm going to be doing a lot of BIS in Y. :(

Maybe I should do one more domestic RT just for kicks, and upgrade it.

Neither have I... I had better luck as a Silver! However, my destinations have changed recently and have added far more DTW-BOS evening trips and MANY more CRJ flights.

Nope...431...still seeing things?

Also, my return flight the next evening via MEM-MCO is not upgraded, whereas the BWI-MEM is already.

Interestingly enough I will scrape by before potential CHAOS as my plane lands in MCO around 11:59 PM on 8/24. Talk about the skin of one's teeth!

Is it just plats out of DTW and MSP that have it so hard? My destinations have been:

BOS, IND, GRR, EWR, SFO, MSP, MKE, DTW, OMA....

Couple of those have been multiple trips...

Being a NWA WP member seems not so bad out of MCO. EXCEPT, there's fewer non-stops - but I am happy to take multiple legs if I am able to relax with a glass of wine, hit the worldclub and get some work done, etc. So connections don't bother me too much.

Pfft, I land at 8:24pm CDT on 8/25, about a half hour before potential CHAOS :cool: And that is my outbound ... The return on 8/28 should be fun.

As a gold - I don't have high success on upgrading most of my flights, other than at the gate.

Hats off to you!

UGs as a Silver and Gold can vary highly based on route, day, and time of day. As a Silver, I never missed in single UG into or out of ABQ (my home airport) in 2.5 years. I moved to RNO shortly after making Gold, and had about 50% success in and out of my home airport before NW left the market. As Silver, my UG% was always above 90, but I worked hard at it--Saturday flights, non-favored-by-business-traveler-time-of-day flights, careful comparison of F avail in nearby airports at time of purchase (e.g., low F avail for LGA-MSP, but good avail for a JFK-MSP flight with near-identical departure time would mean I flew out of JFK).

So far I've had 100% success as a Silver, then Gold, then Plat this year.

The few times that it was an elite heavy flight (CMH-DTW thursday night) I was on a Y/B so upgraded automatically/very quickly

I'm only about 50% as a Plat on flights to and from SEA this year. Yesterday I was on SEA-MSP on an expensive H fare and didn't make it.

I was close to 100%, but failed last Friday out of SFO. I think my FC was given to a priest with a collar!

Was the collar studded? (Have to ask, in SFO. ;))

As a Silver this year, I'm running about 60% of the time on upgrades. Actually had the best luck on my CO flights from SMF to IAH. :)

SacFitz

And were the studs platinum?

I hopped on the earlier flight out - Flt 429. Was told I would be lucky to make standby at first and that there were many plats ahead of me for upgrades.

BAM! Hit the upgrade. I think the GA was toying with my emotions.

I hate coach like my daughter hates broccoli.

Mmmm... broccoli...

mmHmm .. I actually love broccoli :D

Anyway .. does anyone know if PBI-DTW and DTW-SAN (and vise versa) is elite heavy?

I just made SE yesterday and looking forward to my first upgrade. I'll be traveling during the week (9/20 & 9/27).

Welcome to elite status.....

Ballpark guess here:

PBI-DTW - midweek, you probably have a decent shot at an upgrade
DTW-SAN -very slim chance, upgrades lately have been hard to come by on West Coast flights, since they are very elite-heavy, plus paid F passengers. You'll be lucky if you do.

With the exception of anything to LAS the chances of a west coast upgrade are low. In addition, when there are certian conventions in town the chances of upgrades in/out of LAS for a SE are about zero.

Anyway .. does anyone know if PBI-DTW and DTW-SAN (and vise versa) is elite heavy?
I just made SE yesterday and looking forward to my first upgrade. I'll be traveling during the week (9/20 & 9/27


My cousin is SE and she has been getting upgrades on the DTW-PBI routes. I'm PE and always get Ug'd.

It doesn't appear that there are that many elites on the PBI-DTW route.

West coast....I agree with other posters.....Lots 'o luck :)

Do Silver Elites get to upgrade their companion? I had thought yes, but I think I read that you need to get to Gold or Platinum. That will stink for my companion!!! (If I am traveling with my wife, I think I will stay in coach). Can I give her my FC seat and stay in coach? At least we'd have a better chance at the "first row coach" seats as a Silver.....

No, on NW Golds and Plats only.

Yes, you can do this, however if you are on the same PNR as a non-elite pax, you won't get a UG. If you want to try to get your UG and give the seat to your companion, call the elite line and ask them to split your PNRs [doing this may or may not result in the loss of your companion's ability to sit in a "P" seat--I haven't had experience with this in a while and not sure how it's working now].

When I flew DTW(sunday)-SAN-DTW(thursday) in late July, F flew with several seats open on each flight. I was upgraded days before the flight both ways.

I'm not married, but I explained to the elite agent that I was traveling with a buddy and we would like the Aisle and Middle seat in row 1 coach and she called the seating department so she could move him to there. I took the middle in case I got the upgrade so that would leave him on the aisle. If I miss the upgrade I told him I want the aisle and he'd have to sit in the middle - he agreed.

So just give them a call, I don't see them not giving her a P seat next to you.

I always have good luck in and out of SEA as a plat. Even scored a companion UG on the 23rd to MSP.

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the info. Though I always thought midweek have less chance of an upgrade due to the business travelers traveling during the week.
That's good to hear :D

Thanks again

You know that's funny because I have the most difficult time getting upgraded out of LAS as a PE. In fact my flight on Sept 4th is already showing 19 of 22 seats filled. As for the OP I would love to have his success. I'm at about 80% upgrade success this year. I always read these posts about 100% upgrade success and wonder where they fly that they have such great luck.

Actually I got a companion UG once when F was totally empty except me and another when I was SE. Ask the GA if F seems ghost-like.

I've never been on CO metal as a SE member, but I was wondering whether you all have any insight as to whether MHT-EWR is elite heavy. Any help would be greatly appreciated!