s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

I was thinking some more about this (dangerous, I know). So, let's suppose I check in for my flight from Asia at 23:59. Basically one day out, then I have a connection in DTW. It is conceiveable that I checked in for that flight more than 36 hours out. Am I still put on the standby list for that flight that far out? I could be put on this list ahead of any SEs out there, but then again, if I didn't get the EUA 3 days out, there shouldn't be an SEs getting an EUA 1 day out. Also, just because I checkin promtly at 23:59 doesn't mean that I am anywhere near the top of the list for my fare and level. People connecting in to that airport on an earlier flight would certainly have been able to checkin well ahead of me.

Any thoughts?

Wildman

That is a great question, no one here knows the exact facts on how it will affect your EUA chances. However, it is great to hear about past experiences. It would be great for NWA to let us know how it works, but there must be a few loop-holes in the system. NWA may have concluded that it is better to keep everyone in the dark.

lotalota

I was going to test this tomorrow, but as a new Gold the 3 day upgrade threw me a little. I was upgraded 3 days out on the third leg (the longest, thankfully) of an itinerary but not the first two. I'm wondering if I risk losing that F seat on the 3rd flight if I OLCI at 23:59, answer "yes I want to upgrade" and then if not upgraded close out the OLCI and then OLCI the morning of the flight.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of a situation? How best does one deal with multiple segments on an itinerary when one is 3-Day EUA'd , and the other two are not?

slippahs

You will not lose your EUA if you click that you want to upgrade.

lotalota

Many thanks!

dldkjones

I have had the experience getting upgraded on one leg at time of OLCI, and aborting the checkin so that I could try later via OLCI for the upgrade on the second leg. I did not lose the one upgrade that OLCI had given me even tough I did not complete the check in process.

Unless you get the upgrade at time of OLCI, I think that you are better off waiting to try again or perhaps allow EUA to run. I just did this and found that EUA upgraded me at some point between my hours apart attempts to score the upgrade via OLCI. Such would not have happened if I had been checked in.

lotalota

The experiment proceeds! At 23:59 I went online to OLCI my 3 Leg itinerary for tomorrow (already 3 day out EUA'd on Leg 3) and said "yes" to the "Do you want to upgrade" question. When It told me I was put on the waiting list for Leg 1 and 2 I closed the window and will try again tomorrow morning. EF is showing P1 F1 on leg 1 and P0 F0 on leg 2 so I assume I have an outside shot at Leg 1 and no shot at Leg 2. I'll report back in the morning in case anyone is interested in how this progresses.

s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

I am interested in knowing. And, this weekend, I went 1 for 2 on the battlefield, and 3/5 at the proper window, making me 4/5 overall.

avidflyer

More data points. I am flying BOS-SFO on Weds and I have got the BOS-MSP leg at 7 days. The MSP-SFO leg has not yet been EAU'd. I will check-in tomorrow afternoon and say "yes" to the upgrade. If I do not get it I will quit OLCI, right? Then go back multiple times and try and snag a seat. I will watch KVM for "R" availability all day as well. I will report from the MSP club on Weds.

AZOGRR

I have experienced better luck attempting OLCI at 23:59 and aborting if no upgrade is granted then trying again periodically as the flight gets closer. Last week both DTW-MEX and MEX-DTW were not EUA’d at the 5/3/1 day windows or at 23:59. However at some point between 23:59 and 08:00 local time both segments were EUA’d. Also today 30Jan, no upgrade DTW-IAH leg at 23:58, aborted and will check later. I will follow this through and report my results.

In 2006 as an NW Gold my success seemed greater when attempting OLCI at 23:59 and then trying periodically if no upgrade was granted.

lotalota

Further info:

I tried at 6 and 7 AM CST both and am still on the waiting list. However, EF now shows P3 F3 on Leg 1 where it was P1 F1 yesterday afternoon. This appeared to go into effect after 7 AM CST. I'll keep trying up until the time I leave for the airport, and if I don't get it I'll hope for a battlefield upgrade.

BZAZN

what about for continental flights. I noticed that I didn't get EUAed 5 days out (is this only for NWA flights?). Does the same OLCI method work for these flights as well?

I'm about to hop on a SEA - IAH flight tomorrow morning and just trying to gauge if there is any chance of an upgrade.

my first flight this year as a plat --

Thanks,

joe

lotalota

I'm going to be able to post a few more data points on this in the next week. Tomorrow I'll do OLCI on a 7-segment single itinerary MR where I've already been upgraded on segments 2 and 6. 3&4 are RJ's, so no chance there, but I'm going to follow the procedure (answer yes, cancel, re-try @ 6-7 AM CST) with hopes I can improve my chances for segments 1, 5, and 7.

EF is showing P4 F2 on Seg 1, P5 F2 on Seg 5, and P8 F5 on Seg 7. I assume I have some shot at all 3.

lotalota

OK. I just tried this on Leg 1 and just prior to OLCI, EF showed 2 R seats I tried OLCI, said yes, and was told I was on the waiting list. I then canceled.

I assumed, slippahs, that as there were two R seats available for the flight in question then at 23:59:59 OLCI I would be able to choose one. Not the case this time. Do they have R seats, but save them for a higher elite/earlier purchaser/higher fare class? Or perhaps release them only at a later EUA?

I checked EF after I closed out and it said P0 F0 on the page that shows flights for the day. When I looked closer searching the buckets I see the graphical representation of P2 F2 R2.

I'm not sure how best to understand R availability, relative to OLCI and EUA.

Vulcan

As data points (I am a CO Plat), I was flying BOI-MSP (2 PM Departure) a couple of weeks ago. The flight was P6F6. At 23:59, it asked if I wanted to upgrade and when I said yes, I was told I was put on the waiting list. I aborted the process.

I tried at 7:30 AM and got the same response and aborted.

At about 10:45 AM I tried again and this time, after answering Yes, I was assigned a FC seat.