Last night those R seats were still there, but sometime between then and now EF became unable to search the NWA database for class buckets. I tried OLCI several times today and did not snag an upgrade, so am holding out for battlefield. Unfortunately, I cannot check EF to see if they are still there.

FYI.

I don't know what to tell you. If an R seat was available at OLCI, you should have gotten it. Are you, perhaps, flying a "direct" flight?

Is it a sure bet that you remain on the waitlist?
 

Is there any downside in doing an OLCI and then aborting after answering "yes" to the question of whether I want to be put on the waitlist? If your position on the waitlist is solid (and I suppose that's my concern) why not always abort if no upgrade is granted? Is it only because the chances are so low that it isn't worth the time to attempt it a second time later??

I suppose it could have been a "direct" flight. I'll confess, I don't know the exact definition of that. I did get upgraded on all the other non-CRJ routes (1 battlefield) for that 7 segment itinerary, but just not that first one. And that one definitely did show R availability at 24 hours out on ExpertFlyer. But shortly after that, EF seemed to lose the ability to search that flight by fare class. So maybe there was a monkey in the mix somewhere there.

The pax next to me on JAX-MSP last night was a GE and had done OLCI on the morning of the flight. She grabbed an R seat then, but perhaps there were just plenty available as that flight was light.

A "direct" flight is, for example, NW802. NW802 is a "direct" flight between HNL and MSP, but it takes a stop in LAX. By virtue of giving the flight the same flight number, it's considered a "direct" HNL-MSP flight (as opposed to a non-stop HNL-MSP flight, which would be NW808).

If elite upgrades were allowed on Hawaii flights, one would need to see R class for the "direct" flight (HNL-MSP) as opposed to the individual segments (e.g., HNL-LAX-MSP). One can't clear the individual segments via EUA.

It wasn't a direct flight, then, based on this description. It was a sequence of flights cobbled together for a MR spanning 1-3/4 days. The initial flight in question would have been "direct" as it continued on to HNL (MSP-SEA-HNL), but I got off and headed back before it did that.

A new wrinkle: R availability pre-OLCI

Another week, another chance to test this.

It's currently about 7 hours before I can OLCI for another 7 seg MR. So far I have been upgraded on 2 legs, but not the first.

OK. At 7 hours, ExpertFlyer shows 2F 2P 2R for the flight in question.

Is there any way to snag one of these 2 R's prior to OLCI? I assume that PE/GE/SE EUA has already been run for a flight that is 31 hours out.

Or, should I trust that EF is giving me reliable information?