OLCI question?
 

You guys mention that the best time for an upgrade is at 23:59 the night prior. Is that Eastern time? Central time? Local time?

Thanks in advance.

It would be for whatever time zone the flight is departing from

What is meant is 24 hours before your first flight - from whatever time zone that may be.

I understand the impact on the AA upgrade list but not on the NW list; surely someone will jump in.

The theory is, all other things being equal (status & fare class) that the upgrades are done in check in time order. So if you check in at the first possible minute (23 hours, 59 minutes before your initial flight leaves) you will be at the top of the list for your status and fare class.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is clearly an EUA that is run in the early morning day of depature. As a result, I am recommending that most people check in first thing in the morning on the day of depature instead of 24 hours out.

Seconded. And if you want to check the odds of your scoring an upgrade, enter your flight info here to see what fare buckets still have FC availability.

Do you have any idea (approximately) what time they run this? I assume it is done out of Eagan, so is on CST. When you say "early in the morning" do you mean 1 AM or more like 6 AM?

It has generally been noted that the EUA will process flights in the order that they depart (e.g., later flights get processed later in the EUA period than earlier flights). But this could all be BS as well. The specifics of the EUA procedure are not published.

Humanoid94, you've steered me straight so far this trip. Let's hope this works out this weekend as well.

Plus, now that I read the responses, it does seem that my interpretation of 23:59 to mean 11:59pm vs 23h59m prior to departure was a little crazy! Now I know. But, can anyone help me with RDM? What does that stand for?

There's nothing to be crazy about the 11:59 p.m. rule, since it is (or was) the way one low cost carrier used to do their OLCI... ahem.

RDM = redeemable miles.

Most people on FlyerTalk use that term to refer to "Redeemable Miles". These include all miles you earn for flights including elite bonuses, credit card miles, SuperSize miles, basically anything that is a mile that goes into your WorldPerks account that you are able to redeem for an award is considered an RDM.

As a practical example, as a NW Gold Elite, you earn 100% bonus miles on all NW flights. So, a roundtrip flight from MSP-ORD-MSP would earn you 1000 base miles (500 miles each leg), but also 1000 elite bonus miles (at the 100% level for being Gold Elite). So, in total, your trip would have earned you 2000 RDMs.

Hope this helps. :)

I understand that the specifics are not published. But based on what I've read here, and other threads, I am a little less clear.

I understand the theory of 23:59 putting you at the top of the list for your elite level and I believe I've actually experienced it. I don't understand how waiting until the morning of the day of the flight to do OLCI would trump OLCI at 23:59? Wouldn't they be complimentary?

What I assume the wisest course of action is to OLCI at 23:59, follow it past the "yes I want a complimentary upgrade" question, and then cancel. Then, the morning of the flight do OLCI and follow it through, the idea being that EUA has run prior to that point and that you will have been processed already.

Am I reading this correctly? I'm going to give it a shot next week, my first flight as a GE, and see what happens.

Just curious - is this an established fact or speculation?

OLCI draws elite upgrades from R class. If there is no R class at OLCI and you go ahead and print your BPs any way, you will miss an upgrade IF R class is later opened up and the EUA is run after having done OLCI. If you cancel out of OLCI, you are not precluded from grabbing an EUA'd upgrade because an R class seat opened up.
Yes, this seems to be, IMHO, the wisest way to proceed if an upgrade hasn't been rec'd in advance. You apparently still make it on the upgrade waitlist, and canceling out still makes you a contender for an EUA seat if an R class becomes available past the 23:59 mark. Also, you can OLCI and cancel later if you note on EF/KVS that an R class seat has become available.

Beaten to it by slippahs.

Thanks for the info and for making me feel not as dumb! One more, then...EUA. I get the Elite Upgrade part, but A?

I believe it's for 'automation' (as in the computer does it); I'm sure someone will post a correction if needed.

Lotalota, I will give this a try. As we know, being Gold and not Platinum, we need all the help we can get with these upgrades. I have no problem OLCIing twice!

Seems to be a variety of different usages of the A in EUA. Automation, Automatic. Also known as EAU to some...

Thank you Slippahs, it makes sense to me now. Much appreciated!

>>>>>>One thing to keep in mind is that there is clearly an EUA that is run in the early morning day of depature.
>>Just curious - is this an established fact or speculation?

I've been upgraded in the early AM prior to flying numerous times in the past year--it is very predictable--like clockwork for those flights that are actually half empty in F where they will be upgrading a handful of elites in any case.

It generally happens 6am or 7am. Oddly, as opposed to normal days-out EUA's that pop me into a seat, these early morning day-of-travel EUA's always wind up saying "seat unassigned", and I have to select a seat. This suggests that this is a 'different' kind of upgrade--it may in fact be a processing of the waitlist--it's hard to know (I always abort check-in at 23:59 after being told that I have been put on the waitlist). It is also completely possible, maybe even likely, that people who DID check in already, and who are also in good shape on the waitlist, are ALSO being upgraded within the system, but will receive their F boarding passes at the gate--nobody knows. Even if this turns out to be the case though, I still prefer getting the upgrade in the morning so that I can select my own seat.

I did OLCI Saturday for a Sunday flight, about 22 hours out. The flight was showing P1F1. Answered Yes to the "do you want to upgrade" question, but did not get it, so I aborted check in. Tried again Sunday about seven hours out and this time got the upgrade.

I did not think to look at my reservation to see if EUA had moved me before the second OLCI, or if it happend when I hit the Yes button.

I recall a previous trip where I did look at my reservation after an aborted OLCI. My seat assignment was gone (lost exit row :mad: ) so I clicked through to change my seat and up popped a map of the F cabin :D . In this case the computer moved me sometime between the aborted OLCI and my look the next day.

I have been told this on several occasions by NW representatives at the Elite desk. My practice is to check in on line in the morning of departure, not @23:59.

Well, I'm still kinda confused. Based on what I thought was right, I did OLCI @ 23:59 out & got on the waitlist for a flight tomorrow morning. While there are no R seats on the flight right now, there are 3 P seats which are not likely to be sold. Should I now cancel my OLCI (& how do I do that?) and then try OLCI early tomorrow in case there are EAU seat available then?

FWIW I look at the load at 23:59. If it's, say, P2 F0 I figure they're holding the seats for last minute sale, EUA won't clear, and I'm best off checking in.

If it's something like P5 F2 it's a more difficult decision.

This is consistent with some of my previous experiences.

Is this 6:00 or 7:00 Central Standard Time?

>>>>Is this 6:00 or 7:00 Central Standard Time?

Yes. I think my last DEN trip was closer to 7am Mountain, but still in the same range (rockies?).

Thanks. So best guess is day of flight EUA runs 7-8 AM EST, 6-7 AM CST, 5-6 AM MST, or 4-5 AM PST?

Thinking about it, though, wouldn't it run earlier so as to account for pre-7 AM flights out of the east coast? Are there early morning red-eyes from the east flying westbound?

Did the same thing for today's 6:30am CT flight. 23:59 hours did OLCI but exited after "do you want to upgrade" question. Checked seat assignment over next 22 hours and never saw myself and the wife upgraded. Just before leaving the house this morning, checked again at 4:15am. Still in coach. Fare class was showing P8F8. Decided to try OLCI again. Got the "do you want to upgrade" question and then saw the seating chart had us upgraded for MSP-SLC leg, but not MKE-MSP. Completed OLCI and then checked fare class; now showing P8F6 for the MSP-SLC leg.

Based on the above it appears OLCI released the first class seats, not EUA. We probably would have been upgraded earlier in the week via EUA if these had been paid tickets, but traveling on award tickets we fell into the 1 day prior window for upgrades. Not sure why EUA didn't process the upgrade. If EUA runs only once a day between 6 - 7 CT, maybe our flight fell into the gap of processing 1 day out?

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?

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.

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?

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

Many thanks!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.