s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

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.

nwdc10

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

3Cforme

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.

TheMadBrewer

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.

humanoid94

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.

hoyateach

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.

lotalota

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?

slippahs

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.

s1c3r1a1b3b3l1e1

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?

slippahs

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.

SchmutzigMSP

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.

lotalota

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.

yogimax

Just curious - is this an established fact or speculation?

slippahs

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.

clarence5ybr

Beaten to it by slippahs.