slippahs

All fare classes, including award tickets, are fair game.

Yes.

DanTravels

Another thing I like (though I've not yet been fast enough to take advantage of it - people really lunge at the counter for those last-minute upgrades on the 330s!) about NW, compared to DL and their "you can only do a DOD paid upgrade from the following classes" routine.

slippahs

You should really try it at check-in (in HNL, at least). But since I'm assuming you're usually transiting post-security at HNL, that may not be a frequent opportunity?

DanTravels

True. By "it" did you mean last-minute paid upgrades on NW (rarely an issue, since I tend to do upgrades where possible far in advance on them), or on DL (officially a KLM-esque "it is not possible!" below a certain fare class, even asking in the CRC)?

slippahs

Sorry, by "it" I meant the DoD NW upgrades. As to DL upgrades, that policy is a big bummer. If I ever subject myself to Delta out of HNL, I'm always on a L, U, or T fare, so there's never even an opportunity for me to upgrade. Doesn't matter. The exit row seat on the 764 is, IMHO, a better seat than all FC seats on the plane.

florin

What about CO? What is their policy on paid UG's to/from HNL?

slippahs

It's called Rev-Up. You can find a whole slate of information on the CO forum. Basically, elites can upgrade 24 hours prior to departure via phone. Everyone else at the gate. Price varies based on elite tier and by destination.

So that the information is in the respective forums, if you have any further questions re: CO's Rev-Up program, please add to an existing thread or start a new one over on the CO forum. Thanks.

RobOnLI

Yesterday I flew NW807 which runs MSP-SEA-HNL. I got off the plane in SEA.

The message board at gate S9 in SEA yesterday said upgrades were available for purchase and were $250.

-RM

DanTravels

Yeah, $250 because that's a 757 with domestic F seating.
$350 (I think?) is the cost to upgrade on a 330 to HNL with WBC seating.

I think it's well worth the extra $100.

RobOnLI

Ahh, ok. Thanks for the clarification. -RM

psychtobe

For our SEA-HNL flight on the A330 in 11 days (Sunday), only 15 out of 34 WBC seats are filled. Out of curiosity, will this flight go out full up front? How many DOD paid UGs will fill those seats?

slippahs

How booked is Y?

Manoa Chris

That isn't atypical for SEA-HNL. Other than Friday and Saturday morning flights, first class is usually less than half full until a week before departure. I'd say the seats get divided up pretty evenly between resident and DOD upgrades.

It used to be that you could count on empty seats out of Seattle, especially for the evening flight. Now it seems to be limited to PDX and to a lesser extent SFO.

Elena

Hawaii residents get several free upgrades depending on status so if you travel there a lot it might be worth changing your registered address to a Hawaii one or if one has generous friends not using their allocated upgrades.

They have become increasingly difficult to redeem as the new rules say you can only use the upgrade 7 days to 48 hours before the flight. If F seats are released after the 48 hour window the upgrade can't be used. Availability, which comes from F, is also quite difficult to find on the new A330 flights- most often it is available on the actually HNL-MSP segment but not on the connections. Sometimes flights show availability separately but not together (ie HNL-MSP and MSP-LGA are both available in F whereas HNL-LGA using the same flights is not). I have tried using Expertflyer to check F availability and it consistently shows availabilities in F while NW's site only shows them in P.

I have paid the $350 a couple times for the new flights- often the flight shows full but at the airport they often are able to find a seat. The last time the HNL check-in agent sold me the seat and then told me the system would not release it so I should talk to the gate agent and pay at the gate which I wa able to do after all other pax had boarded.

slippahs

(1) You can't transfer these certs; (2) the merits of changing one's address to get these certs have been discussed time and time again. If you don't have an HNL address, why bother? As those in the know have pointed out before, NW does monitor accounts for fraud; it's pretty easy to see when someone does not reside in Hawaii based on travel patterns. A big to those who take ill advantage of this program.