Determining priorities within the same elite classification
 

I am in my 5th year as a Silver WP, having never been even close to being a Gold. But I almost always get upgraded to F class since I usually fly on off-peak days. So I took for granted the upgrade on this Wednesday (7/9/03)’s DTW – PDX flight, thinking this must be another not-so-full flight.

To my surprise, the A320 jet was completely booked. That meant there were 150 or so PAX on this flight, of which 20, including myself, were in the first class. Of these, a few must have actually paid the F fare, or were Plat or Gold members, leaving 15 or so First Class seats available for the upgrade. That’s when I realized that there must be more than 15 Silver like me on this plane (out of 150), so the fact that I got the upgrade (and have been getting one consistently) was not by accident but by design.

Does anybody know how NW determines priorities WITHIN the same elite class? It is reasonable to think that a fifth-year Silver probably get the priority over the first-timer Silver. Or, perhaps NW monitors the elite qualifying miles over the past X years and gives priorities that way. Any thoughts?


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Jin Abe

- your fare class (an "H" fare will get upgraded over a "V" fare)

- when you purchased your ticket

Each elite tier is upgraded based on FIFO (First In - First Out) basicly, the earlier you book your reservation the higher up you are on the list for upgrading (if there is availability) in your elite tier.

I confirmed this with a nwa VP that within the elite tiers the computer DOES NOT differentiate between a "V" or "H" ticket but pulls the earliest ticket in the que for upgrading.

Contintental DOES do what IP discussed (put a "H" fare elite ticket ahead of a "V" fare elite ticket) but Northwest does not.

RC





[This message has been edited by Radiocycle (edited 07-24-2003).]

This certainly conforms to my own experience -- this year, as a silver (but now gold), I upgraded on 22 of 24 NW flights (91%). Of the 24 flights, all but 2 were in V, K, or Q.
The 2 that didn't upgrade were in K.
I also had two legs on CO so far this year -- both booked in T. Neither upgraded, although on one I was able to get bumped and picked up a $400 voucher, first class the next morning, a free night at the Continental wing of the IAH Holiday Inn (more like a dorm room than a HI), meal vouchers for dinner and breakfast, and even 52(x2) WP miles for the stay at the HI (which were doubled in one of the WP promotions and counted toward my Mileapalooza count).
tom



[This message has been edited by mot29 (edited 07-24-2003).]

I have also found that when I have not been automatically upgraded... VERY few times... that checking in early has helped me get to the top of the airport waitlist.

I agree - I check-in on line as soon as I as can. It is also nice to get a text message a few days before to say I have been upgraded, I have tried to figure out the pattersn to that but to no avail