SAS - please improve the gate upgrade information on long haul flights.
 

My situation is that company no longer wants to pay business fare and demands economy class plus I travel quite a lot long haul on my own buck and just can’t afford that business fare myself. So it’s the points upgrade circus or sweat it out in cattle class.

So these days I have tried to check in at airport early so my name on the gate upgrade “standby” list but not knowing where you are on that list or any indication of your chances is real irritating at best of times.

Sorry to say I now can’t remember last time I got an ordinary upgrade for points at the gate? It seems to me that’s it’s always the “tall” business suite guy that looks definitely like a full fare Y that scores that upgrade.

My irritation with SAS is that I have been standing around waiting for upgrade at gate now quite a lot without any feedback at all and being told to hang around standby while plane is boarding thus losing any chance of overhead luggage space is not a chance I want to take.

I cannot say I am impressed by the lack of information that SAS gate personal is providing and this is at main hub such as Copenhagen, Stockholm, where SAS should be able to provide better service.

So SAS please improve you feedback to your customers at the gate.

Last times I've wanted upgrades I've had no problem getting information on which place I'm on the list. And been denied straight up if too many people was on the list before me.

+1

No problems at all.

When flying TATL (ORD or IAD) I have always had my upgrades clear. In general they've been pretty good at standby upgrades although here are two episodes from a recent trip I made.

I flew HEL-CPH-BKK-SIN a few weeks ago and asked at HEL whether standby upgrade with points for CPH-BKK would be possible. The checkin agent said she had no idea how to do that and went to ask for supervisor. Took 10 minutes. Because of the uncertainty I decided in CPH to ask the nice lounge dragons whether it was 'put in right' to which they responded that no, it wasn't but now it is. At the gate my upgrade got cleared and I had a really nice sleeping journey all the way.

On the way back, SIN-BKK-CPH-HEL - SIN had no idea that you could even do that - ok, figures as it's not really a SAS hub but contracted out to some local company. In BKK, at the gate, I asked at whether I can again upgrade for points to which they first look at the ticket, then ask for the card and put me to wait _behind_ the counter (in BKK most gates have the gate desk setup so that it is in the middle and you can approach the desk from behind, too). They put me on the list (as seen from their screens as number 4, 3 EBGs above, two LH SENs below, etc. from what I recall) and then call somewhere and return to me saying "we're all full". :-)

It's a nice feature but of course you can't rely on it being available at all times...

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I think this is one of the things airlines in usa are better at than their european competitors. The information displays over there are usually very good with ordered lists of names for both people standing by and for those waiting for an upgrade. I have seen lufthansa doing something similar with stand by lists but have yet to see a complete system in action.

When I flew ARN-DXB via CPH a few weeks ago, I asked for an upgrade when I checked in at ARN. They told me they put it in the system and that I would have to talk to the GA in CPH to get it cleared.

When I got to CPH, I was told that there was no way I would get an upgrade because they had no more food. I asked them how this was possible as I had checked in at ARN 5h prior to the CPH-DXB flight. They didn't really respond to that but basically told me to get on board or go home.

The lesson learned is to never have tight connections when trying to get an upgrade and always go to the gate where you want the upgrade to take place.

The catering order is usually filed around 10-12 h prior to departure and the number of meals ordered in each class is determined based on i.e. the number of booked pax and a forecast model for the number of upgrades that will be done. Once that order is placed it won't be altered, no matter how many would like to spend points, money or charm to be upgraded.

I got this explanation from a station manager at ARN about a year ago. It might have changed now though to support the intro of upgrades with special meal.

Me too. I think this has improved lately and it seems the station people have gotten some improvements in terms of system support to structure and handle it.