Not at all happy this very moment.

Titanium, sitting at top of the upgrade list all day with J2 available. Buy up upgrade price is $800.

120 minutes before departure U2 becomes available, seat map shows 4C and 1F open

I confirm U space available both on the Alaska website by pulling up the screen as if I'm doing a new booking, and also via expert flyer. Both confirmed the U2.

Buyup upgrade price in the app has now dropped to $199.

About 3 minutes later one seat 4C is gone and now the Alaska website shows one first seat available and me still on the top of the list.

3 minutes after that, no first class were available, Both gone from the seat map and from J/U availability.

I was at the airport but not at the gate so I called reservations immediately and they said go talk to the gate.

I went to the gate and told them the situation and their claim was that both seats were sold for the $199.

I'm infuriated by this.

What I can't believe is that upgrade space actually is available, I'm entitled to the upgrade by my status in place on the list and the fact that we're within the windows, and yet they don't process it and sell it for a couple hundred bucks when it was an $800 seat 5 minutes prior.

This is an actual violation of Alaska's policies. If U space had never become available, it's a different story. But there was U, I was entitled to it, and they just didn't give me the seat but let someone else pay for it first.

This is truly not okay, not okay at all.

I'm contacting customer care because I've got everything documented via screenshots in real time.

Any suggestions on what to ask for and how to try to get this absurd process rectified?

Sorry this happened. Sadly this is the new AS. A random person paying $199 is more valuable to AS than a elite flying 135,000 miles with them or more. IME even when they open U space if someone is wiling to pay before the upgrade professor runs then its sold. For most upgrades its a battlefield upgrade during boarding as AS wants to give themselves as much time to sell the premium cabin space as possible.

The upgrade processor does not run continuously. When I see U become available inside T-2, I find an agent to process my upgrade.

I'll bite my tongue on some of your comments and assumptions.

What was the route, if you mind me asking thegingerman ?

This isn't the upgrade certificate thread but this is one time where I would go ahead and process an upgrade certificate if the flight was more than 3 hours...I think they can be applied now after booking without the help of an agent....at least they're good for something, right?

as442 phl-sea

I did go to the reservation as soon as I saw the first seat disappear, and it would not let me process a cert. Said the reservation can't be changed. I presume too close to departure for the system to let me do it. But not too close to departure to collect $199.

We're back to U=2 when J=2 a few hours before departure--time to burn up those unused upgrade certificates people! Case in point, right now there are 27 people on the upgrade list for AS825 that leaves from PDX to HNL in a few hours...J=2 and U=2 so if you're 26 and 27 and want to grab with certificates, it's yours!

I'm not following why you're infuriated by this?! - I as an airline would have done the same. $199 is $199 of ancillary revenue you as an airline have in your bank account (maybe it was even more; don't know if AS personalizes these prices).
Your <insert super duper status name here> is much less worth to an airline in reality than you'd think it is.

Disappointing to hear that Titanium status upgrade T-24 (or is it T-72) didn't clear and Alaska chose to chase breadcrumbs and sell for so cheap. I thought the whole selling point of Alaska was that it treated its elites better, and at the least you could expect to clear the upgrade list within 24-72 hours depending on your status.

I had gotten the Summit card and have been working towards status through a combination of spend & flying. Projected to hit between Plat & Tittanium.

I'd been double guessing whether allocating spend on the Summit card was a viable strategy, but figured it might be worth pushing through with at least for 1 year to see for myself if status is worthwhile.

Anecdotal stories like this don't bode well for that experiment, and makes it likely that my experiment with Alaska and the Summit card will be short-lived

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Let us know what customer care says. I'd be curious to see how Alaska deals with this - I'm keen to know so I know whether I should cut my losses and just get a head start in redirecting my spend onto my other cards. And also not go out of my way to fly Alaska (for the routes I look at, they tend to be slightly more pricier than the other airlines but because I'm "chasing" status, I've gone ahead and paid the premium)

Why shouldn't they be upset? You relating to the airline and putting yourself in their shoes isn't... relevant from the perspective of a customer. Being made to feel like loyalty is a one-way street (where your loyalty isn't reciprocated) and being upset about that is a justifiable/human response lol.

I flew this once 2 years ago. They dragged out the upgrade process even then to try to fish cash upgrades.

I did politely notify the GA I was there (at #1) and keeping an eye on it.

I sympathize with you and have had similar experiences. But, important note: this was a violation of previous AS published policy, but that changed (last year, I believe). This is the new official status quo. I do not like it, but at least they are being honest about how the upgrade perk has been devalued.

You can try to get a phone or gate agent to process the upgrade if you are number one and U is open. They used to happily do this, but in my experiences the past few years they are now very reluctant, and say they have been told not to intervene and simply let the upgrade processor run.

Also, the list you see in the app or on flight status that shows you at #1 may not be correct. Or the upgrade processor may have run and upgraded people out of order. (Or the two seats could have been sold to revenue customers, or SDCs as well)

Welcome to Alaska Airlines circa 2026, where their most profitable and valuable customers are the ones with the highest cobrand credit card spend and the least actual flying.

p.s. United started this trend 10+ years ago when it began selling upgrades even when there were elites waitlisted... I'm pretty sure that AA and DL now do the same, but others here can correct me if not

I'd be furious. If U space is there, then U bet I'd expect that seat to be mine if I'm at the top of the list per the airline's own policy, no? If I were making a fresh reservation during that time, I'd be able to confirm that U seat right away.

I fear the end result of this is that we won't be seeing much U during the upsell period.

I gave up on non-instrument upgrades on DL. They really squeeze the juice from their premium cabins.