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Business Select "Sold Out" - But no one lines up 1-15

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Old Apr 27, 2011, 8:45 am
  #1  
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Business Select "Sold Out" - But no one lines up 1-15

This past Sunday (Easter) I flew from PHX to BWI (6am). I am flying full fare because the trip was last minute. I arrived at the gate and asked the GA if I could upgrade to BS. She told me that they were "sold out". Okay, that happens - I was A16 so I would still get a good seat for the long flight. They called for everyone to line up. Go figure...Noone lined up in BS 1-15. .... That cost me 2500 points. They must block last minute BS seats on flights like that...I realize that $25 for 2500 points is a pretty good deal...that is why I wanted to do it.

Anyone else experienced this?

BTW...when I landed in BWI I upgraded my return leg in advance.
11976 vs 9480 points.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 8:46 am
  #2  
nsx
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Too many through passengers. They don't sell any BS on those flights.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 9:28 am
  #3  
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How much is it generally to upgrade to bs at the airport?
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 9:53 am
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Originally Posted by jfsva
How much is it generally to upgrade to bs at the airport?
Really? It's simply the difference in fare from what you paid vs. what the BS fare is, assuming the BS fare is available for that flight. You pay at the airport what is listed on the website.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 10:20 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by nsx
Too many through passengers. They don't sell any BS on those flights.
Huh??? The OP said 6am Sunday morning. Unless WN has started flying redeyes, I don't think there were many (or any) through pax.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 10:23 am
  #6  
 
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I've seen a number of people upgrade to business select using the kiosks. They start grinning from ear to ear when their C17 magically turns into A2 or A3. I'm happy too, since they're helping to subsidize my cheaper WGA fare

For the OP's question, was the flight nonstop bwi-phx or did it have a layover? If there were no thru passengers I'd have assumed 15 BS would be available for sale. If it stopped in another city, maybe their sales software logic is flawed and they allowed 15 MDW-PHX BS sales to affect BWI-PHX availability.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 10:49 am
  #7  
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To clarify my original post. My flight originated at PHX (the plane was there overnight). After Pre Boards (3) i was the first General Boarding customer. It was also non-stop from PHX to BWI.

There are a couple of ways to upgrade to BS. At the kiosk, the main ticket counter, the gate agent (or the person near the gate at the desk), calling swa, and when you buy the ticket.

From Full Fare (anytime) - it generally costs me $20 or $25 per leg. I always fly Anytime Fares - so I upgrade almost every flight.
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Old Apr 27, 2011, 6:09 pm
  #8  
 
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Perhaps the whole flight was sold out and the software was unable to sell a "new" BS ticket even though you were just technically refaring your existing ticket?
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Old May 1, 2011, 11:00 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by nsx
Too many through passengers. They don't sell any BS on those flights.
Through pax on an eastbound 6am?
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Old May 1, 2011, 11:45 am
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by ckohlun
From Full Fare (anytime) - it generally costs me $20 or $25 per leg. I always fly Anytime Fares - so I upgrade almost every flight.
Potential stupid question, but I gotta know: why not just buy BS at the original purchase?
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Old May 1, 2011, 12:53 pm
  #11  
 
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Originally Posted by alggag
Perhaps the whole flight was sold out and the software was unable to sell a "new" BS ticket even though you were just technically refaring your existing ticket?
I'm not familiar with the airport software, but that'd be the case booking online or over the phone. It's not an upgrade, per se, it's selecting a new seat and if the flight is sold out, the only way to potentially release that seat would be to completely cancel the reservation and then if, and only if, the seat is put back in inventory, the BS seat MAY be available.
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Old May 2, 2011, 9:02 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by KelseyR
I'm not familiar with the airport software, but that'd be the case booking online or over the phone. It's not an upgrade, per se, it's selecting a new seat and if the flight is sold out, the only way to potentially release that seat would be to completely cancel the reservation and then if, and only if, the seat is put back in inventory, the BS seat MAY be available.
This is what happened. The flight was completely full, and because Business Select needs at least one open seat to sell, they were unable to upgrade the OP. (Business Select is sold as a separate fare class and not an upgrade, so you can't just pay an "upgrade fee," you have to book and sell in Business Select. I know this is one thing about the fare that we would like to change, but given the current limits of the res system, it will have to wait.
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Old May 7, 2011, 1:16 pm
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by ACEDAD
Potential stupid question, but I gotta know: why not just buy BS at the original purchase?
I was wondering the same thing.
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Old May 8, 2011, 12:45 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by ACEDAD
Potential stupid question, but I gotta know: why not just buy BS at the original purchase?
I travel on business. My corporate travel site does not allow/offer Business Select...I can do either "refundable" or "lowest fare". Becuase I change travel times frequently I book refundable then upgrade when I get to the airport. Simply a limitation of the travel tool that I have to use.
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Old May 8, 2011, 5:40 pm
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by ckohlun
I travel on business. My corporate travel site does not allow/offer Business Select...I can do either "refundable" or "lowest fare". Becuase I change travel times frequently I book refundable then upgrade when I get to the airport. Simply a limitation of the travel tool that I have to use.
Ok. That's most of my travel as well, so I understand. So you're just upgrading out of your own pocket at the airport, then.
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