Unfortunate side-effect of masking status and hoping for TOD...
Mar 8, 2012, 12:13 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
Programs: UA 1KMM
Posts: 1,381
Unfortunate side-effect of masking status and hoping for TOD...
I'm putting this is a new thread.
Most of us here are legitimately worried (certain?) that, despite assurances from company representatives, that UGs are being offered to GMs for tens of dollars (TOD), locking the intrepid elite out of a seat on the good side of the curtain.
I do not wish to debate the merits of this here.
What I offer is a warning. Some elites are purposely withholding their MP number in an attempt to "see" the TOD upsell, and then input their number if the upsell is not offered.
If things are going right, there will be no small $$ upsell if there are more elites on the UG list than there are FC seats.
If things are NOT going right, there will be a small $$ upsell if there are more elites on the UG list than there are FC seats.
But, if enough folk do this, then there *will* be upsells to the point where there are and equal number of elites waiting to be UG than there are seats. At least according to the computer. What the computer does not know is there there is at least 1 "phantom" GM that is really an elite.
What happens when that person submits his or her MP number? Presto -- there are now more elites waiting to be UG than there are first class seats -- and *somebody* loses out on an UG they would have otherwise been entitled to. And it's probably not the guy who just entered his MP number.
Note: the same can happen at the airport with same-day confirmed changes -- extra elites show up, but after the TOD UG has been sold to somebody. Or a full-fare F pax decides to swap flights.
That's actually why I think the current algorithm stinks and is doomed to fail -- too many ways for extra elites to just show up on the UG list. Even if things run *perfectly*, whenever UA sells the TOD, *somebody* is likely to be unhappy about it. And it all makes algorithmic sense, just that the irate pax staring at the screen (hey happened to me!) doesn't know what hit them.
Most of us here are legitimately worried (certain?) that, despite assurances from company representatives, that UGs are being offered to GMs for tens of dollars (TOD), locking the intrepid elite out of a seat on the good side of the curtain.
I do not wish to debate the merits of this here.
What I offer is a warning. Some elites are purposely withholding their MP number in an attempt to "see" the TOD upsell, and then input their number if the upsell is not offered.
If things are going right, there will be no small $$ upsell if there are more elites on the UG list than there are FC seats.
If things are NOT going right, there will be a small $$ upsell if there are more elites on the UG list than there are FC seats.
But, if enough folk do this, then there *will* be upsells to the point where there are and equal number of elites waiting to be UG than there are seats. At least according to the computer. What the computer does not know is there there is at least 1 "phantom" GM that is really an elite.
What happens when that person submits his or her MP number? Presto -- there are now more elites waiting to be UG than there are first class seats -- and *somebody* loses out on an UG they would have otherwise been entitled to. And it's probably not the guy who just entered his MP number.
Note: the same can happen at the airport with same-day confirmed changes -- extra elites show up, but after the TOD UG has been sold to somebody. Or a full-fare F pax decides to swap flights.
That's actually why I think the current algorithm stinks and is doomed to fail -- too many ways for extra elites to just show up on the UG list. Even if things run *perfectly*, whenever UA sells the TOD, *somebody* is likely to be unhappy about it. And it all makes algorithmic sense, just that the irate pax staring at the screen (hey happened to me!) doesn't know what hit them.
