things must have changed fast overnight as I was just on a 739 flight with 14 who did not clear and next up on a 738 with a list of 14 and F booked full.

i cleared both, the first due to a last minute sub of a 739 where a 738 would normally be.

I'm not saying you can fly in FC every flight, but via a prudent use of free and paid upgrades, you might be able to maximize your rides up front, and, more important, control better when that event happens (e.g. longer or more arduous flights), rather than depending purely on the vagaries of Uncle Jeffy. This is an art, not a science.

RNE, adding that AKC is the nearest airport to my palatial mansion here in the tony West End of the megalopolis known as Akron, Ohio. Therefore, yes, CAK and CLE are not far away and, by the way, I can fly UA from either of those airports; I am not a captive of CLE.

Ah, you see that is the rub (not the "palatial mansion here in the tony West End of the megolopolis known as Akron" :D). I am GS, next year I can be EXP or DM, or see if I make GS (which ain't gonna happen :cool:) and be 1K on UA. As an EXP or DM I will get upgraded nearly all the time. Or I can count of the vegaries of Uncle Jeffy or pay extra and be a 1K.

No offense, but the very slightly better reward available on UA (which still ain't hot) does not make up for the lack of upgrades vs. DL, nor are UAL's SWUs a match for AAs.

Its sort of like I go to buy a car. One sales man says "hey, I'll sell you this car for $10,000" the guy across the street says "hey, I'll sell you this same car for $10,000, but you gotta pay me an extra $1000 per month to use the engine." Who I gonna buy a car from? ;)

Haha! Keep dreaming.

I've been flying DL, have not seen any DMs not get upgraded. Nor do the DMs I know say they don't get upgraded. That said, my sample is not extensive, and my DL experience is via AS MVP.

Fair enough, as long as you know what you're getting into with respect to the routes/times that you fly. I see some clanky metal baggage tags trekking it into coach on ~80% of my Delta domestic flights, so it's definitely not a sure thing everywhere you go. Unless you join us in the WFBF camp; we don't bite! ;)

I will also concede that, like you, I've had decent success with upgrades as an AF/AS elite when I do fly coach fares, considering that we get thrown to the bottom of the list.

I thought that CPU's were improving for a while but now I'm not sure.

I'm on UA508 tomrw (SEA-SFO) - the evening flight. Shocked to see 54 people on the FC upgrade list with 6 out of 12 cleared for upgrades. And the flight is still 22 hours away.

I'm on a W fare with a GPU and I'm still not #1. Only higher status or higher fare class and same status people on a GPU would beat me on this list.

Shocked to see the evening flight to SFO, which I've never taken, be > 35% elite. It's a crappy A320.

-RM

Welcome to SFO! I don't think it's at all unusual for an SFO flight to be 35% elites. Nor would I be surprised to see more than a handful of GS on that particular route.

This will be my first ever miss on a SEA-SFO flight, period. But this is my first time on the evening flight which shocks me even more that it's this elite heavy. Now up to 57 on the standby list.

No doubt there's a lot of GS but my GPU puts me ahead of them for the upgrade, unless they are also using an instrument of some kind. I'm pretty high on the list so I don't think it's ordered incorrectly.

-RM

Cleared 1556 LAX-HNL for Sun right at the 72 hr point. Still waiting for the earlier flights in that itinerary though......

For me, CPU's have been much better the last two months. My status is Gold. I cleared 4 of 5 flights in the past week alone (all K class) and am now around 65%-70% for the year.

SMF-LAX Friday night. CRJ700. I SDC'ed to this flight 2 hours before departure and did not clear but was #1 on upgrade list

LAX-IAH Friday night redeye. Dreamliner. I SDC'ed to this flight around 6 hours before departure and cleared within 5 minutes. Although to be fair, the reason I changed flights was because I had 0% change of a CPU on my original flight. There's a story behind the SDC process but I'll save that for another thread.

DTW-DEN Tuesday. CRJ700. Cleared after boarding when someone didn't show up

DEN-IAH Wednesday. Dreamliner. Cleared at 48 hours

IAH-SMF Thursday. 737-900. Cleared at 48 hours

I must say, first class on the Dreamliner, twice in a week, was a real treat and something I could get used to. But will probably never see it again.

That 6:35 pm flight is sort of a special case. The flight before is at 1:45 pm, an the next one is not till 8:15 pm, and its a CRJ200.

There are enough UA elites going to Seattle from SFO, and the few that sill remain in SEA also take it. Given that no one wants the crap CRJ200, and there is no effective earlier flight, it gets heavily impacted.

UA is being chased out of Seattle, and this flight is a good example. I've actually seen it go out only 2/3 full in coach, yet the upgrade list is over 60 long.

On Friday its usually a CO 739, but list is equally long.

Basically UA is getting little traffic that I can see SFO-SEA-SFO other than its own elite fliers who are left.



GS trumps a GPU. GS pulls from P/PN, GPU from R/RN.

well, glad someone at SMF is doing well...

I finished #5 of 77 on the list today! Longest list I've ever seen on a UA flight. 1K on a "W" fare with a GPU. That means more than 50% of the airplane was upgrade eligible. Crazy.

-RM

Nice perk for GS, raw deal for 1K.

So are GS and 1K not competing for same space if there is P and R availability?