How would you design the upgrade process if you were in charge?
#76
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,622
I would adopt a tweak of AA's upgrade system. Give out upgrade credits to elites, which can be used to pay for TOD upgrades - after upgrade credits are applied any remaining balance is paid using cash. The upgrade queue would be ordered as follows:
1) 1K complimentary
2) Platinum/Gold/Silver paying TOD's
3) Non-elites paying TOD's
1) 1K complimentary
2) Platinum/Gold/Silver paying TOD's
3) Non-elites paying TOD's
#77
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New York
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott LTPP, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 1,065
I had AA Plat in the past (via us airways), which fell to gold, which fell to nothing. I tried to use my e500s last year and it was futile, rejected every time. In contrast I did get upgraded quite frequently on UA on less popular routes (mainly express flights, some less than 30 minutes in the air, others more than four hours) as a Platinum (also, a couple upgrades at odd flight times, e.g. midweek or saturday, on more popular routes). For me, changing the CPU upgrade system is a net negative.
The real problem is TODs and disparate pricing where higher tier elites get higher paid offers for FC. When I get offered an upgrade for $120 and I already get priority baggage/3 checked bags/priority boarding, it's not that appealing. When someone with no status gets an FC offer of $60 and gets 2 checked bags (worth $50 to them), Premier access, (usually $20-$30 from what I've seen), etc. then that becomes a lot easier for them to take.
I did sometimes receive upgrades as a gold to, albeit at a lower frequency. Losing waitlist priority for non-1Ks on YB tickets hurt non-elite's chances as well (I don't hit 120 PQS or 100K BIS miles, but I do have a lot of flights and some of them are higher priced tickets). A ends up being given away in the end often times so if you're on the ball you can change a Y/B ticket to A and get a refund if you're watching.
The real problem is TODs and disparate pricing where higher tier elites get higher paid offers for FC. When I get offered an upgrade for $120 and I already get priority baggage/3 checked bags/priority boarding, it's not that appealing. When someone with no status gets an FC offer of $60 and gets 2 checked bags (worth $50 to them), Premier access, (usually $20-$30 from what I've seen), etc. then that becomes a lot easier for them to take.
I did sometimes receive upgrades as a gold to, albeit at a lower frequency. Losing waitlist priority for non-1Ks on YB tickets hurt non-elite's chances as well (I don't hit 120 PQS or 100K BIS miles, but I do have a lot of flights and some of them are higher priced tickets). A ends up being given away in the end often times so if you're on the ball you can change a Y/B ticket to A and get a refund if you're watching.