Gate upgrade process = standby process?
 

I saw something yesterday I've never seen before. I was at ORD waiting for upgrades to be processed for my UAX flight. The list was 8 people long, with 3 seats available.

The GA called the first person on the list (call him Mr. A) to come to the desk. After a few seconds he tried again. With no sign of Mr. A, the GA called up Mr. B. This process continued until Mr. B, Mr. D, and Mr. E had been upgraded and Mr. A and Mr. C were not.

I have no idea why this happened, but I now feel less guilty about hovering by the gate if I think I have a chance for an upgrade.

This is SOP as far as I know and it is why I always make my way to the gate early if I am waitlisted for an upgrade.

I've seen it the other way. The new boarding pass gets printed out and left at the desk if Mr. A doesn't respond to an announcement. Then the GA will catch him as he boards.

I have too but I have seen the way the agent at ORD handled it more, I think.

Never hurts to be near the gate. Couple years ago at JFK, I was #1 on the list with 0 seats available. I asked the GA, and was told "No Chance" but stayed close. 10 minutes later the GA waves me back over. Someone else declined their UG. My guess is that pax was traveling with someone and only the one UG cleared. Just a guess.

This seems to be the PMCO method since in SHARES you can't skip over a person. As a PMUA GA I hope UA doesn't adopt this method.

Are you saying that you don't want to upgrade the passengers who have the highest priority on the upgrade list?

This has happened to me twice in the last year, once on CO, once on UA. They swiped my boarding pass only to hear it squawk about it being for the wrong seat. Both times, I was running from a late arriving connection so it's nice that they didn't skip over me.

I've also seen it where A is confirmed, B, C, D have already boarded, but I am standing by for an economy seat and board last, A doesn't show and I am given the upgrade because it is easier to give it to me then go back and get B, C, or D from coach.

I can't believe this is something that was generally accepted by PMUA pax - you shouldn't have to linger around the gate area from the moment the GAs arrive just in case they call your name.

The transparent PMCO system of a comprehensive, online upgrade list that updates in real time, and the ability to get your new seat assignment when you board has to be the way forward. The gate scanners in some airports have thermal printers that will spit out a little note saying "your new seat is 2A" if you scan a BP of a pax who has been upgraded.

How are there not massive fights at UA departure gates on a daily basis because of this?

1. UA doesn't frequently clear massive amount of UGs at the gate like CO
2. More inherent faith in the system that you aren't getting screwed over (UG list generally clears #1, then #2, then...)
3. Minimal TOD impact

Wait - please leave your agenda to one side for a moment and focus on the actual point I made. This has nothing to do with "faith in the system".

First, I do see people upgraded at the gate on a very regular basis on
UA. Sometimes 10 or more of them. So it certainly does happen - perhaps less than on legacy CO, but it happens and in large quantities. But this applies even if there's 1 seat to process.

My point is a simple one though. If you're no. 1 on the upgrade list, you spend a few mins in the UC before departure to get some "breakfast", and while you're there the GA starts processing the upgrades. You're not aware of this since you're nowhere near the gate. They call your name a couple of times and then move on. Meanwhile you look at your watch and walk down to the gate before the cutoff time for departure, long after this happens.

Are you saying that you agree with the fact that the GA removes your upgrade at that point, puts you BACK in Y, and moves onto the next person?

If you know you're near the top of the list for a few seats remaining, you're at the gate 10-15 min. before boarding when they may start calling/assigning the UGs. Not a big deal, pretty standard behavior among PMUA flyers. They seem to do a good job of filling the F cabin before you actually start boarding.

I don't know that that was pretty standard behavior among PMUA flyers. If it was, and the GA would pass over me, then maybe that's why I didn't get upgraded a few times last year.

My SOP for years, until the red carpet access was opened up to everyone with MP status, was to hang out in the RCC until a few minutes to boarding. Worst case scenario, they started boarding early and I simply walked the red carpet to bypass the long boarding line. If I was previously waitlisted for an UG and cleared, they would have the new pass at the gate for me. Now that the premium boarding process is generally a mess, due to the increased amount of people who have access to it and the general lack of policy policing by GA's and/or the mobs of people who have no regard to boarding priority, I tend to show up 10 minutes prior to boarding. So I would consider that a post-merger standard behavior.

At any rate, recently when I was #1 on the list and boarded with my original seating assignment with 1 F seat still available, I inquired at the gate whether I had cleared. The GA told me no, but don’t worry it’s policy that if I were to clear after boarding they would go on the plane and move me up to first. That was the first time I’ve ever heard of that “policy”, and I certainly have never been the beneficiary of it (not that I would know for sure if I should have been and not received the benefit).

When the alternative is to go out with those F seats empty and the next pax down the list left out because they held onto them for no-shows, I definitely prefer the GA eventually give up on the pax who didn't show up to claim the u/g.

If I'm waitlisted and it looks close, I definitely go to the gate early, check with the GA, etc., and on at least a few occasions have gotten a seat due to someone not showing up.