Originally Posted by Jakebeth

DullesJason - THIS is why we love FT! Thank you SO much for taking the time to write that out. I know I speak for many of us when I say I really, truly appreciate it!

Originally Posted by xpacific

Jason, your excellent post has confirmed my winning strategy all along... (note that the info below is probably irrelevant if you are not 1K)

1. Book into oversold Y flights where C and F are wide open. This is easier to do than you can imagine. From SLC my near-monthly trips to Japan offer all kinds of alternatives... via LAX, SFO, SEA, ORD, and even via HNL into KIX, NGO or NRT. Without fail, one or more of these flights is jammed in economy with business class wide open (generally this is due to some big China travel tour or some group who bought out the cabin). Tools like ExpertFlyer are very useful to identify these flights, as is simply calling the 1K reservation agents and asking them to look at all of the loads for a potential op-up situation.

2. Don't check bags, and then only ask for the boarding pass to the international gateway city (SLC-LAX for example). Why? Because the stressed-out gate agents at the gateway city are going to op-up you while you are on your way there. They know you are on the flight, that you will be coming up to the desk anyway, thus you are an easy fix to their in-the-hole problem. On the other hand, if you already have a Y boarding pass, they have no idea if you will be easily paged!

3. Go directly to the gate... do not wander off to the RCC, etc. Ask the gate agent for your boarding pass as you forgot to get it when you checked in before.

Last, but certainly not least, even with the op-up boarding pass in hand, if you are flexible in getting to your destination, offer to take a later flight in the upgraded cabin and politely ask for a gate-issued paper SWU as compensation (they are much more useful to me than $ bump-vouchers, etc.). I have done this many times, for example taking SFO-KIX-HND instead of the direct morning SFO-NRT flight.

Hope others find this info to be useful.

Originally Posted by DullesJason

Well it wasn't my first post--somewhere around my 120th, but who's counting? I joined and first posted in January. I've enjoyed FT and wish I had more time for it.

YES, this confirms a IK/1P/2P would "officially" be entitled to an op-up over a UGS on NC. "No double upgrades" is a policy that is repeated over and over again. But then again, there are exceptions to everything and there is a lot of secrecy with the UGS program so I will not say it won't happen. If there is a UGS in C on B fare and holding NC, and no other elites in C (rare) and one C seat is needed then the UGS would get the u/g (Y-NC-F) over non-elites, most of the time.

Z fare is sketchy. I mentioned in another post some agents specifically target full fare C ahead of higher ranking elites on D/Z fares, so putting status in paid biz regardless of fare basis is not a hard and fast rule, while agents that selectively bypass non full C elites to u/g lower ranking full C elites are not doing something that is frowned upon. It's cool.

Originally Posted by deckman

There are exceptions to everything I suppose. Yesterday I was was on a FRA-IAD flight, a 777. I used an SWU to upgrade to C. There was a woman traveling with a man, she in C he in F. She seemed to be a not frequent traveler (don't ask me how, I could just tell). As soon as she boarded she found an FA and asked to be moved to F. She apperared rather desperate to move. They said it wouldn't be possible. She kept at it though, in a seemingly nice way. At the last moment, they pulled her into F and another passegenger took her seat. I would bet there were others in C who should have been upgraded before her.

Originally Posted by jef7

Your post DullesJason makes me appreciate the importance of GAs in my flying experiences even more.

A few days ago I was sitting at Peet's Coffee right next to Gate 86 in SFO waiting for my flight to DEN and it was really quite fascinating (I suppose a sure sign of being a FTer) to observe a gate agent in action.

The GA arrived and began processing the crew members. She signed-in every FA as she handed them individual keys. She logged in to the computer station and acknowledged the customers anxious for their seating assignments or possible upgrades. She proceeded then to make an announcement highlighting the status of the flight and the boarding time. She continued to process the customers requests, as her fingers tapped the keyboard incessantly. She paused only to obtain new boarding passes which the machine diligently produced. She got interrupted numerous times by several phone calls, yet she continued processing and anwering customers' questions, as she began calling passengers by their last names. I didn't perceive if the flight was oversold or not, as I made my way to the aircraft when F and C class passengers were invited to board, but I overheard her saying there were 50+ names on the standby list on this 777 morning flight.

Nevertheless, as I combine this curious, rather normal day for a GA with DullesJason's excellent descriptions of the processes and often complicated balancing acts during an oversell or other messy situations, one realizes even more the real importance of GAs. Indeed, op-ups, are amazing!(What can I say?). I had been lucky enough to receive a couple of these in the past and it truly is one of the best ways to make an elite feel appreciated. I will never forget my op-ups and it's nice to know that my status really means something. Still, in addition to the valuable information regarding the 'dance' of op-ups provided here, I will surely hope for that next one with far more appreciaition towards GAs as they tap those keyboards with authority and aim to push back that aircraft on time.

Thank you DullesJason ^

Originally Posted by Colo1K

Thanks for sharing your experiences - great post and great thread!

1. Does "Million Mile" status show to the gate agent? If so, does it help the 1K or 1P get the operational upgrade?

2. I fly to LHR 3-5 times per year. A number of times on the return flight out of LHR - when coach has not been nearly full - I have been upgraded from C to F (and it has been filled up by up upgrades), even though I am on a cheap coach fare and used an SWU to upgrade to NC - thus getting a double upgrade (this happened last Saturday), and many times - which coach has not been nearly full - passengers in coach (including me) have been upgraded to C (and it has been filled up by op upgrades). Am I just lucky, or is there a different policy out of LHR, whether or not coach will be completely full?

3. A comment - having no checked baggage, being willing to be a voluntary bump, and staying close to the desk during boarding has snagged me "thanks" and a number of op upgrades (without asking), whether coach ended up being completely full or not.

Thanks again for sharing your insight and experience.

Originally Posted by ncc1701v

Hi. Thanks for the wonderful post. One more question: I've been told a couple of times that I couldn't be upgraded because I had ordered a special meal. Is there policy related to that?

Originally Posted by hamburgler

Great post DullesJason.

One question I have is the current role of the seat desk/load planners in Op Ups. My first op-up was as the no-status companion of a 1P on IAD-LHR (same PNR) back in 1999 -- we had been op-upgraded before we checked in in BOS. More recently, I tend to get op-upgraded many hours before departure of the 777 SEA-DEN (for those noting "pick the right flight" this is one of them if you want to be op-up'd a lot as a 1P/1K - I've been upgraded at least 1/2 the time on this one). Is this the seat desk/load planners trying to get a handle on things, or is this more just the gate agent working ahead as you asked.

(Also curious if the rules have changed, since you're now noting you'd split a same-PNR group instead of op-upping no-status companions).

hamburgler

Originally Posted by dhammer53

DJ,

This thread certainly opened my eyes to all that's involved with checking in a flight.

Question. Since FT'ers now know that you, the GA has heard it all , I usually approach the gate agent and ask them if they're looking to bump any pax. If they say yes, they take my boarding pass (already marked PremEx) and tell me to have a seat. Would you consider this a 'backdoor' way to get myself noticed.
Noticed = increasing my chances of an op-up.

One more thing, you sure that you never worked JFK.



Dan