Booked on an E fare, seated in 16F on the 767-300, GA told me I was #3 for upgrade priority to C but only 1 seat remaining. So I boarded, took my seat. The plane filled, and another passenger appeared with a BP for 16F, same as me. We both gave our BP's to the purser who disappeared up the front, then came back, told the new pax he had 16F, and gave me a new BP for 1C.

No complaints here, but I'm puzzled as to why it happened to me instead of whoever had been #2 on the list, and why they jumped over the C cabin altogether, instead of bumping someone else up to F and giving me their C seat?

No 500-mile stickers have been deducted from my account even though the flight credit already posted. Strange!

twj

How is it you travelled on a domestic E-Fare on a Wednesday?

He probably means an E fare basis?

Perhaps he means booking class E? (Does that exist?)

Oh yes and it ain't usually cheap. I have an E coming up this Sunday, the cost of which made me cringe.

Oh, duh. I'm not thinking today.

Yes, of course, he could have been in E booking class.

Maybe DM/WL#2 didn't materialize when called; maybe there was a misconnect in C, leaving an additional seat open there for #2; maybe the GA intended to close the flight with nobody in 1C, but when presented with a duplicate-boarding pass SNAFU, took the path of least resistance and stuck you in it.

Or maybe she just liked your shoes. A GA once told me that was the primary basis upon which she granted or denied upgrades. It was long ago, and I'm mostly sure she was kidding. (besides, how can she tell over the podium anyway?)

Regardless, congrats!

Wow, the holy grail of op-ups! When I saw your title I was thinking you upgraded once with an upgrade instrument and then got an op-up, but you go the REAL double op-up! Congrats!

(emphasis in quote above added)

This rings of that thread a couple of days back where the OP was irate that his upgrade didn't clear since the GA didn't move a C to F to open a C seat for him...

I think this counts as a lucky op-up -- the GA had a duplicate BP situation and had to get the plane out on time -- remember, GAs are under pain of death to keep the ball rolling. Simplest solution -- find nearest open seat. As far as the system is concerned, your upgrade didn't clear, hence no deduction of e500s. Why you got the op-up instead of the other pax? Maybe the GA did like your shoes Maybe the GA looked up status or fare basis -- we would like think s/he did that, but who knows? When the seconds are ticking by, maybe your BP was on top... Just count your lucky stars and smile

i too have been the recipient of being allowed to drink from the cup back in 2005. but as we all know, finding the elusive holy grail/double op-up is extremely rare as it is a very timid creature which only comes out of hiding under extremely unique circumstances however when it does decide to fly 3 times counterclockise around your head and then land softly on your shoulder, you should be thankful and feel special as it is very picky as to who it chooses to land on.

How close to departure was this? You'd already boarded and the other guy with the same seat assignment boarded. Presumably the whole C cabin had boarded as well as anyone on the waitlist for C.

When the FA gave the two BPs to the GA, the GA may have had very little time to sort it out while still finishing up the boarding process and getting the flight out on time. To do the "right thing" he would have had to upgrade someone from C->F, then someone else from Y->C to free up a Y seat for you (or the other 16F guy). Since everyone involved in that shuffle is already on board, bags stowed, and settled in, it's far more expeditious to just put one of the 16Fs into 1C. My guess is that between the two of you, you had the higher status.

Lucky you ^

Pretty close -- the flight was oversold in Y, they had been seeking VDBs out in the gate area. Without a doubt, the frenzy of getting the aircraft away contributed to the situation. I'll never know if the duplicate BP led to the upgrade, or if something else was the trigger. Sure was nice though :-)

And yes, it was an E fare basis.

twj