ibrandsguest

I'm a Chairman's Preferred and am considering heading from CLT to Las Vegas this summer, flying there (either directly or through PIT or PHL) one Friday evening or Saturday morning and heading back on Sunday afternoon.

Is there any hope of getting upgraded with only 8 FC seats? Is there another CP who has taken these flights a few times and was fortunate enough to usually or always get upgraded? I'm debating between taking US or UA, with at least guaranteed E+ seats on UA.

Thanks.

shell nyc

Well, I'm a spoiled CP who didn't want to chance it...broke down and bought an "A" fare after debating many options (including UA, and connecting through LAX to TED.) ITN and KVS were showing very few F seats available for sale, and this is for a June trip! Double preferred miles on A fares makes the cost a little bit easier to swallow...

wahooflyer

Whether you'll get upgraded to LAS on the 757 is a gamble, just like everything else in Vegas.

I've flown 6 segments to and from LAS as a CP and have been upgraded on only two. I can't recall the exact days of the week I've flown this route, but my hunch is that Friday to Vegas and a Sunday return might be pretty tough, as weekends are prime travel time there.

It's too bad that they've cut out the late night A319 departures out of PIT, PHL, and CLT that were in operation for a short while. You would have had a better chance of upgrading on those.

Personally, I'd never buy an A or F fare on US anymore because of the degradation of First Class service. Just reserve an exit row seat, check in online at the 24-hour window, and hope for the best.

CLTFlyer

Since they reconfigured the 757s to 8 F seats, I've flown 4 segments to or from Vegas. I've been upgraded on 2 of them (both returning from Vegas - one on a Saturday afternoon, the other a Monday night redeye - no upgrades on Thursday a.m. outbound or a Thursday evening outbound). On the most recent LAS-CLT flight I took, I managed to get a companion upgrade too for a friend of mine. Always cleared at the gate, never at the 7 day window. So, get that exit row seat now.

Or, wait for the rare times they'll fly a 319 on the route (seems to happen more in the summer - and had remembered some rumblings here in the forum that it would periodically make an appearance - 12 F seats), or just fly to SFO or LAX (where the upgrades will be easier) and backtrack on Ted, HP, or even WN.

phlwookie

On the 757, exit row seats 9A/B/C and all of row 26 isn't bad at all if you're looking for legroom, as I usually am at least on the eastbound redeyes out of LAS. Same goes for 9A/B/C on UA's regular (non-p.s.) 757's.

shell nyc

FYI, US a 319 PIT-LAS at 8:20p.

JAXPax

I flew out to Las Vegas from CLT a week before Christmas and was upgraded both ways, at the gate, as a Gold. Both flights mid-week. I flew out on the 6pm or so CLT-LAS, and two or three folks were upgraded at the gate. Returning on the redeye to Charlotte, there were ZERO Chairmans on board the oversold flight. I was the only preferred to get an upgrade, there at the gate. I can thank 24-hour in advance check-in for putting me at the top of the list.

PineyBob

My luck was 50-50, no upgrade out but upgraded on return. Problem is US has done a decent job of pricing first in a way that many of those seats were sold.

dukeman

Of course they also lowered the price about the same time they removed 16 F seats from the 757.

biggs

I just tried to see about US flights to LAS for business in May (maybe willing to chance an upgrade) and could not get a coach seat back ( mid-week redeye) since only first was available so at least these flights seem full. So I have a reservation on AA.