“Dude, where’s my upgrade?” Why more fliers with miles and status get stuck in coach

by Janice Hough on February 24, 2010

While airlines like to promote free tickets with their mileage programs, the award that many even semi-regular clients want is an upgrade. These are the very awards that are getting harder to get.

At a time when flying has increasingly become an ordeal, an upgrade can often make the difference between a very pleasant and a miserable, cramped experience. Personally, give me a good book and an occasional glass of wine and I find flying in business class a mini-vacation.

Over the years, I’ve often had to waitlist upgrades for clients at the time of booking; generally, with enough advance notice, they clear. At least they used to.

These days, I have had clients waitlist 10 months in advance with no luck. Even elite fliers with 100,000 mile a year haven’t been upgraded on flights with over 40 business class seats left at the time of booking. Especially on transatlantic and transpacific flights.

Now this doesn’t mean upgrades never happen. But they’re a lot harder to count on getting. So what’s happened?

As with many factors that make the flying experience more unpleasant there are several reasons.

For starters, airlines are now selling more and more discount business class seats. These fares are often highly restrictive — 50 days out, nonrefundable, change fees of $500 or more — but they are relatively cheap, often less than half the full business class fare.

Which means compared to the “old days” when there was only one business class fare, a lot more people are opting to pay up front.

In addition, waitlist priorities are getting more sophisticated. The new computer waitlist algorithms don’t favor the occasional traveler, to put it mildly.

For example, a passenger decides in June that they plan to go to Paris the following April. While most of the business class seats are available, upgrades are sold out, so they book a coach seat and buy their ticket and waitlist for an upgrade.

But being first on the upgrade list at the beginning often doesn’t mean anything. Increasingly, airlines like to wait to see if they can sell those premium seats.

And at any time, even if it’s only a week prior to departure, if an elite flier with a higher status decides they want to try to book and upgrade the same flight, that elite passenger jumps ahead on the waitlist.

Considering that basic elite status with most carriers is only about 25,000 miles, this means that the traveler who accumulates miles usually just by credit card is out of luck.

Finally those credit cards are a double-edged sword. Yes, they give out a ton of miles, along with the shopping promotions, cellphone promotions, even home mortgage promotions. Basically, if you can think of a way to spend money there’s a way to get bonus miles doing it. That’s the good news. The bad news — there’s a whole lot of other people doing the same thing.

A traveler referred by a regular client recently called with “a ton of miles” on United, all from a credit card, but not even the lowest premier status with the airline. And he wanted an upgraded flight in a few weeks to Asia. It didn’t take long to discover there were almost as many people on the waitlist now as there were business seats left on the plane; with no status, he was going to have no chance.

I have similar stories with other airlines, including one woman who was traveling with her sister to Paris, hoping to upgrade with credit card miles on American Airlines. There was one seat left on the outbound, so they decided to take it, along with the first space on the waitlist. While there were over 30 seats left with months to go, the waitlist never cleared. (She did end up sneaking good wine to her sister back in coach.)

So what to do?

First, at this point I advise clients, if a second choice flight has a confirmable upgraded seat, taking it is a good idea. Unless ridiculous connections or times are involved, being comfortable may well be worth the compromise.

Second, try to avoid weekends if possible, especially for international flights. Yes, it’s great to leave Friday night and be in Europe by Saturday, or to take a Saturday flight across the international dateline that means not missing a weekday. But there will be more upgrade competition, particularly from businesspeople trying to maximum their time.

Third, look seriously at discount business class fares. With many airlines now charging a co-pay that can add up to $1,000 PER ticket roundtrip plus miles to the price of a ticket, it may not cost that much more to just buy the confirmed ticket. (In addition, those fares earn EXTRA miles, as opposed to both costing miles and money.)

One silver lining with the new co-pays, if the upgrade doesn’t come through, you don’t pay the co-pay fee. But that may be small consolation when you’re sitting crammed in back with a seatmate hogging the armrest on one side, and a parent with a crying baby on the other.

Photo of United business class by Dion Hincliffe, flickr.com /creative commons.

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Tagged as: American Airlines, business class, elite status, frequent flier, mileage upgrades, united airlines, upgrades

  • Bodega

    Last year I noticed a big difference with UA, which is our market, in obtaining upgrades. Others use to comment on the difficulty of obtaining an advance upgrade but I had never experienced it for any of my clients until I had my own upgrade put on a waitlist. This is a destination I upgrade to each year with no prior issues. I always check the seats in the wanted upgrade cabin and on this particular flight for my travel, not one seat had been booked. I copied the map and sent it, along with a letter to UA to find out why an upgrade couldn’t be obtained when the cabin is open for sale. The reply was that they have to sell a few seats in first or biz before they give away a seat. I was upgraded, in both directions using my miles, but the upgrade was not done until very close to my travel dates.

    This year we have several trips planned and again we are using miles. I am a few wait lists, but one trip, my husband, who is flying home a few days earlier that me isn’t waitlisted but confirmed. I looked at the return flight that he is already upgraded on, but that I am waitlisted on for my return, and there are no seats sold in first class for his flight and yet he is upgraded. There are no seats sold in first on my fight and I am waitlisted. So out the window goes the policy that UA told me they had.

  • http://www.bonjourparis.com Karen Fawcett

    I’ve spent the past hour on the phone with a United reservations agent. I have six systemwide upgrades in my 1K account. I told him I could go to Sydney on any day during a five month period. — All the way to nearly the end of 2010. He was unable to find ONE seat that he could confirm in business class. At the end of the conversation, I said, “upgrades are essentially a farce.” He agreed and told me I would have to buy a business class seat if I wanted to be sure of being able to fly in comfort. As many premier flyers (160K miles in 2009), I’m not feeling as if my business is worth a whole lot to United.

  • Scott

    As usual, some of the comments here clearly miss the point. Upgrades are not “essentially a farce,” especially as a 1K. I rarely see a day when a 1K going to Sydney requesting an upgrade does not receive it.

    The real problem comes in perspective from a quote from the article: “Now this doesn’t mean upgrades never happen. But they’re a lot harder to count on getting.”

    Exactly. You cannot COUNT on them. If you want to guarantee a seat in Business (or First) Class, you have to BUY IT. Why should an airline give away a Business Class seat to a passenger on an Economy ticket way in advance of a flight when the airline is hoping someone will purchase a full-fare ticket? This is a business, after all. Many elite fliers like to forget this fact and feel that because of their status they should be entitled to get whatever they want…..and when they don’t get it, they start to make comments like “Upgrades are a farce” and “Status doesn’t meant anything on this airline”, etc.

    If you owned a retail store, would you sell your newest merchandise right when you received it at a discount to your best customers? Of course not. You might contact them to let them know you have new merchandise. You might even notify them when the articles go on sale because you want to move the merchandise (i.e. upgrades). But for some reason, people think becuse they are a good customer, the airline should upgrade them early rather than attempt to sell the seat at its full cost.

    Upgrades are a BENEFIT, not a RIGHT. When available, they go to frequent fliers. It is the expectations that are the problem, not the airline and not the upgrades. The reason is because airlines have catered to create unrealistic expectations that can no longer be met in the current economic environment. And with smaller cabins, this is not going to go away.

  • http://www.bonjourparis.com Karen Fawcett

    Scott: I hate to take exception but United bought my loyalty (in addition to collecting quite a bit of money) by depositing systemwide and regional upgrades to my Mileage + account. To be honest, I might have flown on other carriers were I not eager to accumulate miles.

    Now, to be told there’s not one day within a five month period when I may have a confirmed business class seat is changing the rules retroactively. I am a travel junkie but to be honest, I don’t wear as well in the back of the plane during a nearly 24 hour long flight when you count transfers and time spent waiting in airports.

    Perhaps we’re all going to be booking flights via consolidators as I can’t afford to spend more than $10,000 book a business class seat on United. Not everyone travels courtesy of a company’s expense account or has mega-bucks.

  • http://www.ex-United.com/ Stephen Michaelson

    Scott and Karen are both right; the main problem is in the award-miles perceptions/ expectations that United Airlines and others have created, and now cannot fulfill. The game is United’s to lose … this topic is HUGE on the web and on Twitter, and United cannot do enough (with PR/ Marketing/ Customer) to stem the tide of anger among its formerly frequent flyers.

    They’ve furloughed too many people since 9/11, cutting past the fat and way into the muscle, and they now no longer have enough people to service either their best customers, or their brand image in the marketplace.

    This is what happens when you lose your way — when you don’t see customers, you see transactions; and when you throw away human experience in favor “business intelligence” and databases.

    For want of a single customer-oriented United rep willing to go the extra mile for Karen, they’ve lost her business forever. It’s really a shame. How many more like her have just flown away?

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  • Steve Johnson

    I fly to Shanghai often and always flew United so I could get 1K status and the 6 system wide upgrades. I often paid a higher price for a United flight just to make 1K. I travel for business (self employed) and don’t have the luxury of booking months in advance. I usually know my travel dates 2 or 3 weeks in advance. I think it is nearly impossible for me to get a confirmed upgrade. I played the pay $400 more for an upgradeable ticket and get put on a wait list game. I received no upgrade on the outbound or return flight. I basically threw away $400. I’ll never do this again. I am angry that United makes you pay $400 for an upgradeable ticket to get a “chance” to be upgraded. The “free” 6 system wide upgrades cost me $400. The only reason I don’t dump United is because the other airlines don’t have economy plus (extra leg room free to passengers with status). However if there is a big price difference I will fly another airline because now I know that the six “free” upgrades are BS and I could care less about 1K status.

  • Craig

    I also think United’s upgrade rules are a farce now. Here is the deal: People want predictability. It is a matter of allowing people to manage their expectations. Currently, United’s upgrade and waitlist rules are not predictable and allow for no reasonable management of expectations. That frustrates people. I bought a ticket on United, as opposed to Cathay Pacific, solely because I had a friend who was willing to give me a systemwide upgrade to use. I booked my flight 6 months in advance and even then was waitlisted for one leg of my outbound flight. I called 4 days before my flight and was told by an agent that their were tons of seats available and that I should have no problem getting it at the gate. I arrived at the airport (from a connecting flight) 3 hours before and was told I was 13th on the waitlist and should get on because they had 14 seats open at that point. At the gate an hour before my flight, i was told I was now 16th on the waitlist and was not likely to get upgraded. Well, they were right – I did not get upgraded, even though I had applied a SWU 6 months prior (from a 1K member) and had gotten on the waitlist then.
    This unpredictability has me furstrated with United and means I will never fly them again unless i can confirm the upgrade at time of purchase.

  • NC

    When I call an airline to use miles to upgrade my tickets to I never take the first agent’s word that upgrades are not available on certain legs of my flight or not at all. I just booked for upgrades and the first two agents told me that upgrades weren’t available for the portion of my flight from LAX to OGG. I call again immediately and keep calling until I get what I want. The third call did the trick this time on United. Within two minutes of calling the third agent put the upgrades thru with no problem. I am also given missiniformation about miles needed and copay amounts. When I correct them they agree with me. The obviously outsourced calls seem to be the ones that I receive the most denials from. I have this experience over and over that if I just keep calling someone will make me happy. I guess they want me to work for satisfaction. Not a great way to run an airline. No consistency. And I agree, no predictability.

  • Jake

    The United SystemWide upgrades are a farce. You can’t book any confirmable international seat any more in advance. But you can play their lottery which is to pay extra for an upgradeable ticket. It’s gambling and it should be regulated or illegal. I’m a 1K member. And then some. Don’t give me something and pretend that it has value when it doesn’t. Why stay loyal to an airline for 100K miles when all you really want is to be able to confirm an upgrade to a seat when going on vacation and you can’t do it.? At 150K miles you get two more systemwide upgrades and they encourage you to shoot for that target. But when you hit that target you still can’t book a flight many months out on any day, being totally flexible in schedule. They could just upgrade their most frequent flyers and do away with the pretend upgrades. In essence, that’s all they really do. They pretend to give you something of value but you can’t use it. It most defininetly is a farce. And the folks I talk to at United also admit to that, off the record of course….

  • Mike

    I’m Executive Platinum with AA and tack 250 K airmiles + every year. Last year, over 300 K.
    Upgrades? No problem. System wides? No problem.
    Both, all of the time.
    I feel for the CC miles folks, but you are being used.
    We put in the air miles and we get the benefits.
    Sorry, but this is how it should be in my book.
    The airlines should take care of their regulars like we do in our business.
    Gov exam of this whole CC miles thing would be good.
    Craig, just because they come from a 1 K flyer means nothing. Your aren’t.
    Also, I’ve flown with UA in the past and they SUCK on all pages.
    I’ll never work with them again.
    M

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