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

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:44:33 +0000

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

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:08:00 +0000

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….

By: NC

NC — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:00:42 +0000

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.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:21:15 +0000

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.

By: Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:51:21 +0000

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.

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Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:45:12 +0000

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By: Stephen Michaelson

Stephen Michaelson — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:59:30 +0000

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?

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:09:12 +0000

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.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:15:45 +0000

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.

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:33:02 +0000

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.