You’re not a really frequent flier. Or, maybe you’re a lower level elite — i.e.: basic Delta Medallion, United Mileage Plus Premier, Advantage Gold. But, you’ve been stockpiling your miles. The miles have come from a credit card, maybe from travel, and you’ve finally gotten enough miles to upgrade two tickets to Paris, and you’re booking more than nine months in advance.
The airline reservations agent or travel agent tells you there are only a few seats sold in business class, but that the upgrade will have to be waitlisted. But hey, almost 40 seats left, no problem.
Well, not exactly.
In fact, recently I had just that Paris situation for clients, who actually booked so far in advance a helpful reservations agent told me exactly two business class seats on the plane had been sold. And while United did open up some upgrade seats, they all went to higher status fliers.
Similarly, another client, a Premier level flier booked a midweek December flight from Washington-Dulles to San Francisco. In this case there were 34 business class seats on his 777 flight. Not a single seat was sold when he got on the waitlist this fall. And again, while others have been upgraded on the flight, including curiously enough, another client, who is a United 1k (100,000 miles a year) and who booked less than a month ago, my original client was stuck in coach.
What’s going on? Quite simply, United, along with other carriers, has set up a waitlist system that prioritizes first by mileage status, then fare type, with time of booking a distant third.
This means that a 1k, or the almighty Global Services members, can join a waitlist the day before, or even a few hours before a flight, and jump ahead of everyone else at a lower level on the list. (And this applies also for passengers standing by for different flights in coach.)
The system isn’t that new, but perhaps because so many people are using mileage credit cards, perhaps because flying coach has become such an unpleasant experience, or perhaps simply because of flight reductions due to the economy, premium seats are getting harder and harder to come by.
In addition, airlines are expanding their discount business class super-saver fares. Such fares can have up to a 50-day advance purchase and can be completely nonrefundable. In addition, while the fares aren’t cheap (in the $2,000 range or so domestically, and $3,000-$5,000 range to Europe) they are considerably lower than regular business class fares. And some seats that might have gone for mileage upgrades are clearly being sold this way.
In any case, where in the past I would cheerfully tell clients, it may take a while, but the waitlist will probably clear, now I regularly tell them, I just don’t know. On less popular routes, chances are better, but on transcontinental flights, I hear even from higher status fliers that they are ending up back in coach.
So what to do? If it’s critical to be in the front of the plane, and you are not a very high level frequent flier, it’s probably worth
considering alternate flights if available, even if they are not your first choice. Or consider nearby cities, for example, I have found upgrade seats to Brussels, for example, when Amsterdam was full.
In addition, travel agents may be able to help you find flights with larger premium cabins, and thus a better chance, and many agents know from experience which are the most likely, and unlikely routes. (Often it helps to avoid flights between hubs, as they usually have the most high status fliers.)
For the airlines that charge a fee to speak to an agent too, it’s often worth paying the fee if you can find someone competent. Such a person may well find you an option you couldn’t find on line.
Or, if you can, consider the discounted premium fares. Agents with good consolidator relationships can often find fares even lower than the discount published business prices. Although realistically they will still be considerably higher than coach.
One other advantage with the discount business fares, not only do you not have to spend miles, but most airlines give you a bonus for booking any business class tickets. So you will end up with more miles, which of course, you may or may not be able to use next time.
And if all else fails, find a flight where at least the economy class seating options are tolerable, and resign yourself to coach. You could be pleasantly surprised. But you don’t want to count on it.
photo by Alan Light/flickr.com/creative commons
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
