Do you usually upgrade with miles?

[NWgoldelite]

do you upgrade with miles or do you wait for your elite upgrade to clear?

[Ariel]

Since I got Silver status in ONE PASS, I always got upgrades.
Only once I travelled on coach, but that was when I neded to re-schedule my flight, and I went in a different one, which was full, with all the Bussiness seats already assigned.
Then I always wait for my upgrade, w/o paying with miles

[dbaker]

As a Platinum Elite, I really don't have to worry too much about elite upgrades -- I've had practically 100% upgrade success for months. However, if I was booking last minute on a transcon and there were only a couple seats available, I'd probably go ahead and burn 20k miles, especially if the route was operated by a widebody.

As far as International flights go and flights on other airlines that I don't maintain status with, I always burn the miles.

[nwelite]

Not necessary with near 100% Elite upgrades on NW and HP. But DL on the other hand...

[merchanb]

Continental (Platinum) won't give me any courtesy upgrades on those 13 to 14 hour CO flights between Narita and Newark or even the shorter hops between Newark and Europe. I always pay for the CO ticket and use miles for a sure upgrade although they do wait until the last day or so to confirm it.

Continental Micronesia, on the other hand, seems to upgrade me the moment I buy a ticket.

Northwest, however, has upgraded me without my even asking.

So why do I even fly Continental? Easy . . . those sleeper seats in the 777's and 767's!

[NWgoldelite]

On my return between LGW-EWR i noticed the gate agent upgrading platinums on the plane. Do you know why this would be?

[merchanb]

Originally Posted by NWgoldelite

On my return between LGW-EWR i noticed the gate agent upgrading platinums on the plane. Do you know why this would be?

Don't know. I would guess that they needed some empty coach seats.

Here's what I got from Continental when I raised the question of upgrades:

Thank you for writing regarding the 72 hour international upgrade policy.

All of our OnePass Elite members are important to us and I appreciate you
sharing your concerns regarding the new policy.

Please let me explain. This policy was put into effect in an effort to
alleviate last minute complications at the gate and smooth the boarding
process. We have received several complaints over the past months that our
Elite members feel that gate upgrades are often subjective. This often
leaves our Elite customer feeling that he was not fairly treated or that
another member was cleared ahead of him at the gate. With the implementation
of this new policy, every customer will know the result of his upgrade
request well in advance of the flight and be able to plan accordingly.

This policy will also give Continental Airlines the opportunity to secure
last minute reservations in BusinessFirst for those clients who cannot make
reservations in advance. Traditionally BusinessFirst seating is purchased
very close to departure. Often we found ourselves turning away customers
because we had no seating to offer in the BusinessFirst cabin when they
presented immediate International travel needs.

I will forward your comments to our Marketing Department for their review as
we continue to modify our programs to meet the ever-changing needs of our
customers.

Thank you for choosing Continental Airlines.

Sincerely,

A. Z. Lewerke, Manager

On the other hand, my next trip I received this:

I was just perusing your record today to see if anything had cleared and I
found that flight 9 from Newark to Narita on September 23 had cleared the
waitlist&. On a whim and feeling lucky, I decided to try and sell in flight
8 from Narita to Newark on August 23 and guess what? It was open for
upgrades too !!! I was so excited for you and I held your seats& So& we
are now only waiting for the Newark to Narita return segment and it is
priority waitlisted.

And Lastly . . .

I have been watching your flight as you requested and I was so pleased to learn that you were upgraded on the final two legs of your trip. I hope your trip was enjoyable.

Thank you for choosing to fly with Continental.

Best Regards,
Deborah Lewerke, Manager
I almost called to let you know but realized it was 2:30 in the morning
there..

Best Regards,
Deborah A. Z. Lewerke

Is that customer service or what?? I'd buy Deborah a drink any day!

(Sorry this was so long.)

[NWgoldelite]

Wait a second. When do you get these upgrades? Are these free upgrades from discounted fares, or mileage upgrades? or what?

[merchanb]

Originally Posted by NWgoldelite

Wait a second. When do you get these upgrades? Are these free upgrades from discounted fares, or mileage upgrades? or what?

Mileage upgrades.

Never have received a courtesy upgrade from Continental and just coughing up the miles doesn't necessarily get me upgraded. That's why I complained and received the previous explanation.

It costs me 130,000 miles RT (UF4 + UF6) to upgrade from here to Europe.

[NWgoldelite]

Oh well, it's worth it for those new sleeper seats on the 777. Those are nice and very comfortable.