How likely am I to get upgrades with Silver?

[ntucker]

I just got silver (all travel for pleasure and I am young and working, so I can't imagine getting more than gold on my own for the forseeable future). How likely am I to get upgrades?? I know to check itn.com for available F seats, but I usually book 4-8 wks ahead. Based on this scenario, will I EVER get out of economy? What was your experience with this level of OnePass?

BTW Thanks to all of the posts here, I've gotten it out of my head that I will ever use miles for international economy class rewards. Much better to upgrade with miles

[dbaker]

What routes do you frequent? Busy times of day?

I saw about 40-60% upgrades as a silver, 80% as a gold, and now 100% as a platinum. I even scored some popular routes as a silver, such as between IAH and SFO & ATL.

Book early, check in early, and continue to ask nicely.

[jfc]

I have been silver since 2001 and when looking back at the past year, I got upgraded on roughly two thirds of the domestic flights I flew, including travel between IAH and SFO, EWR, LAS, ATL and TUS. I travel mostly for leisure at times where few business travelers fly. When flying from AUS to CDG or LGW, I very infrequently get upgraded on the short AUS-IAH flight since I'm always flying in and out of IAH at around 5pm during weekdays, which is obviously a bad time.

[ntucker]

Thanks for the info, guys! I just got my first upgrade (first try) IAH-DTW today. Someone asked which routes I fly (IAH-DTW, IAH-PBI, IAH-IND all several times a year....other routes just once). Now to see whether this is an anomaly...