dwh

I know parts of this question have been answered in previous discussions, but the FlyerTalk Search function is still defunct (at least for me), so here goes:

1) When you start the online check-in process as an Elite, and no upgrade is available, you are then told that you are now on the Upgrade waitlist; if you then abort the check-in process, previous posters have said that they are not sure if you STILL remain in position on that waitilist or whether aborting the process nullifies the waitlist placement too -- is this still a question-mark, or does anybody have experience of calling and finding that they are indeed successfully on the waitlist despite aborting the check-in?

2) If you abort the check-in process after being put on the waitlist, and a few hours later see F availability (using an inventory tool) and then try online check-in again to snag that seat, WILL you be able to snag that seat, or will you be then told that you are already on the gate WAITLIST and are therefor ineligible to snag that seat?

3) If you start the online check-in process (either fresh at the 24-hour mark, or after you've aborted a check-in previously), and you get asked if you want to upgrade to First Class, and you say yes, and the system plops you into 1A--if you THEN abort the check in process are you STILL firmly upgraded and in 1A EVEN if you then abort the check-in process and don't print your boarding passes online, but instead wait to do it at the airport?

I ask (you may have figured this out already) because I would, of course, appreciate being high on the gate waitlist if it comes to that, but would still really appreciate the chance later to snag any F seat that might happen to open up in the next 24 hours, but will not have a printer handy to print out a boarding pass (or at least don't want to drive to a Kinkos at some strange hour just to try to snag an F seat that opens up before it disappears).

MikeMpls

.....

clarence5ybr

In addition to being able to pick up your BPs at the counter after you complete OLCI as MikeMpls describes, you can get them from a kiosk. Just put your WP card in the reader, and when it pulls up your info there will be an option to print out "duplicate" BPs (they say 'duplicate', but there is never a problem using them). This can often be quicker than waiting in line (I've noticed a lot of airports no longer have elite checkin lines now that kiosks are being pushed; even if they have an elite line, if there are a couple people already in line (or "on line" if you're from New York), it's quicker to use the kiosk).

themicah

It's still a question-mark.

My intuition is that they don't take you off the waitlist if you abort, but that's not based on hard evidence. But even assuming you are left on the waitlist after aborting, there's a secondary question of whether you get bumped down the waitlist when you complete checkin.


I have twice snagged FC seats on my second go-around on OLCI.



I'm 90% sure the answer is yes, you will keep 1A even if you abort OLCI. But like others here have said, you can always complete OLCI without printing and just pick up dupe BPs from a kiosk or agent at the airport.

dwh

>>>>>>>>I have twice snagged FC seats on my second go-around on OLCI.

TERRIFIC info--thank you!

Just one question--did the second go-around on the OLCI involve ABORTING the check-in process the first time, or did you actually COMPLETE the process the first time (whether printing was done or not) and just go ahead and check-in a SECOND time as if the first check-in never happened?

themicah

In both cases, I aborted OLCI the first time and came back several hours later. Both cases were in early 2004. If you complete OLCI and return later, you will not get the prompt asking if you want to upgrade to first class. In fact, you can't change seats at all after you've completed OLCI. The only option is to reprint your BPs.

dwh

>>>>>In both cases, I aborted OLCI the first time and came back several hours later.

More great info. Here's the final kicker:

Suppose you check-in 24 hours prior and have two segments. You get asked if you want to upgrade to first. You say yes. On one segment you are told that you are upgraded to first class. For the other segment, you are told that First class is full and you are being put on the waitlist.

If you then abort, and try again a few hours later, will you still HAVE the one segment that cleared in first class (i.e. that upgrade will "stick"), and then it will still be possible to snag an F seat that crops up on the previously unavailable segment?


I know this is arcane, but it makes for a very optimal decision-tree!

themicah

This is essentially the same question as (3) in your original post.

I'm still 90% sure that it will "stick" even if you abort. I know for sure that if you've been upgraded BEFORE you start OLCI and you abort OLCI, you will not lose your upgrade. But I've never aborted OLCI after an instant OLCI upgrade (instant OLCI upgrades are rare).

You can differentiate an EUA upgrade from an instant OLCI upgrade by the message you get after you click "yes" to the "do you want to upgrade" query. There are four possible responses that I've seen. I am paraphrasing, but they are roughly:

1. "FC was not available, you've been waitlisted"
2. "FC was not available on this flight" (i.e., you're on a CRJ or SF3 with no FC)
3. "You were already in FC" (i.e., you were EUAed in advance)
4. "You have been upgraded to FC" (i.e., congrats on your instant OLCI upgrade)

The probability of your hypothetical scenario (where you get response #4 for one seg and response #1 for another seg) is very small. But if it were to occur, my strategy would be to abort, then look up my itinerary through "View Reservations" to see if I'm still in FC. Again, I'm 90% sure I'd find it "stuck." But if it didn't, I could immediately repeat OLCI and hope to snag the same seat again.

dwh

>>>>>>The probability of your hypothetical scenario (where you get response #4 for one seg and response #1 for another seg) is very small. But if it were to occur, my strategy would be to abort, then look up my itinerary through "View Reservations" to see if I'm still in FC. Again, I'm 90% sure I'd find it "stuck." But if it didn't, I could immediately repeat OLCI and hope to snag the same seat again.


If there were a FlyerTalk NWA Forum upgrade hustler FAQ, this would belong in it. It scares me, however, sometimes, to have strategies as well deliberated and explained as these so publicly available (both in case there might be policy consequences from FT-reading airline programmers , as well as the potential for day-to-day competition from my dear fellow elites for the odd upcropping F seats). Maybe the "search" function should be permanently disabled to help promote occult savvy clubbishness among upgrade-seekers. In any case: great advice and insights from all who have responded to this thread!!!

clarence5ybr

It seems FT's popularity is growing by leaps and bounds, but the vast majority of elites on NW don't seem to be FTers. I avoided a lot of the "tin elite" syndrome when I first became Silver thanks to having lurked on FT for a few months, but I've seen plenty of people who are clueless to the most basic things--like asking an FA if they can move to an empty seat in F (us FTers all know, of course, that only the GA can move someone to F; FAs can be disciplined for doing so). If most people are that clueless, they aren't getting tips from FT.

I've been helped a great deal by a number of posters, all of whom have been generous with information, so I figure it's only fair to share whatever I know. Besides, the odds are relatively slim that you'll be beaten out of an upgrade on a specific flight by someone who read a tip on FT.

baker8

On my first flight as a silver last month, I tried OLCI but was unable to finish because I lost my computer connection. I do recall getting as far as saying 'yes' to being put on the upgrade list for first segment (I already knew I was upgraded on second). I never completed the process, but I also didn't hit cancel. I guess that made the difference. Anyway, I tried again later that day and it said I had already checked in for both flights.

I got BPs at the airport, and ended up with one of two upgrades at the gate.

dmitzel

Option #2 concerns me. We've all read about the old days where a "savvy Silver" could monitor the Availability Tool and call the reservation line to snag a FC seat that just opened up. While great for the SE who received the UG, it wasn't all that great for a Gold or Plat that missed that seat when the next EUA run rolled around.

Now, with phone agents not able to process UG's other than full-fare, the EUA-or-bust policy is supposed to close this loophole. What I'm wondering is if there still may be a weakness in the EUA system where a lower-level elite could snag an UG as the OP suggests?

Obviously nothing to lose sleep over, but I imagine a Plat (or myself as a GE) sitting in coach would be none too pleased to hear that a discount-fare SE is up front by gaming the system. However, perhaps the new rules, coupled with the R-bucket, prevents option #2 from being successful. At least I believe that once the first higher-level elite OLCI's into coach with R availability at 0, the EUA and OLCI UGs should end for that flight and all remaining UGs must be handled at the gate.

Thoughts?

themicah

The two instant OLCI upgrades I refer to above were both from when I was still silver in early 2004. Both flights did not upgrade until my second try at OLCI, several hours after my first try. And in both cases, the upgrades seemed to come from F, not R, based on how the miles posted (they posted as "F" class flown, not the usual "R" like most EUAs).

I had been monitoring P and F availability pretty closely (the Availability Tool was down at the time, so I couldn't monitor R directly), and in both cases there was F availability both at my first AND second OLCI attempts.

Therefore, I don't think the situation is exactly analogous to the old "wait for F, then call and snag it" situation. I think that some time in between my first and second attempts at OLCI, they made the F bucket available for elite upgrades. How exactly that works, I don't know. And it's still possible that I jumped the queue and snagged the upgrade from the clutches of some unfortunate gold or plat. But it's also entirely possible that when they made F available they immediately cleared any waitlisted plats or golds, and then I snagged the next seat.

And even if this is a bit of a loophole, it's not as big a loophole as the old one, since there doesn't appear to be any way to monitor the availability they use for the instant OLCI upgrades.

fromYXU

I always checkin online using my laptop. If I can I will print the BP right away. If I can not use a printer, I print them as .pdf files and wait until I can use a printer. If unable to print altogether, I simply print duplicates at the airport. I never had a problem doing this. NW understands that something can happen to your BPs and allows you to print duplicates (it will say "duplicate" on the airport BPs). I would never "cancel" the online checkin process. Simply complete it and sort out the BP issues at the airport.

One caveat to this, it seems that KLM only gives you one chance to print your boarding passes. If you fly MSP-AMS-VIE (AMS-VIE on KLM) and do online checkin, you will not be able to print a duplicate BP for the AMS-VIE. You will need to get that in AMS.

ls

will my chance to be upged depends on the checkin time? Should I do online check as early as possible?