seob

I have seen both stated here on this forum.

CHeck in at 23:59:59 to maximize EUA chances.

Early OLCI can hurt your EUA chances.

Which is correct? Or, are both correct based on particular circumstances? What are the circumstances that lead you to one or the other?

TIA

UpgradeMe

Because both are true. Consensus seems to be that early OLCI hurts EUA chances but helps battlefield upgrade chances. YMMV.

justhere

I don't have any evidence one way or the other but I don't see how early OLCI hurts EUA. Hasn't Plat, Gold and Silver EUA already run by the time you can do OLCI? It seems to me that once the Silver window has passed, then everything is a battlefield upgrade. I guess it depends on whether a seat is released into R without the EUA running again, if it even does run again once the Silver window has passed.

GTITAN

Yes, UpgradeMe is right on target here. It may hurt your EUA chances, but if you are the OLCI stage odds are pretty decent that you have now moved to a battlefield situation in which case nothing is more crucial than being first on that list. Others please chime in if you disagree with the foregoing analysis.

Bigpops

My experience has been do to do OLCI... Has worked pretty well for me this year. The 2 times that I did not get upgraded (out of 103 legs) have been P0 F0 long before the date of the flight...

stephem

I have read the posts about what I might call "aberations" where someone has gotten an upgrade in the 24 hour window by not doing OLCI, but I think these are just that and not some technique you could use over and over to make sure you get up front on a 100% basis. If you consider what would be the most sucessful strategy over the period of a year, I am convinced that it is OLCI at 23:59. This is based on getting the last F seat by being #1 on the waitlist on all but 1 of the waitlisted segments I've flown this year (and then there was the other one where I was beat out by 10 minutes by a fellow Plat FT'er).

But if you are a fellow Plat on the same routes as I am on, I would encourage you to try this other technique and next December let's compare notes

rwill11

I would suggest you use stephem's advice. He's an expert at this

HeathrowGuy

I say do OLCI, but within maybe 12 hours of departure - OLCI has GREATER ability to upgrade pax than EUA, especially closer to departure time.

rwill11

SEA'S a tough crowd of plat's

justhere

OK, but I think you have to consider why OLCI has a greater ability. I don't know more than the next guy about this but it just seems logical that once EUA has run for Silvers all upgrades would be turned over to OLCI and then to the GA prior to the flight. The question is, and I don't know that anyone really knows the answer for sure, whether or not at the 23:59 mark that any P or F seats are automatically released to R. For example, if you are Gold and you have a Fri P.M. flight but by Thur morning you haven't been upgraded by EUA, can a silver jump ahead of you by checking in at 23:59 because seats are released at that time? Or is it the case that if seats are released, it automatically puts the Gold on the waitlist and knows that there is someone on the waitlist and releases one less seat? As I said, I don't know that anyone (outside of NW) knows for sure.

pmaddock

23:59 on OLCI didn't work so well for me this time.

Here's the strange part - OLCI said it put me on the waitlist for FC then this evening I get an email saying the WAITLIST IS FULL. I was rather surprised that was possible. I called into the elite line and they said I had been kicked out of the Waitlist. I'm really amazed since I've upgraded on Sat afternoon flts from MSP-DFW a lot as a Silver. This is my first flt as a Gold and now I can't even stay on the waitlist. Something weird is going on...

RTG

I agree with you. I was on a CO flight not long ago out of PDX. I checked in at 23:59 and when I got to the airport, the GA told me that it was good I used OLCI as there were more Plats than FC seats. BTW, they weren't UG anyone until you checked in at the gate...so he said I was ahead of others because of the OLCI.

BobH

Where it can help is you can be checked in to FC before anyone who decides to travel at the last minute has even booked their flight/ bought a ticket.

Bob H.

HeathrowGuy

Yes to the first question, and no to the second - as a Silver, I have leapfrogged into F ahead of waitlisted Golds and even a waitlisted Platinum because OLCI placed me straight into F within 12 hours or so of departure. I know this was the case because a GA was flabbergasted that the higher-level Elites had checked-in and were placed on the standby list before me and yet I was the one with a First Class seat.

justhere

Not doubting you for a moment, but do we know for sure the the GA's can tell what time you checked in? I was flying CO not too long ago and got a battlefield upgrade. I was asking about checkin time and the GA said that their upgrade list doesn't show checkin time, just who's next. Certainly, NW may be different so it would be good to know for sure whether the GA can or cannot tell what time you checked-in. If they cannot, then that might explain your situation in that possibly you did, in fact, checkin before those golds and plats.
Either way, it does seem to indicate that all upgrades are turned over to OLCI once it opens. Presumably, availability also fluctuates during the OLCI window, but still no hard evidence to prove that.