I was not upgraded this morning on NW197 from MSP to SJC and I have some evidence that would indicate that the Battlefield Upgrade priority as indicated in the wiki is incorrect. (http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index.php/Flying_NW)

I just purchased the ticket 4 days ago and it was P0, F0 when I purchased the ticket as the EUA window for Platinum had already come and gone. My ticket was fare class M and I did OLCI yesterday morning about 9:20 AM and responded "Yes" to the question of wanting to be upgraded and was told it was full and I would be put on the waitlist. When I got the the WC in MSP I checked the and the agent told me that there were 16 Platinums in front of me on the waitlist! When I got to the gate I checked again. The GA told me that she had just upgraded one Platinum and that it was now checked in full.

I watched who got the upgrade and then talked to him to compare notes. He was travelling on a Q fare (lower than me) and had checked in that morning at the airport (way after me) but had purchased the ticket a couple of weeks ago (way before me). He brought up one other criteria that I had not seen discussed which is #years as Platinum. He said he has been Platinum for 4 years while this is my 3rd year as a Platinum (although I have been some level elite for 10 years now). We also compared EQM mileage (he was just over 75k and I am at 120k) and from talking to him I would guess that I have been a higher revenue generator as it sounded like he was all domestic while I have done 5 international trips so far this year (2 WBC).

If the Wiki was correct, I would have received the BU. I would also have won out by several other criteria that I have heard discussed. The only items that would have given him the edge over me were time of ticket purchase and time as Platinum.

I know this has been discussed a lot over time but I found it interesting that my data point was not consistent with the generally accepted algorithm.

Nice work to track him down and compare notes... I have likewise suspected that the wiki "forum consensus" doesn't describe the whole algorithm. I don't know why there would be, but there often seems to be a kiosk check-in preference...

Maybe he has more NWA-flattering posts to FlyerTalk?!?

...and maybe the gate agents have more discretion than anyone cares to admit

I think the key is in that sentence. What probably happened, IMO, is that his date of purchase was what got him to be #1 on the list. He was probably also already in the upgrade queue starting 5 days ago instead of your 4, so there may be a slight "penalty" to buying a non-full fare ticket less than 5 days out for a Platinum. I'm theorizing here, but part of the reason the "date of purchase" criteria is present may be because NW likes to know if they're going to have revenue as early as possible. In this case 5 days out instead of 4, so perhaps they give him priority? And because of this, perhaps in the window of less than 5 days out, fare class matters less than purchase date?

I tend to agree that time of ticket purchase is really the only criteria that would make it likely for there to be 15 PEs in front of me. Even if it was #yrs PE I would find it difficult to believe that 3 years would put me at 16 on the WL. Buying the ticket 4 days before the flight would put me at or near the last PE to buy a ticket (likely).

Belive you me when I say that # of years as Plat makes no difference in the algorithm.... another reason why this plat is on his way to 1K by the end of the month... Platinum this year will be a BIG strech wth only 25k eqm so far...

Looking at the last 2 years of flying NW as a KL Flying Blue Plat, with the exception of one SFO-MSP red-eye, the only NW flights I have not been upgraded on were ones where the ticket was bought less than 1-2 weeks prior to travelling. Almost invariably tickets bought 1-2 months in advance were upgraded like clockwork at the Plat window, with the occasional FC BP being handed to me before boarding.

I understand that NW treats FB Plats equally in domestic EUA process. If years as Plat counted, that would have trumped the ticket purchase time given that I have been Plat for more than 15 years.

I can confirm that number of years as a plat has nothing to do with it. from what I can tell, it is all about how far in advance you buy the ticket (all things being equal). I have been Plat 6 years and early this year I had a bunch of last minute trips. In every case I where I bought the ticket inside a 2 week period I did not get the upgrade, or was one of the last on the list to clear at the gate. These are Plat intense routes also. On one flight from DTW to SFO I paid a very high fare ($900) because I bought it inside 2 weeks. I did not get the upgrade. The next week, same flight, same day I had a ticket that was booked 4 weeks out and I got the EUA at 7 days. I think when you go on the "list" you keep your assigned spot. So if you were the first on the list, you will be the first to clear regarless of fare, but in rank order of status.

1. Status
2. When purchased
3. fare

Bottom line; I buy my tickets way in advance, save lots of $$ and get the upgrade most times. If I have to do a last minute, I research less popular routes and times to have th best chance. I always check in at 23:58 but I am not sure that does anything...but just in case

I'm not sure if we'll ever figure out what the battlefield algorithm actually is.

Based on this thread, I'd would surmise that the guy who was upgraded was first put on the waitlist when the first Plat EUA window processed and left him in coach.

But it's also possible that the GAs just picked the first one alphabetically, or some other stupid criteria that shouldn't apply.

themicah, I agree that we may never know the true algorithm, but I think we can take anecdotal evidence and make some good guesses.

I agree with SchmutzigMSP, most likely why the pax was UG'd and not the OP was that the pax was higher on the WL because that pax was put on the WL before the OP even bought his ticket. The WL is created at the 5 (or 6) day window if not all plats are EUA'd (or at the 3/4 day window if not all GE's are EUA'd, etc). I have confirmed with several elite agents that you are put on the WL when you don't get your EUA when your window runs.

The WL order doesn't change, it's just appended to. So, only if a bunch of plats are added at the same time do the rules of status, fare, time of ticket purchase apply.

I strongly believe that the OLCI time does not change WL status (unless you bought the ticket after the SE EUA window). You are added to the WL when your EUA runs and you do not get it. NOT, when you do OLCI or when you get the EUA status email from NWA. Again, I confirmed this with several elite agents.

Thus, for me if I have not been EUA'd, I will continue to do the OLCI at 2359, 12 hours, 4, hours, etc until I get my EUA. What still is not known is that if NWA releases seats within 24 hours (which they do because I and other FT-ers have snagged these F seats), whether those who have not done OLCI can snag a release over those on the WL who have already done OLCI.

What happened to the NW song?

Another strange data point --

I checked in at airport yesterday, after OLCI failed. Was travelling on a coach award. For some reason, computer didn't put me on u/g list, so the agents did it manually, and since one was in training I got to hear the whole exchange.

When I was added to list, agent opened it and found I'd shot to #1, even though there were plats already on it -- and therefore (I assume) checked in earlier. Go figure.

This makes perfect sense. I have updated the wiki accordingly:

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index....ld.22_Upgrades


There seem to be two general possibilities on how this might work:

1. When you click the "yes, I'd like an upgrade if available" button at OLCI, it checks "R" availability and gives you an upgrade as long as R > 0 (without checking or changing the waitlist). This is what I suspect happens, and would mean that a well-timed OLCI could snag an upgrade even if a higher-status elite was already on the waitlist (as long as an F seat had been released to "R" after the last round of EUA and before you did OLCI).
2. When you click the "yes, I'd like an upgrade if available" button at OLCI, it gives you a seat only if R > 0 and nobody is ahead of you on the waitlist (if R >0 and somebody is ahead of you on the list, it could either upgrade the first person on the list, as if your OLCI triggered a "mini-EUA," or it could simply add you to the list). This would be the more fair system, but I suspect it's not how it was actually programmed.

I can add my experience with CO, where the situation appears similar. At about 3 hours (sometimes at the 24 hour point, though), all but a few FC seats are dumped to the "F" (upgrade) bucket. Then EUA runs and allocates the seats. This is supposed to be 'almost' instantaneous, but in reality, rarely is. The delay can be 15 minutes or more. Any elite doing OLCI at this point can snag those seats, no matter what his/her status. I can say, because I have done it, that if you monitor this release using KVS, and then check in as soon as you see it, you will definitley get the F seat, unless some elite checking in by pot luck beat you by a few minutes.

I find KVS invaluable. In looking at today, EWR-DTW, I see R2 for the 20:03 flight and R8 for teh 21:47 flight. Anyone doing ONCI now should be allocated those seats.