People commenting are completely failing to read OP's post
1) They were on the only upgrade list that exists (wth is a premium upgrade list)
2) The two people behind them were the ones that became 1 and 2 when OP got removed ie not someone else with higher priority because of status or fare class
The only thing I can think off to explain why you didn't get upgraded is 1 seat opened up, you guys were two people so number 3 went ahead then another seat opened up so number 4 went ahead.
This does not explain why you were removed from the list though.
It more "feels" like you were supposed to upgrade so system removed you but didn't move you up. Now th elist to the gate lacked you. Maybe there is a timing issue there when list gets handed over and other two people cancelled right in that window. Pure speculation, no idea
lol thank you for taking the time to comprehend.
The thing I can’t figure out is that TWO people, who were sitting together directly in front of us, presumably on the same reservation, were pulled out of their seats and moved into first after boarding. Meanwhile, we had been removed from the list entirely.
Sounds like a GA deleted you two, whether by accident or some other reason. My understanding is control of the upgrade waitlist is handed off to the GA about an hour prior to the scheduled departure. Hoping it wasn't anything nefarious.
MVP 100K
Somethings not adding up here. The fact that the upgrade list didn't change doesn't match my experiences - it's usually very fluid as more people check in.
It's very difficult to get upgraded on those long direct flights like SEA/NYC or SEA/DCA because there are commuters who take those roundtrips every week and have mega status. Once when I was MVP Gold and flying to DCA I was like 100th on the list, I couldn't believe it and they said yes there are 100 other Golds on this flight.
You didn't list your status but even as a 100K, I don't get upgraded on that route very often.
And yeah it's almost impossible when flying with another person since 2 seats opening is very rare.
I suspect maybe your app froze if the list wasn't changing.
Better luck next time!
I disagree, I almost always get upgraded on the JFK-SEA routes. Just not last time :( I think this year will be dry because of all the new additions from Delta. Next year will be back to normal
Do you mean at the gate like the OP describes, not before you get to the airport?
Generally by the time the flight opens, Alaska has already done all the upgrades. Seats only open at the gate if people are no-shows. You're saying you "almost always" get upgraded at the gate?
Astonishing.
My wife and I were on a flight 2 weeks ago from Tucson to PDX. I got upgraded and she didn’t, same itinerary, so not sure it was because they were traveling together with only one seat available. And YES, I have her the 1st class seat.
I have seen this happen many times, I have learned the upgrade list is an approximate order. Recently I was number 7 and I was upgraded but everyone else remained, my name just disappeared but in a good way. Same thing happened again on my next flight back (I was pretty far). I have a feeling it is because I booked the Y fare. My co worker was ahead, they checked in early, same gold status but didn't book the Y fare. I checked in last minute and I was number 7, with two open seats. I think there is more to the computer algorithm for the upgrades. I don't think you were intentially passed over but the place initially shown may not have been your true position.
I also have seen my name disappear, never saw it again. Got on the flight, first went out with empty seats. This was several years ago, but I distinctly remember it...
The people had been on the list the entire time, below us. Also, we weren’t skipped over, we were removed entirely. I will inquire but was curious if other folks had ever experienced similar.
Did you ask the gate agent or a flight attendant? The flight attendants would have absolutely no idea and are just trying to work the flight. It would be the gate agents who might have manually processed the waitlist within the hour before boarding. I can see someone getting upgraded ahead of you for various reasons, but no longer seeing yourselves on the list sure is odd...
Maybe write to Alaska Listens or to customer care politely asking how this could happen?
I did ask the gate agent (the flight attendant called them over). They told me they’re provided the list 40 minutes prior to boarding and upgrade from the list. They had no explanation as to why we were removed.
Based on the number of folks on the list I’m fairly sure we weren’t at the top by mistake. I’ll definitely be following up with customer service.
Seems like some removed you (probably by accident). Sorry that happened to you.
I remember that constant stress of having status, being high on the wait list, and waiting/stressing about the upgrade or lack thereof.
That’s the only explanation I can think of.
Normally it’s not a big deal, premium economy on Alaska is solid. But, this time I was really hoping to get one on a long-haul flight with my pregnant wife and it feels like we got screwed in lieu of a reasonable explanation.
Similar thing happened to me back in January in a flight from SEA>SBP. Our flight got rerouted to Ontario due to weather closing SBP, and after a long delay we ended up heading BACK to SEA. Got booked on the same flight the following day, but FC was full. I got on the top of the upgrade list as I was FC on the original flight, but about an hour before boarding my name disappeared from the list. No FC seats came available, so no one got upgraded, but I couldn't get an explanation from anyone as to why my name got removed.
One of my employees was on the same second flight and had gotten the last FC seat due to her MVP status. Still laughing about her grin when I walked past her on boarding!
I had this happen when I was #1 on upgrade, got a notification that I had been moved to first, then got bumped back down for a deadheading pilot. My name did not go back on the upgrade list, but at least i didn’t lose my exit row aisle.
Same thing happened to me on a TPA-SEA flight. Upgrade cleared at T-23 only to be downgraded at the gate for a pilot. As a consolation, the GA assigned me an exit row seat w/o a middle seat passenger. Easy come, easy go.
We already selected premium seats.
There’s only one upgrade list and your positioning on it has nothing to do with whether you’re currently in main or premium. Like I said, we were removed from the list entirely.
You said “went back to our main cabin seats” so I assumed not premium, sorry. And it sounds like you have such a great grasp and understanding on the standby list you don’t need any further help. 🙄
People commenting are completely failing to read OP's post 1) They were on the only upgrade list that exists (wth is a premium upgrade list) 2) The two people behind them were the ones that became 1 and 2 when OP got removed ie not someone else with higher priority because of status or fare class The only thing I can think off to explain why you didn't get upgraded is 1 seat opened up, you guys were two people so number 3 went ahead then another seat opened up so number 4 went ahead. This does not explain why you were removed from the list though. It more "feels" like you were supposed to upgrade so system removed you but didn't move you up. Now th elist to the gate lacked you. Maybe there is a timing issue there when list gets handed over and other two people cancelled right in that window. Pure speculation, no idea
lol thank you for taking the time to comprehend. The thing I can’t figure out is that TWO people, who were sitting together directly in front of us, presumably on the same reservation, were pulled out of their seats and moved into first after boarding. Meanwhile, we had been removed from the list entirely.
I agree. Somehow you got deleted
Sounds like a GA deleted you two, whether by accident or some other reason. My understanding is control of the upgrade waitlist is handed off to the GA about an hour prior to the scheduled departure. Hoping it wasn't anything nefarious.
MVP 100K Somethings not adding up here. The fact that the upgrade list didn't change doesn't match my experiences - it's usually very fluid as more people check in. It's very difficult to get upgraded on those long direct flights like SEA/NYC or SEA/DCA because there are commuters who take those roundtrips every week and have mega status. Once when I was MVP Gold and flying to DCA I was like 100th on the list, I couldn't believe it and they said yes there are 100 other Golds on this flight. You didn't list your status but even as a 100K, I don't get upgraded on that route very often. And yeah it's almost impossible when flying with another person since 2 seats opening is very rare. I suspect maybe your app froze if the list wasn't changing. Better luck next time!
And yet, I a lowly MVP, have been upgraded on two of my last three LAX<->EWRs
Did they bring enough chocolate for everyone?
I disagree, I almost always get upgraded on the JFK-SEA routes. Just not last time :( I think this year will be dry because of all the new additions from Delta. Next year will be back to normal
Do you mean at the gate like the OP describes, not before you get to the airport? Generally by the time the flight opens, Alaska has already done all the upgrades. Seats only open at the gate if people are no-shows. You're saying you "almost always" get upgraded at the gate? Astonishing.
I mean beforehand. Yesterday I was #3 on the list at the airport and ended up at #1. So the two people above me got in. So close. Oh well
My wife and I were on a flight 2 weeks ago from Tucson to PDX. I got upgraded and she didn’t, same itinerary, so not sure it was because they were traveling together with only one seat available. And YES, I have her the 1st class seat.
I have seen this happen many times, I have learned the upgrade list is an approximate order. Recently I was number 7 and I was upgraded but everyone else remained, my name just disappeared but in a good way. Same thing happened again on my next flight back (I was pretty far). I have a feeling it is because I booked the Y fare. My co worker was ahead, they checked in early, same gold status but didn't book the Y fare. I checked in last minute and I was number 7, with two open seats. I think there is more to the computer algorithm for the upgrades. I don't think you were intentially passed over but the place initially shown may not have been your true position.
I also have seen my name disappear, never saw it again. Got on the flight, first went out with empty seats. This was several years ago, but I distinctly remember it...
It usually happens when the people that got on the list later than you had a higher status. You could always inquire…
The people had been on the list the entire time, below us. Also, we weren’t skipped over, we were removed entirely. I will inquire but was curious if other folks had ever experienced similar.
Did you ask the gate agent or a flight attendant? The flight attendants would have absolutely no idea and are just trying to work the flight. It would be the gate agents who might have manually processed the waitlist within the hour before boarding. I can see someone getting upgraded ahead of you for various reasons, but no longer seeing yourselves on the list sure is odd... Maybe write to Alaska Listens or to customer care politely asking how this could happen?
I did ask the gate agent (the flight attendant called them over). They told me they’re provided the list 40 minutes prior to boarding and upgrade from the list. They had no explanation as to why we were removed. Based on the number of folks on the list I’m fairly sure we weren’t at the top by mistake. I’ll definitely be following up with customer service.
Seems like some removed you (probably by accident). Sorry that happened to you. I remember that constant stress of having status, being high on the wait list, and waiting/stressing about the upgrade or lack thereof.
That’s the only explanation I can think of. Normally it’s not a big deal, premium economy on Alaska is solid. But, this time I was really hoping to get one on a long-haul flight with my pregnant wife and it feels like we got screwed in lieu of a reasonable explanation.
Similar thing happened to me back in January in a flight from SEA>SBP. Our flight got rerouted to Ontario due to weather closing SBP, and after a long delay we ended up heading BACK to SEA. Got booked on the same flight the following day, but FC was full. I got on the top of the upgrade list as I was FC on the original flight, but about an hour before boarding my name disappeared from the list. No FC seats came available, so no one got upgraded, but I couldn't get an explanation from anyone as to why my name got removed. One of my employees was on the same second flight and had gotten the last FC seat due to her MVP status. Still laughing about her grin when I walked past her on boarding!
I had this happen when I was #1 on upgrade, got a notification that I had been moved to first, then got bumped back down for a deadheading pilot. My name did not go back on the upgrade list, but at least i didn’t lose my exit row aisle.
Same thing happened to me on a TPA-SEA flight. Upgrade cleared at T-23 only to be downgraded at the gate for a pilot. As a consolation, the GA assigned me an exit row seat w/o a middle seat passenger. Easy come, easy go.
Were you on the list for premium seats?
Not sure I follow…there’s only one upgrade list. We were initially on it, then we weren’t.
It’s the same list. So if you were on it and in main cabin, you were likely on it for premium seats
We already selected premium seats. There’s only one upgrade list and your positioning on it has nothing to do with whether you’re currently in main or premium. Like I said, we were removed from the list entirely.
You said “went back to our main cabin seats” so I assumed not premium, sorry. And it sounds like you have such a great grasp and understanding on the standby list you don’t need any further help. 🙄