Just brought myself an Aero-lotto ticket

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 5:57 am //
By: webmaster //
Category: xn--zlvp56j.com
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I need to be in HKG in early Apr and UA's SIN-HKG is not back until Apr 8, that's too late for me and some of their flights are quite booked up for my preferred return dates. So you guessed it, I went and brought myself an Aero-lotto ticket which could have gotten me almost 2000 draws of 6/49 in real life.

This is the first time that I've ever had to wait until 7 days prior to departure to get an international upgrade confirmed. [CP used to have those Black stickers & AC with those time of booking for SE] It ain't fun!!

I am watching the loads very closely, flights are showing C5 & C1 for YVR-HKG, HKG-YVR. Still 2 weeks to go before I can upgrade the first leg.

I can't imagine how mad I'll be if i don't get upgraded considering that I paid extra just to get a H class fare. One thing I'll be sure though, if I don't get upgraded, I'll refuse to get on the plane.

Trip at the end of April is already set for UA, no doubt about that unless Aeroplan does something to surprise us soon.

Empress: You've got even more mail

Empress.. you have more mail... smile

I got quite a few operational UGs last year, domestic, transborder and international. Always just depended on if the plane was oversold and (I imagine) how many SEs were there and not already upgraded (prob fewer last year than this given the change in upgrade classes). As ACDude has pointed out, there is a policy which will be followed. I think it is status rather than fareclass which is the first criteria. Therefore the Q wont make any difference. All ineligible fares are treated the same. All I am hoping is that my plane will require that policy to be implemented.

ACDude, what would you think will happen with J9, C3, Y3?

Empress: Not a full Y on this one. If that were the case I would have already switched (or be getting ready to at 72 hours) to another routing. That is always what I do with the full Y.

In this case it is a sad, pathetic (but cheap Q) - hence my hope for an operational UG. My guess is it all depends how many SEs are on the flight and whether it is genuinely oversold. Im hoping for J9, Y0 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

It's showing C0 now for my HKG flights... now I feel ****ing stupid for buying H class and playing the lottery. This is the last H class ticket I'll ever buy unless AC changes its rules, back on UA for the rest of the year.

Playing the lotto to Europe is not that difficult. Let's say you want to go to a country in Eastern Europe and upgrade on the transatlantic. I find out how many c-class seats there are to Frankfurt from Montreal and Toronto, Paris from Montreal and Toronto, and to London from Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. I take whichever has the most c-class available. If I go through London I take BA to Eastern Europe; if Frankfurt I take LH, etc. The trick is to find a flight where c-class is wide open with full inventory (i.e. 9 seats). Even if there are 6 seats in C and J is totally wide open, you have a pretty good chance that you will get a c-class seat.

------------------
SuperPrestige

I was successful on YHZ-NRT-YHZ. I gambled on NRT based on recommendations from "C tracker".

Originally posted by Ferrari:
Hanging there empress...

I'm trying to figure out if this was a deliberate typo or not?

Originally posted by lmartin999:
Anyone want to guess on chance of an operational upgrade? Are flights from YYC always like this? New route for me.

Go for a bump + upgrade on the next flight [possibly via YYZ on the same day]. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I assume you are flying on full Y?

Back to my loto ticket, first 2 legs should not be a problem as I am within the 7 days window already but can't upgrade until my TA issues the ticket today. [YUL-YYZ-YVR] It's the YVR-HKG-YVR coming up in 3 weeks that's worrying me!

Originally posted by tgraham:
I just played the lotto and won thankfully on a Monday 9:30 pm flight on the 18th (AC 11). My travel agent had some good advice on how to do this which involved some relatively last minute booking but he also said the availability is really much more than ITN shows...

Mind emailing me about what the "advice(s)" was/were? I think AC 11 is a lot easier because it's the evening flight and also it's usually a 747. However, I don't like the idea about arriving 6am into HKG so I choose the more popular AC 7. [Hope I don't regret it later]

I'll certainly do Skyhawk. I won't be checking any lugguage but maybe that's a good bargaining point for giving me the upgrade. So they don't have to waste fuel. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Empress - on the day of departure, would it help to contact the Concierge and see if they can get you a seat without leaving it up to the agents at the gate?

V.

My YYC - LHR flight (April 1) is now showing;

J9 C4 Y3 M0 B0 H0 V0 Q0 L0 T0

Looking pretty full, I am assuming it will finish up showing

J9 C0 Y0 etc

Anyone want to guess on chance of an operational upgrade? Are flights from YYC always like this? New route for me.

Cheers

Well... in case you're wondering, it looks like I've lost round one of the upgrade lottery. Both inbound and outbound is C0 and the 7 days upgrade window is right around the corner. Looks like it's down to the day of departure/gate thing. *sigh*

Boy... do I feel like an idiot now for buying the H class! That will teach me a good lesson. No more H class from now on! The prospect of YVR-HKG in AC Y class is getting really real. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Empress (edited 03-26-2002).]

Empress:

To give you some hope I checked that flight yesterday and it was still showing C4 in RESIII and I thought you'll be "OK". There was about 13-14 J seats left in total. The flight coming back is really full and only about 10 J seats left with C0 for sure.

I think you'll be fine and I got your back http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely email the YVR concierge couple of days prior to departure if it doesn't clear before then. It's still showing C0 right now... *sigh*!

Hey thanks ACDUDE! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

You're right. I think the outbound flight was all the way up to C5 or C6 yesterday which is why I wasn't worried about the outbound until yesterday. I watched those C seats went all the way down C0 in less than 60 minutes. I tried to call the SE desk and grab the seat when it was down to C1 but they told me it wasn't "exactly" 7 days yet so can't do it. Of course, as I hung up, it went to C0. It's going to be a long 7 days before my flight checking ITN more frequent than I ever have!

I just won the lottery for YYZ-YVR Mar 23rd and YYZ-LHR Mar 27th. Absolutely no problem!

Good luck Empress!

I just played the lotto and won thankfully on a Monday 9:30 pm flight on the 18th (AC 11). My travel agent had some good advice on how to do this which involved some relatively last minute booking but he also said the availability is really much more than ITN shows...

Hang in there empress...

A J seat might come open, just call in every day !...

I am with you on the UA thing...I have the last part of a few tickets to use up then I am gone.... !

edited for the typo mentioned in the next post http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Ferrari (edited 03-21-2002).]

Empress... what disappointing news... I will keep my fingers crossed for you as well at the Gate...

That is a long journey in Y, when you were hoping for a seat up front.

[This message has been edited by nobody-elite (edited 03-26-2002).]

I am just trying to imagine what I'll do if the agent tells me 20 mins before departure that J class is full and hands me a Y boarding pass for the 15 hours flight to HKG. I think I'll asked to be offloaded from that flight but then i'll have to go thru customs and explain how I managed to go to/from HKG in less than 2 hours. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

We'll cross our fingers. I think you'll do better than most of the recent reports, because you're on an eligible fare for an upgrade.

Just be your usual charming self.

And pray you get ACDUDE handling the flight. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

andrew

[This message has been edited by Andrew Webber (edited 03-26-2002).]

Well at least with H class you're not hoping for an operational upgrade. Will they be able to upgrade at checkin or lounge or do you have to wait for the gate to do it?

I guess if there are _any_ unsold J seats at that point, they can upgrade even before they calculate the no-shows.

andrew

[This message has been edited by Andrew Webber (edited 03-26-2002).]

I don't know if that will work all the time because sometimes code share partners grab seats at the last minute particularly on trans atlantic runs where their own flight might be full and they will reroute some PAX on AC.Have personally seen this happen.
I just got an upgrade for a Sunday domestic flt and the agent did not know she could do it and in fact told me I would have to call back tomorrow.When I explained the 72 hour rule she seemed unaware but tried it and voila it worked.The smile maybe back but the smarts or ability to think on the customer's behalf haven't hit some agents yet.She did tell me there were three UG seats available when she did wake up.

[This message has been edited by parnel (edited 03-14-2002).]

Originally posted by AlmostThere:
Here is the link:
http://flyaow.com/classavailability.htm

Great to know. Thanks!

Should know in less than a week whether I've won the outbound lottery. [I am not that concerned about that as there are still 20 seats open.] The return is setting up to be the trouble maker as it only has 10 seats open in J (21 when I book my ticket last week) and it's about a month away and C0.

Originally posted by waitlist:
Is it possible for someone to let me know how I can check the availability of the different booking classes for my specific flights? Is there a web site that provides this information? Thanks.

Here is the link:
http://flyaow.com/classavailability.htm

Originally posted by lmartin999:

J9 C4 Y3 M0 B0 H0 V0 Q0 L0 T0

Is it possible for someone to let me know how I can check the availability of the different booking classes for my specific flights? Is there a web site that provides this information? Thanks.

Thanks Andrew! That's the best I could hope for. We need more "ACDUDE"s who follow the rules. Too bad he's based in YYZ! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif I'll be real pissed if I lose that final lottery at the gate. Either way, no more H class tickets for me.

Originally posted by lmartin999:
All ineligible fares are treated the same. All I am hoping is that my plane will require that policy to be implemented.

It really depends on how desperate the gate agents are to free up Y seats. I don't believe for a second that they are really following a 'procedure'. I've been on more than a couple of oversold yyz/yvr flights last year on L class which the gate agent denied my request for an upgrade but simply upgraded those who was waiting for a seat assignment.

ACDude, what would you think will happen with J9, C3, Y3?

Seriously... too early to tell. Check again about 7-10 days before departure then you'll get a good read on it.

The outbound flight has cleared. As ACDUDE said above, the return is looking really shaky and that's the flight that I'm most worried about. Super overbooked, J9C0. Gotta tell you, this lotto stuff is not fun at all.

IMartin .... I have never been successful with getting an operational upgrade on a Q ticket as Elite... and I go about 3 or 4 times a year to LHR...

Anybody going to LHR on April 9th by chance... it would be nice to be able to put a few faces with names.

Or anybody leaving LHR on May 9th?

Empress keep us informed on the lotto.

If you check baggage and then refuse to board, the captain will have to remove your bags while burning 1 gallon or so a second of kerosene, makes an upgrade quite cheap for them when you think of it.

Empress, hope you don't get a middle seat!

Good luck with the lottery!

Empress... you have mail....

Is it really STATUS over fare class ?

I didn't get that impression last week at YVR, in fact the GA was downright sour when I asked if I could be put on a list for possible Operational Upgrade, since the flight was overbooked.

She pointed out to me that not with a Q ticket.. and I quietly, and embarrassed returned to my seat and waited to board.

My best guess is that there was a simple misunderstanding. Operational upgrades are done by status before fare class, so there is no list to be "put" on. Every passenger has a place on it based on the two criteria (as well as based on how they're dressed, apparently http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ). So when you asked about being put on a list for operational upgrades, her mind, knowing that such did not exist, focused on the closest match: stand-by upgrades with certificates. *ding* Your ticket did not qualify for it, so out popped her answer.

The only way I've found that seems to sometimes bump me up the list for operational upgrades is to volunteer to be bumped off the flight. Gate agents do have some leeway in operational upgrades, and making their lives easier is bound to get you in their good books. Making their lives harder, on the other hand...

islandcub (see? I can be nice to AC employees!)

[This message has been edited by islandcub (edited 03-14-2002).]

Once the flight gets to day of departure, only the gate can do it. With the way that the gate agents have been upgrading people lately, honestly, I am very scared.

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