It’s funny how the upgrade “game” works out sometimes.
On Thursday night I flew from Dallas to Seattle, an upgrade I figured would be near impossible to clear since Thursday night upgrades are among the toughest. At the same time tonight I was flying from Seattle to Chicago, an upgrade I figured was a given since Saturday is one of the easiest days to clear upgrades.
What ended up happening? My outbound upgrade cleared 100 hours out, while my return upgrade didn’t clear (I’m writing this from seat the exit row). Of course I don’t mind flying coach, though this upgrade hurts my head more than my rear. After all, if I can’t clear a Saturday night upgrade, what can I clear anymore? The other interesting data point was that there were only a total of two people on the upgrade list at the gate, and I was one of them. Oddly enough there’s something comforting about being at the top of one of United’s 100+ person upgrade waitlists as opposed to American’s two person upgrade waitlists.
But American really does know how to take care of Executive Platinum members in coach. As the flight attendants rolled the cart to the front of the cabin they first stopped at my seat, addressed me by name, and asked if I might be interested in a free drink or snack. Awesome.
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