Elephant In Exile

I'm not sure I understand it, but it's an answer...

Ok, I did manage to get through to customer service and a very nice person helped me out. Seems that when I made this reservation, I cashed in an unused ticket to defray the cost. When booked this older ticket I was silver elite and was traveling with some one who was not elite. NWA's computer assumes you want to sit with your traveling companion and will not upgrade you unless you indicate you want to ditch that person and leave them suffering in coach. So, it's showing me as not being eligible for an upgrade, even though I'm now traveling to a different destination, on a different ticket and traveling alone...

Here's what NWA had to say...

Dear Elephant,

Thank you for contacting nwa.com Customer Service. In reviewing your reservation Elephant, I see that your WorldPerks number was listed initial as Silver Elite. This indicates that when the reservation was booked you were still Silver Elite.

I then noticed that the number had been entered a second time and this showed your Elite status, however, the Silver Elite information was not deleted. It appears that when the system began to run the elite upgrades the Silver Elite status was still being read, as it was the first notation in your reservation. I have remove this, and the automatic upgrade attempts should begin during the next attempts, which will most likely be made tonight.

Currently, if you wish to select new seats in economy class you can visit nwa.com. Also, you may not process the elite upgrades through nwa.com. These are processed automatically within the reservation system 5, 3, or 1 day before travel depending on the elite status. Also, since your travel is domestic, there is no Business Class, and any upgrades will be processed into First Class. You will be unable to select a seat in First Class through nwa.com until the elite upgrade has been processed for your reservation. In addition, if for any reason you have not yet been upgraded within 24 hours of your flight, and if you use the nwa.com check-in, you will be asked again if you wish to upgrade. If you select yes, another attempt will be made to upgrade
your flights.

I hope the information above helps explain the current status of your elite upgrades.

Thank you again for using nwa.com Customer Service. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you, our customer.

Well, I do appreciate the answer, even if it amounts to the English equivalent of the Spanish no-fault Se...e.g.- The system didn't process you right.

Seems to me, when your company in loosing $1 billion dollars a year, you'd want to make sure your system works, especially for people who've made an effort to patronize your company in an otherwise fungible industry.

But then, I believed that the GOP cared about limited government, accountability and fiscal prudence... I think that's called naivete.

I'm sure I'll get my silly upgrade..and if that's the biggest problem I have, then I am truly a luck Elephant.