I made silver with US last year. Still have 2 one way SWU's (they expire 4/30) and I think another four 800-mile upgrades that will soon expire (not sure when..I think 4/30 as well).

I don't have any planned trips on US until AUGUST. Will be going again to Europe (FRA).

So, my question is..what are the chances of me calling them and making a reservation in coach and, while at it..,see if they would kindly extend the validity of the SWU's so I can get upgraded?? At this point I'm somewhat believing that I will have to "loose" the 800-mile upgrades...since I won't be using them and, as far as I know, they're can't be used by any other pax other than the member, right?

Anyway, there's a little problem. I didn't requalify this year and my silver status actually expired 2/28/02. But, am contemplating writing the folks at US Silver Preferred center a letter asking them to comp me to gold (based on my CO onepass gold status...) any comments...tks

postponer

Go for the Gold. Be prepared with your CO card and end-of-year statement and you shouldn't have any problem. At the very least, they'll renew Silver for you. You will probably NOT get SWU's in your new packet, though. They used to be much more free about this, but the abuse problems have been too rampant.
Your expiring SWU's will not be worth the paper they're printed on once they expire. Unless someone here has different information, they don't give miles for expiring SWU's like they do for the NAU's (500 each). And they will not extend the dates on them.
The only way I can see getting new SWU's would be through the completion of a Challenge....fly a # of miles/segments in a period of time and get silver,gold, etc. You can ask the service center if earning Silver through a challenge would get you the SWU's, as opposed to just being comped status. The requirements for silver wouldn't be that much (maybe 12 segments in 2 months?)and, if you won't be using US that much, Gold isn't really necessary.

To respond to your question, I think you have NO CHANCE of extending the SWU. I am Gold, and I have tried. However, you might find that you can use it at the gate sometime in the future. I have seen this happen, although not with regularity.

As to the domestic 800 mi upgrade coupons, you can return those for reissue or mileage credit.



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Unless you have inside contacts that you know, I agree that over the phone or by writing a letter/email to Consumer Affairs the chance that they will extend your SWU is next to 0. I would in fact *strongly* advise you not to mention your expired SWU when you talk to reservations, etc. Why? They will very likely make a note in your reservation file (known in the industry as a PNR) something like "pax adv we will not hnr exp swu." Your chances are better at the airport, especially at the gate. Chances are probably better if you fly from some outstation in to a hub and then are connecting to the intl flight. You have something you might gain, and nothing to lose by seing if the gate will take your exp swu. A lot of people make the mistake I noted, with many many many things, i.e. they call res asking for an exception, and then their record is documented with the exception denial. Then at the airport, they are much more likely to say "oh Mr. Jones, it says here we already told you the answer is NO!"
As for your getting either Gold or Silver status, you should be fine. As long as you have not been comped before, they will likely just comp you to Gold based on your CO status. Again at the very least, they will make you a silver again but probably you'll be Golden. The best thing is to fax the DM service center with the other airline sttatus documentation.

The gate is a good option. You can also turn the 800-milers in for a 500-mile credit. I did that with a bunch that expired in Dec.

FYI all.....Systemwide upgrades (unexpired )may also be redeemed for 500 miles ea.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BWI2MCO97:
FYI all.....Systemwide upgrades (unexpired )may also be redeemed for 500 miles ea.</font>

I thought you could turn them in within six months of expiration for 500 miles ...

I stand corrected....

All just to add a data point, my colleague, a GP, has 2 SWUS expiring at the end of March, but has a PIT-FRA trip planned for first week of April.

He bought a ticket online, and then called in to check about using his upgrades. I specifically had told him not to offer his itinerary unless they agreed to let him use the expired SWU (so they couldnt note anything bad in his PNR), but he did so without any confirmation of that. Lo an behold, they agreed to let him use the SWUs (although only one leg could be confirmed). This was on a $700 fare. Probably helped that they were only gonna be expired by one week.