US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Advice, Please....PIT-GCM and Upgrades

My wife and I are going to GCM on 11/11 and returning 11/18 (both are a Tuesday). We're booked with V tickets.

I'm a regular DM member with no status and would like to upgrade to FC. I can use miles, which to me is a waste, or I can get either Space Positive or Space Available vouchers for use to upgrade. Based on your experience or other knowledge, what would be my best bet to ensure getting into F?

My initial thinking is that it's a Tuesday and it shouldn't be *that* hard to do, but again, I don't really have any previous experience here.

Thanks for your time!

I think without status the only way to upgrade is with miles

Nope, you can use space positive or space available upgrades if you don't have status.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tcollins33:
My wife and I are going to GCM on 11/11 and returning 11/18 (both are a Tuesday). We're booked with V tickets.

I'm a regular DM member with no status and would like to upgrade to FC. I can use miles, which to me is a waste, or I can get either Space Positive or Space Available vouchers for use to upgrade. Based on your experience or other knowledge, what would be my best bet to ensure getting into F?

My initial thinking is that it's a Tuesday and it shouldn't be *that* hard to do, but again, I don't really have any previous experience here.

Thanks for your time!</font>

SP vouchers can be used 1 day in advance for flights to upgrade to F and these are confirmed upgrades.

SA vouchers can be used 1 hour in advance for flights to upgrade to F and these are waitlisted as long as possible.

I've found that both SP and SA, though, have been able to get confirmed a little bit earlier than the dates above.

I haven't used SP upgrades at all, but I've used SA upgrades a fair amount and have about 50/50 luck for upgrading with no status (the type of plane helps a LOT).

Best bet with SA upgrades: WEB CHECKIN! Right when the 24-hour window opens up for your flight, use the web checkin feature on usairways.com. Since the upgrade waitlist goes on status and then checkin time, give yourself as best chance as you can.

Otherwise just use the SP vouchers or miles.

Good luck!

-JC

[This message has been edited by jcooke (edited 10-30-2003).]

I guess I'll try to "obtain" 4 SP vouchers and take my chances.

The kicker to all of this is that I'll make Silver Preferred on the return flight. Finally, status for the first time...

Thank you very much for the quick and helpful responses!

[This message has been edited by tcollins33 (edited 10-30-2003).]

I don't think the web check-in works on flights to GCM because it's an international destination.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyerAl:
I don't think the web check-in works on flights to GCM because it's an international destination.</font>

My apologies. I didnt realize that GCM was international.

No, web checkin won't work then.

I ALWAYS fly USAir and i am without status, although gaining it before the end of the year, as a college student not bad if you ask me. I always try to upgrade. Anyway, I concur, i have 50/50 chances with SA upgrades, they are good and much cheaper than SP. However, if you are flying before the end of the year you can get SP fairly cheap as well. If price is not an issue go with the SP as they are much more reliable for the "i have to get in first" trips. However, if it is a do or die situation, go with the miles it is the only way to be 100% sure. Have a great trip.

OK, checking availability on the AMEX site, here's the current stats on my flights. Why is there a difference between the US and the UAL codeshars flights when it comes to seats available?

11/11/03
US 1226 PIT-CLT Cabin class: F7 P7 A7 E7 Y7 B7 H7 M7 Q7 K7 V7 L0

US 1092 CLT-GCM Cabin class: F7 P7 A7 E7 Y7 B7 H7 M7 Q7 K7 V7 L0

11/18/03
US 1093 GCM-(CLT)-PIT Cabin class: F7 P5 A5 E4 Y7 B7 M7 H7 K7 Q7 V7 L0


UAL Codeshare Availability:
11/11/03
UA 2694 PIT-CLT Cabin class: F4 Y4 B4 M4 H4 Q4 V4 W4 S4 T0 K0 L4 G0 A4

UA 1954 CLT-GCM Cabin class: F4 Y4 B4 M4 H4 Q4 V4 W4 S4 T4 K0 L4 G0 A4

11/18/03
UA 1955 GCM-CLT Cabin class: F4 Y4 B4 M4 H4 Q4 V4 W4 S4 T0 K0 L4 G0 A4

UA 2171 CLT-PIT Cabin class: F4 Y4 B4 M4 H4 Q4 V4 W0 S0 T0 K0 L4 G0 A4

Thoughts on my chances of using Space Positive certs for upgrading to F?

Thanks!