US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - 'kindness' upgrade on UA for honeymoon?

Hey folks,
I am going to cross-post this in the US and UA boards. I apologize in advance if that is poor etiquette.

As several of my previous posts can attest, my fiancé and I headed to Australia at the end of April for our honeymoon. Mrs. Spacebass-to-be’s ticket was procured via my US miles. I chose to purchase my ticket, and had to do so directly from UA. I am US Gold and UA nothing (just dropped from Silver, or preferred). IAD-LAX and LAX-SYD are both on UA metal. My ticket does have my US number logged.

My question(s): does anyone think there is any chance of a ‘kindness upgrade’ to business based on the fact that it’s our honeymoon? From what I can tell, I cannot use US miles to upgrade, I can’t use my US status, and I have no UA miles or upgrades. I’m thinking that having her flash some doe eyes is the only hope. We are currently in E+… is that just added leg room or will these seats reline into beds?

Level with me folks, what are our chances of getting out of steerage? I haven’t flow coach in almost 2 years… not sure I can take it for 25 hours (probably not the thing to say to appeal to a GA huh?).

Option B is to dose up on Nyquil and cheap coach wine.

Thanks for any suggestions!

-SpaceBass

Why not get 2 UA Sweet Spot upgrades off Ebay or the "Coupon Connection" forum?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NYCommuter:
Why not get 2 UA Sweet Spot upgrades off Ebay or the "Coupon Connection" forum?</font>

i've never even heard of this. Could you elaborate?
I did a search on e-bay for "sweet spot upgade" and couldn't find anything.

[This message has been edited by SpaceBass (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

Boy, you have really painted yourself into a corner here. Your wife-to-be is on an award ticket and you are on a non-upgradable fare (that's an assumption on my part) on United? Yikes! IMO, you should have coughed up the miles for a pair of business class award seats. Particularly for your honeymoon...

As for economy-plus seating, you'll get a standard coach seat with about 3-4 extra inches of pitch. That is significant IMO. As for extra recline - nope.

As for the upgrade, I would not say "impossible" but I give you less than a 25% chance of getting a comp upgrade on that route.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NYCommuter:
Why not get 2 UA Sweet Spot upgrades off Ebay or the "Coupon Connection" forum?</font>

With SpaceBass's wife-to-be on an award ticket (non-upgradable), I think this would be an unwise way for the new couple to travel - one in coach and one in business. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif

And even if they could upgrade -they'd need four Sweet Spots. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif



[This message has been edited by geo1005 (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by geo1005:
Boy, you have really painted yourself into a corner here. Your wife-to-be is on an award ticket and you are on a non-upgradable fare (that's an assumption on my part) on United? Yikes! IMO, you should have coughed up the miles for a pair of business class award seats. Particularly for your honeymoon...</font>

Unfortunatly, at the time of booking I didn't have enough miles for even 1 business class award and budget restraints limited my fair options.

We could have gone FC to the islands or maybe Europe, but... we lived in France, can go to the islands any time, etc. We thought it was worth it to get to Australia while we had the time. At this point, I'm just looking to see if there is ANY option for making it more comfortable.

I'd buy a few bottles of Nyquil now, you will need it. Your chances are very, very slim! I'm not saying impossible or don't try it, but I really doubt you'll have much of a shot.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by geo1005:
With SpaceBass's wife-to-be on an award ticket (non-upgradable), I think this would be an unwise way for the new couple to travel - one in coach and one in business. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif
</font>

Then again, 20 hours cramped in coach next to each other after a wedding may just end the marrage. Kidding of course...
but if I was able to get even one upgrade, she'd be the one taking it.

If you go to the "Coupon Connection" forum there are people offering Sweet Spot upgrades for United; I don't know for sure how they work, but it appears to be that anyone with a certificate can use it to upgrade any UA flights.

For E-bay, if you type in "United" or "Sweet Spot" that might work better.

I can't guarantee that these are legit ways to upgrade, though; I almost used one for a London trip recently but didn't have enough time to get the document.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NYCommuter:
If you go to the "Coupon Connection" forum there are people offering Sweet Spot upgrades for United; I don't know for sure how they work, but it appears to be that anyone with a certificate can use it to upgrade any UA flights.

For E-bay, if you type in "United" or "Sweet Spot" that might work better.

I can't guarantee that these are legit ways to upgrade, though; I almost used one for a London trip recently but didn't have enough time to get the document.</font>

Can award travel be upgraded with a sweet spot? If not, this option will not work.

No, Sweet Spots are not valid on award tickets... BUT,

If you now have enough miles, you can pay $75 and redeposit your old miles and get a biz-class award, if available.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JY4D:
No, Sweet Spots are not valid on award tickets... BUT,

If you now have enough miles, you can pay $75 and redeposit your old miles and get a biz-class award, if available.</font>

I've seriously thought about that. But from what the folks at the gold desk have told me: by the time I wait for them to redeposit and then take them out again, I seiously risk loosing a seat.

E+ isn't that bad. It's roomy enough so you won't be "crammed." I took a trip to Asia in E+ on UA, and as one who has managed to fly in US's FC approx 95 percent of the time during the past few years, I was sort of dreading the E+ seating. But it turns out that it wasn't bad at all -- plus no one sat next to me. I easily survived and would do it again.

For all of you heavy US Airways fliers wondering what Economy+ is like on United - think of US's Shuttle Configuration A319s. Same coach seats but that extra legroom makes a world of difference IMO.

Sweetspots expired Feb 29.

The new SWUs are valid now down to W. They are not valid on S and T fares. Chances are that your ticket is W or above. Check the fare basis.

One problem for you is that the 2004 SWUs are electronic so there may not be much of a "market place" for them.

It's impossible to upgrade the award ticket.

[This message has been edited by gnaget (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

WOW that's a bold move.

I recently did the trip after my wedding in biz on QF and we spent the filght sleeping. My wife slept for the entire flight and I slept for about 8 hours. If we were in coach, we'd be the most miserable people alive when we arived at my destination. But then again, by the time we arrived in SYD, we still had two more flights to go. If that's your final destination, I guess that's not so bad.

I hope you aren't flying the morning after the wedding. That's not a fun start to your 'moon. I'd cancel the flights and go somewhere to relax and cut my losses. I fly the majority of my time in F and I can't imagine flying in coach for 16 hours...especially the day after my wedding.

GOOD LUCK and I HOPE YOU MAKE IT!!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL INTL TERMINAL:
WOW that's a bold move.

I recently did the trip after my wedding in biz on QF and we spent the filght sleeping. My wife slept for the entire flight and I slept for about 8 hours. If we were in coach, we'd be the most miserable people alive when we arived at my destination. But then again, by the time we arrived in SYD, we still had two more flights to go. If that's your final destination, I guess that's not so bad.

I hope you aren't flying the morning after the wedding. That's not a fun start to your 'moon. I'd cancel the flights and go somewhere to relax and cut my losses. I fly the majority of my time in F and I can't imagine flying in coach for 16 hours...especially the day after my wedding.

GOOD LUCK and I HOPE YOU MAKE IT!!!!</font>

I think that's a harsh statement. The rest of the world fly coach. We are just lucky enough to have status. I don't think it will impact our relationship!

SpaceBass - I'd call UA to confirm your seats in ECO+ on your flights. Mention to the agent that you are travelling on your honeymoon and would like a window and an aisle seat (leave the center seat open). If you are lucky, you'll end up with ECO+ and the open seat between you. And if not, I'm sure whoever ends up with that center seat will be more than happy to take the window/aisle to allow two honeymooners to sit together.

Looks like you want row 36 thru 43 on the LAX-SYD segments:

http://www.seatguru.com/united/B744.shtml


Just a thought... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

[This message has been edited by geo1005 (edited Mar 24, 2004).]