US Airways Dividend Miles - Earn miles for Trial Preferred program on United?

Hi,

Do I have a chance of being upgraded and accure miles on a United flight if I have US Airways Trial Preferred Status?

I've already booked my 12 hour flight on United for work (which departs in 13 days) using my Dividend miles number (just signed up).

Right now I'm considering paying to 200 or 400 bucks just so I can have a more pleasant flight.

Any suggestions on if this will work or any other Ideas on how to obtain status so I can be upgraded on my United flight.

Thanks!

Your US Airways status will get you priority boarding and maybe free baggage (depending on your current US status) and priority on a standby list but that's it. It will not get you access to United's Economy Plus seats or put you on any upgrade list. Also be aware that flights on United will not count for your Trial Preferred qualification - those must be on US Airways flights only. You'll still earn miles in your US account but they won't count toward that Trial Preferred program.

Most of UA's elites don't get upgraded any more since the "new" program started on 3/3. UA barely tolerates silvers, though ironically, aside from E+, UA treats other airlines *G's better than its elites. UA Gold is only treated marginally better than *G these days (that being the remote chance of an upgrade and exit row seating).

The good news, though, as a *G, UA will try to sell you an upgrade for tens of dollars - the famous TODs UA folks complain about. You can buy one out from a 1K or even a GS for a fraction of the price. So the good news is if you're willing to shell out a little bit of money, upgrades can be had.

If you want any chance of a comp upgrade on UA, you have to credit to their program. And realistically, you're chances of getting an upgrade are pretty low unless you're flying to BFE on a Saturday night. Once you hit plat where you'll have some improvement. Realistically, if you want to have a decent chance at an upgrade on UA these days, you need to be a 1K or GS. Even then, you're back to the TOD dilemma though.

Cash is king at UA these days. Loyalty means little. If you want decent shots at upgrades, especially in the lower tiers, you're better of sticking with US if you can make it work for you.

I'm Silver on US and even since they've started their own version of ToD upgrades I still sit up front about 50-60% of the time between Philly and Boston - a fairly elite/ business heavy route. Leisure routes such as Florida are even easier for low tier elites...

By comparison when I was Silver on pre-merger CO I was pulling maybe two or three upgrades a year if I was lucky - and it was always at the gate. Since the merger it's been even worse (though I got out before Mr. Smisek's "changes we'll like" took effect so I don't have any first hand knowledge). Worse still, United Silvers don't have the exit row as a consolation prize like we do at US.

I'm Silver on US and even since they've started their own version of ToD upgrades I still sit up front about 50-60% of the time between Philly and Boston - a fairly elite/ business heavy route. Leisure routes such as Florida are even easier for low tier elites...

By comparison when I was Silver on pre-merger CO I was pulling maybe two or three upgrades a year if I was lucky - and it was always at the gate. Since the merger it's been even worse (though I got out before Mr. Smisek's "changes we'll like" took effect so I don't have any first hand knowledge). Worse still, United Silvers don't have the exit row as a consolation prize like we do at US.

I'll admit, I've been out of the US loop a little bit since I've been dealing with this trip on UA, but what's US's version of TOD? I was under the impression that they sold the upgrades, and at that pretty cheaply, assuming that no elites were waiting for an upgrade. Has that changed?

Hi,

Do I have a chance of being upgraded and accure miles on a United flight if I have US Airways Trial Preferred Status?


No.

US Airways status is, not surprisingly, only good for upgrades on US, not United (UA).

Don't bother with Trial Preferred unless you are going to fly regularly on US (only flights on US Airways planes will count for gaining the full status after the trial period).

Also, 12 hour flight = longhaul to Europe or Asia? UA doesn't hand out complimentary upgrades to all their elites on those flights; you would be using an instrument UA gives to senior UA elites that has a number of rules governing their use (and isn't going to be given to a US elite), and the UA status levels in question (1K or GS) require either quite a lot of flying or being very influential (steering many thousands of dollars of business to UA).

I suggest reading in the UA forum if you're interested in how UA status works (I believe they have a trial Premier program you can pay cash to enter that would give you some initial entry-level status, similar to US Trial Preferred). In general, UA isn't going to hand out free upgrades to seats normally costing many thousands of dollars unless you show them they'll make their money back with additional business, especially to random people who are on different airline loyalty programs with brand new accounts. There are ways to do it, but it's unlikely just ONE longhaul United flight is going to get you very much. Are you going to be traveling regularly on UA, or US?

Welcome to FlyerTalk and hopefully you can learn more about how this works, and how your flights can be more pleasant.

If the OP is otherwise committed to the US FF program, it could even make sense to cancel the UA ticket and purchase a US ticket if most of the route is served by US. Then at least the long flight will count toward keeping the trial status on US.

It would help to know details such as the home airport, overseas destination, tier of the trial status, and anticipated travel patterns. Maybe UA or some other program would be a more suitable focus than US.

Another idea is to go in the opposite direction and get into the analogue paid trial program with UA before the international trip so that it at least counts for retaining that status. Doing so would give the OP some minor UA status perks during that trip, possibly including Y+ seating, but not upgrades, which would require instruments the OP doesn't have and probably copays of about $500 in each direction, assuming an upgradeable fare class.

It would have been helpful and probably cheaper to check the details before signing up for the trial status program and purchasing tickets. Also, one should keep in mind that even though UA and US are currently in the same alliance, they're two very different airlines and have no special partnership or relation to each other beyond both being *A members.

I suggest reading in the UA forum if you're interested in how UA status works doesn't work.

Fixed it for you. Bolding/strike mine. :D

I probably should be responding with more :p, but there are a number of people (FT regulars) who think UA status works fine for them, even post 3/3. (Several of them have defected from AS. :eek:)

I also can recall the NW/DL forum from 2008-2009, and the angry, upset tone there. It's a bit different there now...