United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - Advice on Asia award travel please

I am getting ready to book a trip to Asia this winter and am a little confused about how using award upgrades works. Are the awards with a co-pay awarded immediately or are they put in the priority list with complimentary upgrades for the various Premier passengers? If a flight is wide open in F does that mean I will be able to upgrade with miles and co pay after buying the ticket? Unlike booking a full award ticket you don't know upfront.

I am debating whether I should just use the miles to ticket an F award if there is no assurance about being able to use the miles to upgrade.

I appreciate any advice.

I am getting ready to book a trip to Asia this winter and am a little confused about how using award upgrades works. Are the awards with a co-pay awarded immediately or are they put in the priority list with complimentary upgrades for the various Premier passengers? If a flight is wide open in F does that mean I will be able to upgrade with miles and co pay after buying the ticket? Unlike booking a full award ticket you don't know upfront.

I am debating whether I should just use the miles to ticket an F award if there is no assurance about being able to use the miles to upgrade.

I appreciate any advice.

The upgrade can be immediately confirmed if there is space in the "R" bucket for the flight..this is the upgrade bucket for economy to business class. Do a dummy booking and click on the "Fare Class" link next to the flight..this will display all of the fare buckets. If it says R0, or if R does not display at all then it means there is no upgrade space currently available so it would be waitlisted. If the upgrade never clears you'd be refunded the miles and the copay amount.

There are no complimentary upgrades for Premiers on trans oceanic international flights...you'll be prioritized according to status and then booking code.

The upgrade can be immediately confirmed if there is space in the "R" bucket for the flight..this is the upgrade bucket for economy to business class. Do a dummy booking and click on the "Fare Class" link next to the flight..this will display all of the fare buckets. If it says R0, or if R does not display at all then it means there is no upgrade space currently available so it would be waitlisted. If the upgrade never clears you'd be refunded the miles and the copay amount.

There are no complimentary upgrades for Premiers on trans oceanic international flights...you'll be prioritized according to status and then booking code.

Thank you so much. That is so helpful. I was absolutely clueless what the fare buckets meant.

Thank you so much. That is so helpful. I was absolutely clueless what the fare buckets meant.

This thread explains all: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1321113-post-3-mar-2012-how-find-upgrade-inventory-how-see-fare-bucket-availability.html?highlight=upgrade+search

This thread explains all: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1321113-post-3-mar-2012-how-find-upgrade-inventory-how-see-fare-bucket-availability.html?highlight=upgrade+search

Thank you. I found this one too http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2011/10/decoding-fare-buckets-on-the-new-united/

United doesn't do a very good job of explaining this on the website.