United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - International Upgrade Rule Question

Hi,

Thanks in advance for your help. I am travelling from DEN to EZE via IAH October 2nd through the 6th.

Outbound, I used 25,000 miles and $500 copay to upgrade.

For return, EZE to IAH is not available. The agent told me on the phone that if I want to use miles and copay upgrade, she can put me on wait list but since IAH to DEN is available I will not get refund of miles or copay even if EZE to IAH does not clear.

Is this true? It used to be that you only get charged if both legs cleared. Is these one of the changes since 3/3?

Please let me know.

p.s. Those of you do not see anything wrong with paying 25,000 miles and $500 for IAH to DEN please do not respond.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/upgrade/mua.aspx?Mobile=1

In most cases, the MileagePlus Upgrade Award will be considered used if any segment of an itinerary is upgraded. However, for travel which includes segments in United BusinessFirst or United Global First, miles and co-pay will be re-deposited if all the United BusinessFirst or United Global First segments could not be upgraded. When applicable, these refunds will occur automatically 7 to 10 days after the trip.

Try another agent. A good one should be able to waitlist you just for that flight. Then if it goes through, you may be able to call and get on the list or upgrade for the second leg as well. At least that worked for GPUs in the past. Perhaps miles and money upgrades are a different story. Worth a try.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/upgrade/mua.aspx?Mobile=1

In most cases, the MileagePlus Upgrade Award will be considered used if any segment of an itinerary is upgraded. However, for travel which includes segments in United BusinessFirst or United Global First, miles and co-pay will be re-deposited if all the United BusinessFirst or United Global First segments could not be upgraded. When applicable, these refunds will occur automatically 7 to 10 days after the trip. Using the example in the OP, does this mean that if one is upgraded for EZE-IAH and then not upgraded for IAH-DEN, the miles and co-pay should (or will) be re-deposited/refunded?

Using the example in the OP, does this mean that if one is upgraded for EZE-IAH and then not upgraded for IAH-DEN, the miles and co-pay should (or will) be re-deposited/refunded?

Yes. It's the exact same language for either Global Premier Upgrades or Miles and Co-pay.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/swupgrades.aspx?Mobile=1

In most cases, the Global Premier Upgrade will be considered used if any segment of an itinerary is upgraded or flown. However, for travel which includes segments in United BusinessFirst or United Global First, the Global Premier Upgrade will be re-deposited if the United BusinessFirst or United Global First segment(s) could not be upgraded.

Is it just me or is this great deal if it happens. Get upgraded for the 11 hr flight but not the 2 hr flight and the cost is zero! Seems nice to me.

Using the example in the OP, does this mean that if one is upgraded for EZE-IAH and then not upgraded for IAH-DEN, the miles and co-pay should (or will) be re-deposited/refunded?

NO. The international flight is the only one mentioned above as it's in "BusinessFirst". The domestic sector is plain old United First. You have to read the wording carefully (the rule is only for International flights)

NO. The international flight is the only one mentioned above as it's in "BusinessFirst". The domestic sector is plain old United First. You have to read the wording carefully (the rule is only for International flights)

Sorry. You're right of course. The international segment is the only one that counts.

It is a great deal when you have multiple BF segments and only get upgraded on 1. I've used this trick multiple times this year and only had to shell out for 1 trip.