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What would you do? Worth the miles/$$$ for upgrade.

What would you do? Worth the miles/$$$ for upgrade.

Old Aug 12, 2013, 1:09 am
  #31  
 
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Location: NJ, USA
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Really BAD value upgrading with miles

One way ewr hnl is $1677 in business but to upgrade from economy is $1270 plus 3000 miles AND $300 fee

So 30000 miles to save $100?????
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 1:30 am
  #32  
 
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In this case you've identified a particularly bad deal for the miles+copay upgrade, yes. You've also identified that UA deliberately publishes expensive one-way fares in some markets to try to capture revenue from certain kinds of travelers I bet EWR-HNL has better round trips priced well below $1270!

In some cases the miles+copay option can make a lot of sense. For example, if you're flying East Coast to Asia you can either book an award ticket, or you can upgrade with miles+copay for practically the same price in miles/cash but the difference is that the upgraded revenue flight *also earns miles*, while the award ticket doesn't earn miles.
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 7:38 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by mherdeg
In this case you've identified a particularly bad deal for the miles+copay upgrade, yes. You've also identified that UA deliberately publishes expensive one-way fares in some markets to try to capture revenue from certain kinds of travelers I bet EWR-HNL has better round trips priced well below $1270!

NOT really, round trip business is $3284

In some cases the miles+copay option can make a lot of sense. For example, if you're flying East Coast to Asia you can either book an award ticket, or you can upgrade with miles+copay for practically the same price in miles/cash but the difference is that the upgraded revenue flight *also earns miles*, while the award ticket doesn't earn miles.
AGREE but thought this was particularly egregious, would much rather just pay business and get more miles
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 7:48 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by jerseygirl
AGREE but thought this was particularly egregious, would much rather just pay business and get more miles
It's not egregious, it's just a bad deal. This is frequently the case for mileage plus upgrades on domestic or Hawaii flights.
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 7:50 am
  #35  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
It's not egregious, it's just a bad deal. This is frequently the case for mileage plus upgrades on domestic or Hawaii flights.
Agree. It's just a bad deal - and not something inherently evil of UA. Whether we should wish there to be a sliding scale for Hawaii (like the old "rev-up") is probably worthy of a separate discussion.
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 7:50 am
  #36  
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Originally Posted by jerseygirl
One way ewr hnl is $1677 in business but to upgrade from economy is $1270 plus 3000 miles AND $300 fee

So 30000 miles to save $100?????
I wouldn't take that offer.
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 9:03 am
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by halls120
I wouldn't take that offer.
I won't take that offer either, but don't think it is 'evil'!!
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Old Aug 12, 2013, 9:34 am
  #38  
 
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Originally Posted by jerseygirl
NOT really, round trip business is $3284
Just to be clear, my claim is that an EWR-HNL round trip in coach is usually $700-$900 or cheaper.

(So your baseline comparison which involves a $1270 one-way coach trip + miles+copay upgrade might not be the best baseline because you could spend even less for a round trip and throw away the round trip)
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:14 pm
  #39  
 
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Worth it to upgrade to United United BusinessFirst/ IAH to LIM

Am booked on one of the $440 deals out of MSP to LIM in march and am wondering if it's worth the added effort to upgrade the flights to 25,000 + $125 each way.

I've heard that the service on the 767-300 in United BusinessFirst to Peru is not what it is on other United flights.

What are your thoughts?
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:30 pm
  #40  
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Well UA service is always hit or miss, regardless of route, so I'm not sure that would be my determining factor. On a six hour flight, I would burn an RPU (and maybe a GPU, which is what this route requires) just for the lie-flat seats, but 25,000 is an awful lot of miles.

Last edited by Kacee; Aug 27, 2013 at 9:36 pm Reason: GPU route
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:51 pm
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Well UA service is always hit or miss, regardless of route, so I'm not sure that would be my determining factor. On a six hour flight, I would burn an RPU (and maybe a GPU, which is what this route requires) just for the lie-flat seats, but 25,000 is an awful lot of miles.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is an RPU or GPU?
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:55 pm
  #42  
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Originally Posted by dereiziger
Forgive my ignorance, but what is an RPU or GPU?
Regional Premier Upgrade
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:57 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by dereiziger
Forgive my ignorance, but what is an RPU or GPU?
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Your only avenue here is using the miles+co-pay as using a GPU (which this route requires), if you have access to one, requires W fare or higher.

Personally, I wouldn't burn the 25K+$125.

ETA: unless you want to check out UA's BF product or need to grab some sleep then it might not be a bad idea to do it on the return. Being in BF means you can grab a quick shower at IAH, which is nice.

Last edited by golfingboy; Aug 27, 2013 at 10:04 pm
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Old Aug 27, 2013, 9:57 pm
  #44  
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Originally Posted by dereiziger
Forgive my ignorance, but what is an RPU or GPU?
Sorry. UA lingo for upgrade instruments. RPU=Regional Premier Upgrade and GPU=Global Premier Upgrade. Given to Premier Platinum (RPU only), 1K, and GS.

For your situation, I guess the question is how much do you value your miles, and how unhappy does it make you to sit in Y? The UA BusinessFirst seat is pretty nice. The upgrade would also give you access to the United Club in IAH which is one of the better ones in the system (Terminal E).
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Old Aug 28, 2013, 4:41 am
  #45  
 
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thanks, everyone, for the explanations. i'm more a DL person, being hub captive, so the United lingo threw me for a loop.

i'm content sitting in Y (well, i already have purchased seats in Y+ so slightly better than just Y). I have just over 500 flying hours in Y so, whats a few more, right ;-)

thanks for the responses.
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