Kacee

Lovely. XN to BF without R ever opening for the 1Ks waitlisted on paid tickets. No wonder we have threads like this: How Do You Guys Actually Burn Your GPU's?

UA-NYC

Yup - as I've said, UA is now a great airline for GS and Kettles, and that's about it

xox

Increasingly that's exactly what we've been doing. If we care at all, and we can't be guaranteed J at booking (via open R inventory) we just book J.

However I understand the frustration of being undercut by TODs or HODs. United is luring people to fly United by the promise of upgrades. We applied RPUs to our 26 year old daughter's flight to Costa Rica. She was upgraded to Houston, but waitlisted for Costa Rica. I asked her to check in at T-24 for her flight to Houston. She was #1 on the waitlist to CR, but at T-24 for the Costa Rica flight, the two available J seats were sold. (In retrospect if it was important, I should have told her to take whatever offer they made when she checked in. And I realize that in the future she won't inherit our 1k status on the applied RPU.) As it is I'll tell her to sit with her Mom and I'll sit in the back. Three hour flight, big deal.

Most of us who (like me) have complete control over who, when and where we fly, will have a breaking point … for me the breaking point will be when TPAC/TATL GPUs are too difficult to redeem given our style of travel. We will not sit in Y crossing oceans. Been there, done that (far too many times), but not again. While United is ok with me for TPACs and TATLs in J, it's not my first choice (or second or third …). If I start having to pay full fare for TPAC and TATL Js, I will fly the airline that offers me the best combination of schedule, comfort, and price, and in most cases that will not be United. Of course that's exactly what I'm doing right now, but the value proposition is still tilted towards United because of ease (for us) of GPU redemption.

Kacee

This point really can't be overemphasized.

UA believes it can maintain existing business with substantially decreased incentives to frequent flyers below the GS level. It is surely emboldened by the reduction in competition following the AA/US merger. Whether its assessment of the market is correct remains to be seen.

Imstevek

I've been able to use 11 out of 12 GPU's in the last 2 years. All but 1 was TPAC,and usually scheduled for a sunday/Monday departure. SFO/ICN or TPE or KIX and EWR/PVG or PEK. Sunday/Mondays are a lot harder due to the business travel load, but they do happen.

FlyWorld

I've come to the same conclusion.

Agree.

TATL ex-SFO has always been tough but after CO control on 3/12, I have yet to find R on any TATL direct ex-SFO.

For TPAC, the best bet I've found is SFO-KIX, but after CO control on 3/12, the price of SFO-KIX increased substantially. It's often > $700 more than SFO-NRT. And, connecting to other Asian cities out of KIX is harder than through NRT. But, for the right circumstances, it can be a good way to find R ex-SFO in TPAC direction.

With the higher prices CO put on that route, it's almost as expensive as a P fare, but if someone needs or wants to go to Asia and burn a GPU, it's one of the more reliable options, though perhaps not a fantastic value.

I found lots of R before 3/12. The day when SHARES was put in place, most of it disappeared for me.

ryerflyer

Exactly. GPU's worked for me 2/4 times this year, RPU's 3/4. One GPU didn't clear at the gate on a FRA-IAD flight, but after boarding they came back to Y and moved me up front. Didn't even cash in the GPU - it was credited back to my account. Go figure. Depends on where you travel/are based. If you're in a high 1K-density market, too bad, I guess.

mmack

Hope this isn't too off topic: do you book an economy seat and then get a paper upgrade for that flight? Do you check out the seat map first to see how full it is?

I've read that at some point you will be able to all in to apply a GPU, but not yet?

eleeut

today, confirmed 2 x more GPU for TPAC ORD->HKG and HKG->EWR around the Christmas holidays on Tuesday departures. even saw R space for ORD -> SIN. these certs still work for me. however, i'm not based out of of SFO. if i was, i know my experience would likely differ, as I didn't see any availability for SFO routed options.

bse118

I am 4/4 this year on transPac GPUs clearing well in advance of flight day. All on the days/destinations I wanted to fly. All on W or V fares. 3 of 4 had R at booking. The 4th was wait-listed, but cleared 4 days after booking (and 4 days before travel). I say GPUs are quite useful on good approximation. YMMV

This.^

Flexibility doesn't necessarily mean different destinations. It may mean less direct routings. Such as taking a connection instead of a nonstop. As an example: for me it meant doing DCA-IAH-NRT and NRT-ORD-BWI; instead of the nonstop IAD-NRT. I'll happily take a connection in order to confirm GPU at booking. Again, YMMV

weero

It certainly does and hence I am out of this game. A game that at least for full fares worked until this very year.
I live in SINg-SINg - I can't get anywhere on US soil without a connection.

So I doubt that this ever was an issue for me.
In my case the waitlists worked quite well before the merger. I'd clear in 80% of riding on cheap fares and in 100% on full fares. But not in TODland anymore.

boognish24

question about my upgrade chances on UA ticket on Lufthansa (UA 8879 DEN-FRA)

Available Cabins: F4, A4, J4, C4, D4, Z0, P0, Y7, B7, M7, U7, H7, Q7, V7, W7, S7, T7, L0, K0

I don't see any 'R' - is there another cabin I should be looking at?

I am in business on a C class fare, and got the paper upgrade certificate mailed to me. Do I have any chance at getting the upgrade to First based on the wacky letters / numbers above?

Thanks for the help

mduell

R is a Y-J upgrade on UA metal - completely irrelevant for LH or J-F!!

Kacee

You need to check LH loads, not UA. LH upgrade inventory is opaque (unlike UA) so all you can do is guess based on how many F seats are available for sale. The closer to F8 the better.

boognish24

got it - appreciate the reply that doesn't just state what I've done wrong, but where I need to look.