technodive200

Does anyone know when Business class seats are released for upgrade?

I fly regularly LHR-SFO (and back!) usually booking B or M and upgrading with miles or SWU depending on fare booked. Outbound flights sometimes upgraded advance of check in, but inbound usually not. Flight home is usually on Friday, and any upgrade is invariably at gate - this I can understand 7pm flight on Friday, busy, few seats available. In 2 weeks time I am flying back on a Thursday (out on Monday). On booking 4 weeks in advance, plenty of business class available (more on return SFO-LHR leg), both legs booked in M, SWU applied and both waitlisted. Last week (3 ahead of flight) outbound flight upgrade comes though. Great, though I cann't get online system to show correct Bussiness class seat - I remain firmly 'stuck' in original E+ seat, though phone agents assure me their system shows me in Business seat (I digress, this is probably worth a thread on its own!)

Now 2 weeks out and more business seats still showing as vacant than for outbound leg, but no upgrade (or R inventry showing). Should I expect there to be some logic to when seats are released, or is it just magic??

Should have said - status 1K.

technodive200

Sorry, this should be a separate post!

IAH-OIL-TRASH

UA allegedly applies logic to the release of R, and it would be magic if any one wanting R could figure out when seats are released.

WineCountryUA

There is no public criteria. The Inventory Management department makes the decision to release space and it is speculated that it is based route & historical factors. Suspect they are trying to maximize the number of seats sold, making seats available for sale until the last-minute, making sure upgrade seats are high fare last-minute customers, creating enough uncertainty to persuade folks to consider cash upgrades, .... the goal is to maximize revenues, not upgrades.

StingWest

Hi-

I fly the same route a lot (including today!).

The upgraded-seat-not-sticking is a current problem with the web site and covered in a separate thread that's been running for a few days.

I find that upgrades occasionally clear about 3-4 weeks out and then less frequently still about 2 weeks out for this route. If you're within 2 weeks, they will only clear a day or so before the flight or not until the gate.

AirTravelLover

Totally agree. In addition I feel the passenger's elite status level does play a role. My experience shows the IM "secretly" clears 1Ks on the waiting list without releasing R space publicly.

bseller

Your experience and mine are in conflict. I have seen nothing in my UA travels to indicate what you suggest. I WISH it were true however.

Dave

bwicoplat

Let me throw a very unscientific N=1. I was flying GRU-IAD a few weeks back and needed to switch my flight. I was flying on Saver First award. The GS agent at IAD Int'l First Lounge said to wait until 24-48 hours before desired flight time. That UA was opening up Saver First pretty regularly. I asked about Saver Business and she said that UA is routinely NOT opening that up because they can upsell the seats to folks in economy. Whatever is not upsold they will give at the gate to those trying to use upgrade instruments or miles. She said it has become frustrating for the GS agents because the latitute to open R space 5 days out in pretty open cabins has become more restrictive than it used to be.

Sure enough at T-48 the Saver First seats were wide open. Business was showing 9s, but no Saver Business available. I had a colleague (1K) trying to use a GPU. He was first on the list at check-in. There ended up being ONE seat left and he got the U/G to Business.

Like I said, very unscientific, N=1. YMMV.

FlyWorld

And this is how it should be.

We should clear when IM decides to clear us, and BEFORE R space is opened.

R space should only be opened when those on the WL have cleared and IM decides to open space for others.

If that's how it worked, I'd have no complaints.

drowelf

I've been monitoring IAH->AMS since early August, since I'm GPU waitlisted for this flight in Oct. This exercise has shown that no upgrades clear prior to the day of flight and generally they don't even clear then until a few hours before departure.

mgm321

How can you tell?

If you are trying to look at the upgrade list of the flight when it becomes available as its scheduled to depart in 2 days, then you will not see anything. United does not list confirmed upgrades for international upgrades in the upgrade list, in contrast to domestic flights. I have been on flights where I have cleared both at and after booking, but before day of flight and my name did not show up in the upgrade list when it was an international flight. It only showed up for day of flight clearance.

AirTravelLover

Exactly my question to drowelf.

WineCountryUA

Occasionally I have experience waitlisted GPU/RPU clearing within a week of application -- so I have also wondered if an 1K waitlisting might push some inventory release. But I have also had many waitlist situations go for longer periods before clearing -- so hard to tell on this but have to agree it does appear to occasionally happen.

eflyte

So what's the consensus recommendation for an intl flight w lots of J inventory but no R? Wait patiently for R to open, or book and apply and hope the GPU clears?

Antipode

Shouldn't that be how a waitlist works? If an upgradable seat becomes available, it should immediately go to the first person on the waitlist. The top of the waitlist is usually going to be GS/1K. Why should it be "released to the public" as R so that anyone can apply an instrument and claim it when there are people on the waitlist?