mduell

Yes, RPUs are completely useless on a Sunday night PS redeye from a discount fare as a plat. Let's see:
- Sunday (start of the business travel week)
- Redeye (lie-flat bed even more valuable than daytime)
- Discount fare (a lot of companies buying full fare with discounts on contract and relatively high min fare published for the O&D market)
- Plat sponsor (the lowest possible RPU sponsor status)
Yea, that's not gonna clear except maybe Thanksgiving week.

I've had no trouble using all 4 of mine this year on flights I didn't want to roll the CPU dice on, or where they yield a nice upgrade to lie-flat: YYZ-IAH (CRJ7), IAH-YYZ-IAH (CRJ7), IAD-IAH (B763)

Kacee

This suggests they mostly filled the cabin off the upgrade waitlist.

Note that as a Plat, you would be behind all GS and 1K.

ps has become a difficult upgrade for a number of reasons, including cheap BF fares, day of check-in upgrade sales, and overabundance of RPUs.

WineCountryUA

and probably the single biggest reason -- 10 fewer premium cabin seats. 28 vs 38 --- 26% reduction.

Skacorica

I forgot one piece - at check in they offered $159 upgrade to first one way. On a $300 round trip ticket, to sit up front on an 700, no thanks. Someone accepted though, as it was no longer available 30 mins later.

RPUs may not be totally useless, but they certainly are close.

WineCountryUA

I think the message of this thread is YMMV.

Kacee

Agreed. But I would posit that the value of a 1K RPU has declined significantly in the past year due to the changes in ps R availability.

I've been watching JFK-SFO today trying to get a BF seat for a friend, and it is just ridiculous. 12 unbooked seats at T-24 and no R, no IN, the seats just keep disappearing without any names showing in the "upgraded" column.

UA-NYC

$299 (or cheaper for non-elites) TODs won't show up in the upgraded column

Kacee

And of course, she's on my miles, so with inherited 1K status, no buy-up offer at all.

This is the single thing that has me most seriously thinking about AA. More even than the RDM cuts.

Edited to add: And now there's a buy-up offer. $379 for BF on a saver Y award. This was not offered initially.

LaserSailor

On ps routes it's WFBF. Too many people like me who have fly FC on red eye company policies.

WineCountryUA

I'm 18 for 18 this year on PS upgrades (although one did take a SDC and another I was the last upgrade) -- but I don't fly red eyes.

mahasamatman

Only if you fly ps. To most of us, that part is irrelevant. Though the general loss of R on other routes is really killing the value of RPU. I can't even use one on SEA-SFO!

Skacorica

Yep, fair assessment. I don't think anyone is expecting to get upgraded DEN-ORD on any flight, but the lack of R in general makes me a sad panda.

I guess the flip side is, up until this year, as GS, I never once missed an upgrade. Not even SFO-ORD, DEN-ORD etc.

Kacee

No, that is really not the explanation. Mostly what has happened is that UA has drastically changed its policies for R releases on this route over the past ten months or so. A year ago, it was relatively easy to upgrade ps using RPUs.

There's no doubt the availability of cheaper BF fares (UPs and UPDIs) has reduced available front cabin seats. But when a flight is booked 16/28 at T-24, and no one is getting upgraded, that really has nothing to do with you or your employees buying a BF ticket at booking. It's all about UA making the deliberate decision to try to sell every front cabin seat at a heavy discount at check-in, with any left-overs being doled out at the gate.

This is now worse than what DL does on the route; at least they're not selling the transcon upgrades out from under their elites for $199.

danwer930

Thanks for the feedback everyone. For me, I did get that feeling that no one on the list was getting upgraded, although I was not offered a buy-up at check-in (maybe because I was already in the queue with my RPU?).

Either way, for United to give us these RPU's and say how much they appreciate our business, and then work really hard to put someone else in the actual seat we want, paying as little as $200, is pretty disgusting to me. I would hope that even being a "lowly" Plat with a "meager" 80,000 miles/yr behind what it sounds like from everyone are actually maybe zillions of GS and 1K's would still mean something to UA, but it sounds like that's not the case, especially where these kinds of significant upgrades are concerned.

johnden

My experience is the same. If I apply an RPU/miles domestically, no upgrade offer. The split companion (had to split to apply RPU) does get an offer at check in. Lots of variables at play.

I hired a former (don't remember if he was pmCO or pmUA) programmer for a contract project. When I flew him somewhere I offered to use miles to upgrade him on a redeye as a gift. He asked me not to, he wanted the buy up. He told me that UA can't figure out how to redeposit the miles/award if you buy up, and wouldn't offer it. Just a data point, not sure if that was a past/present/future limitation.