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[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight {Archive}

Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:39 pm
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[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight {Archive}

Old Mar 31, 2015, 12:07 pm
  #106  
 
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Originally Posted by PV_Premier
as Kacee mentions, LH does fly SFO-MUC, but IIRC it's on the old slanty-flat J seat A340. if you can get LAX-FRA, that's the way to go...with SEA-FRA being a very reasonable alternative.

MUC is "easier" to transit, but if you can get an upgrade on LH from LAX-FRA on your desired date of travel, i'd definitely take it versus going SFO-ORD-MUC. the MUC *G lounge is also very nice IMHO.

much is made on FT about how bad it is to transit FRA. i've never had any huge issues there (including navigating separate tickets from LH to DL on a 3 hour "connection"), though the UA boarding process there is even more of an enormous charlie foxtrot than anywhere else, IMO. the FRA airport app for iPhone is abundantly useful.

If I see J avail that means I can confirm? Would it be easier to call the 1k line or do this on my own via website?
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 12:10 pm
  #107  
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Originally Posted by fayewolf
If I see J avail that means I can confirm? Would it be easier to call the 1k line or do this on my own via website?
What do you mean by "J"?

If there are business saver awards available, you can confirm the upgrade. Do an award search on united.com.
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 12:42 pm
  #108  
 
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This is what I see

It's 340...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psjjnp2tfk.png

No chance of upgrade?
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 12:45 pm
  #109  
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Originally Posted by fayewolf
This is what I see

It's 340...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psjjnp2tfk.png

No chance of upgrade?
You are searching revenue flights. That tells you nothing about award inventory on an LH flight.

You need to do an award search on united.com (or NH or AC) to find out if there is saver award inventory. Award Search

ps. On May 24 there is none on that flight.

Last edited by Kacee; Mar 31, 2015 at 12:56 pm
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 2:05 pm
  #110  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
You are searching revenue flights. That tells you nothing about award inventory on an LH flight.

You need to do an award search on united.com (or NH or AC) to find out if there is saver award inventory. Award Search

ps. On May 24 there is none on that flight.
Gotcha-
Doesn't matter if it's saver or standard award? Sfo-FRA is avai- does that mean I should be able o confirm the upgrade if I booke q class or higher?
I would still book sfo- vie and select the corresponding flights, not multiple and selecting legs myself right?
Sorry for the crazy questions.
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 2:43 pm
  #111  
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Originally Posted by fayewolf
Gotcha-
Doesn't matter if it's saver or standard award? Sfo-FRA is avai- does that mean I should be able o confirm the upgrade if I booke q class or higher?
I would still book sfo- vie and select the corresponding flights, not multiple and selecting legs myself right?
Sorry for the crazy questions.
These are the GPU basics:

UA operated flight. Purchased fare class must be W or higher. For the GPU to clear at booking, there must be R available. You can check for R using expert mode. If R is not available, you can waitlist the GPU. Very much a gamble, especially on routes such as SFO-FRA.

LH operated flight. Purchased fare class must be Q or higher. If there is business saver (not standard) award inventory, the upgrade should clear at booking. You can check for business saver award inventory by doing an award search on united.com. You can also waitlist the GPU. A flight such as SFO-FRA on the LH A380, with something like 96 J seats, is generally a better waitlist gamble than the UA flight (with 52 J seats).
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Old Mar 31, 2015, 3:01 pm
  #112  
 
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DEN-NRT-SIN Battlefield or SDC

Any regulars on DEN-NRT? Headed SLC-DEN-NRT-SIN Monday and wondering whether to SDC through SFO (747 with better inventory) or wait 'er out. 4 open DEN-NRT (dropped from 14 on Friday).

4/6 DENNRT UA139 W
4/7 NRTSIN UA803 W --> snowball's chance from what I can see

Diditclear hasn't got much to go by. Insight always appreciated!
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 12:57 pm
  #113  
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Originally Posted by MarkyMarc
Any regulars on DEN-NRT? Headed SLC-DEN-NRT-SIN Monday and wondering whether to SDC through SFO (747 with better inventory) or wait 'er out. 4 open DEN-NRT (dropped from 14 on Friday).

4/6 DENNRT UA139 W
4/7 NRTSIN UA803 W --> snowball's chance from what I can see

Diditclear hasn't got much to go by. Insight always appreciated!
considering that if you are traveling Monday as it sounds, you cannot SDC until Sunday, a LOT will change between now and then. i'd keep the SFO option in mind, and don't forget about LAX if the schedule can be made to work...but realistically you can't predict much of anything until 24 hours before the flight, and even then with aggressive upselling, it's an educated guess.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 1:09 pm
  #114  
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Originally Posted by PV_Premier
considering that if you are traveling Monday as it sounds, you cannot SDC until Sunday, a LOT will change between now and then. i'd keep the SFO option in mind, and don't forget about LAX if the schedule can be made to work...but realistically you can't predict much of anything until 24 hours before the flight, and even then with aggressive upselling, it's an educated guess.
Rank in likelihood of R being available:

1. SFO
2. LAX
3. DEN

I'm not sure that upsells are such an issue on long-haul international. If UA ever sells that buy-up for under $500, it's an IT mistake.

Looking at next Monday, my guess is that SFO-HND is the only flight with a reasonable chance for a 1K on a W.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 1:31 pm
  #115  
 
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Originally Posted by PV_Premier
considering that if you are traveling Monday as it sounds, you cannot SDC until Sunday, a LOT will change between now and then. i'd keep the SFO option in mind, and don't forget about LAX if the schedule can be made to work...but realistically you can't predict much of anything until 24 hours before the flight, and even then with aggressive upselling, it's an educated guess.
Originally Posted by Kacee
Rank in likelihood of R being available:

1. SFO
2. LAX
3. DEN

I'm not sure that upsells are such an issue on long-haul international. If UA ever sells that buy-up for under $500, it's an IT mistake.

Looking at next Monday, my guess is that SFO-HND is the only flight with a reasonable chance for a 1K on a W.
Thanks both - yeah, I saw HND with R9. Unfortunately, that gets me into SIN too late. Will also keep an eye on SFO-HKG-SIN, too. Thanks for the assist! Will light some incense to the upgrade gods over the weekend.
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Old Apr 1, 2015, 1:50 pm
  #116  
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Originally Posted by MarkyMarc
Thanks both - yeah, I saw HND with R9. Unfortunately, that gets me into SIN too late. Will also keep an eye on SFO-HKG-SIN, too. Thanks for the assist! Will light some incense to the upgrade gods over the weekend.
pretty sure you can't SDC via HND anyways, because that would put you onto NH metal for HND-SIN and typically SDC only works for itineraries w/ 100% UA metal, IIRC. so you are probably stuck with NRT and HKG as options...
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Old Apr 5, 2015, 10:06 am
  #117  
 
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One last question- I looked from SFO-MUC/SFO-FRA/SFO-LHR, none has saver business award or R seats available.

I think I am going to give up and just book it. Seems like there are 2 flights from SFO-FRA, would it be a bit easier to upgrade through FRA?
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Old Apr 5, 2015, 10:12 am
  #118  
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Originally Posted by fayewolf
.... Seems like there are 2 flights from SFO-FRA, would it be a bit easier to upgrade through FRA?
Given FRA is a major hub, especially for *A connections, that may not be a simple assumption.
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Old Apr 5, 2015, 10:13 am
  #119  
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Originally Posted by fayewolf
One last question- I looked from SFO-MUC/SFO-FRA/SFO-LHR, none has saver business award or R seats available.

I think I am going to give up and just book it. Seems like there are 2 flights from SFO-FRA, would it be a bit easier to upgrade through FRA?
There is one UA flight and one LH flight.

It's really impossible to predict odds in the abstract, flight loads change from day to day. But in general, the UA flight SFO-FRA is a very difficult upgrade. The LH flight has almost twice as many business class seats (but requires a higher fare class).

If the upgrade is really important to you, the advice upthread is to look for a connecting flight (i.e., IAH-MUC, ORD-MUC, etc.) with R available at booking.
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Old Apr 5, 2015, 11:03 am
  #120  
 
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Silver on the first LGA-IAH this upcoming Saturday morning... any shot?

Additional deets: G fare, 11 open F seats, 7 E+ seats taken, 2 non-elites on the same itinerary.
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