PaulMCO

Don't think so -- got a coupon for the GF lounge 2 weeks ago at the C17 IAD UC club. My from MCO flight had a 4 hour delay and I misconnected. Had to wait for the 10pm flight to FRA.

hookthem

That has been in place for a long while. I frequently fly B and take advantage of B-up when PN is available. Sad thing is I don't always get upgraded and likely paying 2x or more than paid P.

fastair

Zero impact. Whether one clears a week early or at the gate, all upgrades trump NRSA. Be the seat sold day of, cleared day of, cleared a week out, it has no impact on NRSA.

johnden

This isn't always true on 3-class flights. If there is space in GF, upgrades pending Y->J, but no upgrades pending for J->F, the NRSA may get the GF seat.

I've been left in Y when using a GPU, and the flight left with 2 empty GF and a NRSA couple on vacation in GF.

cova

The HVF'ers should already be buying F, if not then they should not be HVF. UA really needs to revamp its upgrade system and make it by a set of rules and eliminate TODs.

AA doesn't put its Concierge Key in F over other EXPs. If CK's aren't buying F, then why give them priority over EXP.

UA seems to be HVF and Kettle only. No sure if there are enough HVF's to be successful.

porciuscato

I was recently upgraded to GF on an SFO-FRA flight (2nd time this year). I put my teenage son in the GF seat and took his UD seat.

We both thought we got the better end of that deal.

Even though I don't love GF that much, I've always been a little bothered to see 9/12 seats in GF occupied by NRSAs while the GS folks sit in BF and the hapless 1Ks are stuck in coach, wondering why they ever thought GPUs were worth something.

That's technically correct, but it only applies for the specific cabin in question.

If nobody is stupid enough to pay $600 and 20,000 miles to upgrade from BF to GF (often the case), the NRSAs all go straight into GF. The BF passengers stay where they are and a bunch of 1Ks are stuck in coach when their GPU to BF fails to clear. It happens all the time.

If the blog is right, the GS passengers in BF will get moved into GF for free, which will leave more space for the 1Ks, Plats, etc. to upgrade into BF. And the MRSAs will be SOL, which is fine by me.

johnden

One downside, this gives UA free-reign to use upgrades for marketing purposes. We have a long thread here about "upgrade shenanigans". This practice will make the upgrade list mostly opaque. UA can do what they want, as can agents. This is how it currently works with most airlines, but with UA we have become entitled to transparency and a strict caste system for upgrades.

Any legitimate HVF should already be on the upgrade list. All this allows is cutting the line. Basically UA is saying that upgrading only 1K/Plat is too restrictive, they prefer to upgrade someone their 3rd party database suggests is willing to spend more (yes, your spending categories and income brackets are widely available to advertisers in the USA, I work with these databases).

Goes along with the upcoming "Your award flight costs however many miles the computer says". Now we will also have "Complimentary upgrades are granted by UA as a marketing gesture to valued fliers".

gengar

Agreed, and definitely doesn't bode well for new changes we'll like from the regime change. More opaque shenanigans like this just reinforce my decision to discontinue my loyalty to UA, no different than with HGP's shenanigans as JetAway mentioned earlier.

Cargojon

I'd be surprised and delighted if they would just roll back some of Jeff's changes that we all hated.

AirbusFan2B

On most of my recent flights, only a tiny fraction of the FC inventory was 'upgraded.' As a 1K, I'm rarely upgraded anymore, and my alphabet soup fare codes are mostly in the U-L range. CPUs are mostly a thing of the past - an illusionary benefit of having status. So this 'surprise and delight' program may not come at the expense of the last vestiges of CPUs but possibly at the expense of RPUs/GPUs or maybe just doling out the TODs earlier than in the past. Guessing the objective is that the high income casual traveler (the true target customer of this airline) doesn't have to wait until check-in to get TOD. The strategy since the merger remains one of short term transactional revenue rather than long-term loyalty. May work in captive hubs EWR, IAH and IAD but likely nowhere else where there's real competition. The Continental team has destroyed what used to be a fabulous airline. Might as well rename CONTINited.

US @ DEN

Bingo to both of you...I was re-categorized from my 4-year run as HVF GS to 1K and found my "landing in the middle" to be completely unsatisfactory for my $$ spent. Therefore, I now throttle UA spend and fly only 100K each year -- the rest has moved to US/AA and oneWorld, where, as ExecPlat and despite fewer NS options from DEN, I feel more appreciated by front line employees, better CS, significantly higher upgrade %, loving the new WB J cabins, BA vs LH is a draw, personal "home" club experience at the DEN AC, fewer RJs routes for me, etc.

Very happy with my diversification away from UA and I'll keep it this way as long as AA delivers and UA does nothing to woo me back. They're losing an additional 150K mi year from me.

What would it take to get me back exclusively with United? UA metal N/S to one or two places: LHR and CDG preferably - return of LH's MUC service would help. Completely renovated UC at DEN and more restricted entry, even at slightly higher annual fee. Staff retraining -- while mostly friendly, I sense LUA agents at DEN have not been the same. Bring back more mainline routes and some domestic WB service to hubs. Better and consistent irrop recovery practices for Premier members...I just don't trust United the way I used to.

matrixwalker2012

More like "screw over and piss off"

UA really needs to quit with these gimmicks. An easter egg here and there is fine, but what frequent travelers want more than anything is consistency. No one flies with UA because UA is the destination. Lots of frequent flyers choose UA over superior foreign carriers because UA is the familiar brand and UA is able to get us from point A to point B consistently (though lately, it's kind of questionable).

Now, since 1K has gotten seriously beefed up in the last year or so, perhaps it's time for UA to consider admitting 1K's on BF fares into the GFL along with all GS members as a policy going forward.

And while we're on the subject of lounges, UA seriously needs to add some showers to more of their lounges. The #1 reason I have an admirals club membership is so that I can access the showers. It's a godsend to be able to go straight from the office to airport, and grab a shower before hopping on a redeye and then upon arrival, grab a shower to freshen up before starting my day in the early morning. Even though I fly UA a good amount, most of the airports I go to, the AA gates are connected behind security to UA, so I can still use the Admirals club before grabbing my UA flight.

On top of that, another thing UA could improve on is the lounge access for BF pax on ps flights on arrival. UA needs to quit the short-sighted "clubs are for departures only" and just open the darn thing up to anyone on a ps flight in BF departure or arrival. Coming off a long transcon where you get lounge access before the flight, most pax are probably just assuming they get the lounge access the whole way, and not just at the point of origin. To then arrive and get denied, leaves a very bad impression on the customer. How many pax are actually going to use the club on arrival? Not that many, so might as well make it available for product consistency purposes. Plus, even better for product consistency, is that your rules are much simpler, which means, fewer confused employees incorrectly interpreting rules and fewer confused pax who incorrectly assume what they are entitled to.

My idea of a good flight is where I can go through the entire travel experience without having to think much at all.

Kacee

:-: We have a winner! :-:

bmwe92fan

Currently on UA 906 from FRA to ORD - BF is full but seats open in GF - no one was surprised and delighted on this flight as over 10 people on upgrade list to BF failed to clear - perhaps this program is wishful thinking or it hasn't started yet....

Fun fact - This is the UA captains last flight after 30 years with UA - very cool and we all clapped when he came on and announced it - you could tell from the way the captain spoke he was sad and that UA was truly his family - made me proud to support UA!

kale73

Expect firetrucks at the arrival gate.