nycflyer222

I have EWR-HKG waitlisted for GPU in a few weeks... I can't help but keep checking. Am I crazy? Any words of wisdom?

chavala

Yes. Keep checking.

mherdeg

If the flight is not sold full in business class, at some point between T-26 and T-4, somewhere between R1 and R5 or so seats will open up.

At this point you should be able to phone in and force through an upgrade, skipping the entire departure-management waitlist. You should do this even if you are checked in and are #1 on the waitlist; that seat will go to someone else who buys up, changes onto the flight, or has a last minute change of heart and decides to sponsor an upgrade with miles or a GPU (i.e. calls it in!!).

I have a reciprocal agreement with a couple of frequent-UA-traveler friends to monitor one another's trips while we're abroad and potentially out of phone/Internet range. It's a fine art -- you have to know how to get a "good agent", you have to know at what point in the process to undo online check-in, etc.

I would feel bad about this except for the multiple times where my wife and I (both waitlisted, both the same status, both the same fare class, and nearly identical times of purchase, waitlisting, and check-in) have ended up at dramatically different positions on the upgrade waitlist, sometimes 5+ spots apart on the departure-management list and sometimes just in a weird state where one of us clears at T-48 and the other one goes to #5 or lower on the departure-management waitlist.

It's part of the, uh, fun.

In The 216

I cannot comment if you are crazy for other reasons, however this is not one them. Check, check, and check again. What does it hurt?

jonisflying

Are there any good tutorials on how to do this?
1.) Where to look?
2.) What to look for?
3.) Knowing when to call?
4.) What to say when we do call?
5.) Etc.

Thank you in advance!

In The 216

1. United.com in expert mode. See here for tutorial (it's quite simple): http://thepointsguy.com/2016/01/using-united-expert-mode/
2. When in expert mode and looking at the details of a particular flight, the fare classes will show up. You're interested in anything R > 0.
3. Call immediately when R > 0.
4. Tell the agent that flight xxx on whatever date has R space available and you have an instrument applied that you'd like cleared.

teryyz

Shouldn't the GPU be applied as soon as the R space becomes available, since they are already on the waitlist? Otherwise, what is the point of a waitlist if you have to call to actually get the upgrade when a space becomes available?

I'm in a similar situation, GPU applied and waitlisted on a flight next month. I've been checking to see if my reservation changes from "Upgrade Requested" to "Upgrade Confirmed", but it seems silly to have to check the flight availability itself.

jonisflying

In The 216 - thank you!!

nycflyer222

Thanks! Is this T-26 and T-4 in DAYS or HOURS?

Haha you are right.

endrond

My impression is that this is a situation where ExpertFlyer could be useful. But I've only used it once so I'm not sure. Others here surely know more.

transportprof

A few years back, United went after ExpertFlyer to compel them to remove the information on R space from their data feed. So the only way to know that there's an upgrade opportunity when R space opens up in the 24 hours before departure is to check obsessively.

The early bird gets the worm!

mherdeg

On the routes I've watched, R will typically open up on an under-sold route between 4--26 HOURS in advance. If you check 3x/hr you're way ahead of the curve (and probably spending more time planning your travel than you will spend on the plane, which is crazy).

nycflyer222

Got it. But GPUs theoretically can clear/R show up at any point until the flight-- so I should still keep checking, yes?

WineCountryUA

Personally I would not. IME, it is rare for R space to open up on the mid-period. If not at booking, then visible R space is very rare until closer to departure --maybe a week or 2 at best.
Note you can clear in the mid-term, IME it is very rare for R>0 and not clear quickly in the mid-term fairly. Not sure in those mid-period clearings if R was ever visible. The problem area seems to be in the day or two -- and that is when I check frequently

I'm sure someone is going to report they once in the past years had R open up 6 weeks out and not auto clear, but IMO that is unusual.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...available.html has experiences over the years.

docbert

In theory, there is absolutely no need/benefit to ever checking for R once you're waitlist. And if you're not waitlisted, then odds are when R does come up you're not going to see it anyway as someone else is probably on the waitlist and will snap it up automatically.

If there's anyone on the waitlist, the moment R becomes available it should be claimed by those on the waitlist - including you - and disappear. The only time it should ever become visible is if there's nobody on the waitlist.

There have been reports of times where this doesn't occur properly, probably around tickets that are out of sync, but now days reports of these situations seem to be rare.

The one exception, as has been mentioned above, is within ~24 hours of flight when upgrades do NOT clear automatically. During that window, it's definitely worth checking and calling in if you find R available.