Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

UA Upsell Offers to Business/First at Purchase and Day of Departure (TOD) [Archive]

Old Jul 20, 2013, 6:22 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Print Wikipost

UA Upsell Offers to Business/First at Purchase and Day of Departure (TOD) [Archive]

Old Mar 14, 2012, 1:05 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Virtuoso Travel Agent, Commercial Pilot
Posts: 2,116
UA Upsell Offers to Business/First at Purchase and Day of Departure (TOD) [Archive]

Since in the other threads it is virtually impossible to collect concrete information, I thought I might start this thread in the hopes that we can keep the content pertinent to the discussion. If you or your traveling companion have been offered a TOD upgrade, please post all of the following information:

  • Flight (including date and city pairs)
  • Status of individual offered the upgrade (1K, Platinum, etc.)
  • Fare class of the person being offered the upgrade (G, K, M, or the full fare code)
  • Upgrade cost
  • If you declined the buy-up, did your CPU (or other upgrade) clear? Or, if you had a non-status companion get a buy-up, did your CPU clear?

If you have an explanation for the buy-up offer (eg. "a $129 buy-up from K to M for the M-up looks about right because of x"), then post that, but please voluntarily refrain from any commentary or other discussion ... there are a million other threads for that. The goal here is to collect specific cases where this is happening, find an explanation for the ones where we can, and report the ones where there isn't a reasonable explanation to UA Insider for investigation.

Edit: For those who are not familiar, "TOD" is is short-hand for "ten-of-dollars" and is used to describe buy-up offers that seem to take priority over elites on the upgrade waitlist but are offered for much less money than a paid upgrade to a confirmed first class ticket should cost. The primary complaints are related to buy-up offers from economy to business, economy to first, and business to first, so those offers are the focus of this thread. You're welcome to post any unusual or irregular E- to E+ offers; however, I don't know of any documented problems there (except for people being required to pay when they shouldn't be).

Jadenus has created a Google Spreadsheet that anyone can contribute to here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...G5pUkI0UHJxZmc

... I'll be copying details from this thread to that spreadsheet, but feel free to add to that yourself.

Last edited by Sykes; Mar 15, 2012 at 10:18 am Reason: Clarifying "TOD", and adding that this is primarily for upgrades to premium seating.
Sykes is online now  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 3:12 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 55
LGA->ORD->LIT

6 MAY
UA Silver purchasing ticket for GM, traveling by himself.

- LGA->ORD leg in W, offered $49 buy up to E+. accepted.
- ORD->LIT leg in W, offered $39 buy up to Exit row on RJ145. accepted.
briannaherrfnerr is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 4:29 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: AA-EXP/UA-1K/Hilton-Diamond
Posts: 32
March 14 - flight 949
ORD - DEN

1k checked in t -24 and offered biz class for $89 (on E fare). Declined offer and received CPU this morning!
TheEgg22 is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 5:12 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: AUS or an airport somewhere
Programs: UA 1K, SPG Plat
Posts: 46
Flt 298 IAD-SFO
3/13/12 7:12pm (delayed ~3 hours)
1K purchasing W fare post-integration for myself
Offered $149, declined.
CPU cleared after boarding according to mobile app. Quite rude GA gave it to someone else.
Dan- is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 5:24 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: None - previously UA
Posts: 4,833
  • UA543 SFO to LAX, Tuesday 13 March 2012.
  • Platinum
  • Q Fare, $350 rt
  • $59 rejected, sat in E+ middle seat.
escapefromphl is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 5:27 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: EWR
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 66
UA Flt 1464 IAH- PHL
3/8/12
W fare class
1k
Offered $99 TOD declined, CPU did not clear, ended up 5-6 on list.
Yanks08802 is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 7:57 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 35
3/6/12
Flight 847
SFO -> IAD
1K
V Fare
Offered $99 TOD with over 10 seats left and was #2 on list
Over the course of 1.5 hours 10 seats went down to 1 and grabbed the last seat for $99
lhuynh is offline  
Old Mar 14, 2012, 10:14 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: UA Lifetime Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite, cattle-class with many others
Posts: 54
Flights: March 9 Flight 1209 (AUS->IAH) connecting to flight 1162 (IAH->SEA). Note that 1162 is a 757 that continues to ANC...
Passenger Status: 1K
Fare class of the person being offered the upgrade: H / H
Upgrade cost: believe it was $129. Was definitely below $200 and ended in a "9".

Upgrade never cleared on either segment. On the long leg I was #6 on the "did not upgrade" list, and sat next to another 1K that said she ended up #11. On the short leg I didn't really care/check.

I called the 1K desk a couple of times the previous evening & morning of the fight (both after OLCI) and was told there was nothing they could do, nor could they check status of those ahead of me on the waitlist. (Obviously they "can" but I can believe it would be impractically laborious for them to do so.)
TallTexan is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 7:21 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 886
We're focusing on Y -> C, C -> F and Y -> F upgrades and not E- -> E+ upgrades, correct?
abefroman329 is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 7:48 am
  #10  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near SEA
Programs: UA MM, AS MVPG75K, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,969
SFO-SEA
5/20
1K on a T fare
$0 upgrade
bmvaughn is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 7:49 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Foothills area, NW NC
Programs: UA MP 1K ,AAEXP, Dollar, Marriott Gold,Hertz Gold,SIXT Platnium, CBP Global Entry,Starwood Gold
Posts: 164
UA 3756
UA 265
UA828
UA402
3756,265 and 828 3/13/12
402 3/14
1k
G fare
at checkin right at 24 hour mark, was offered 279.00 for EACH segment
Declined.
Cleard 3756 at T-45min
Cleared 265 when door closed onboard
Cleared 828 at T-20, upgrade taken away at T-20 to "someone" at the gate according to agent. rebooked in E- then E+
402 full, #1 on list.
1kwannabe is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 8:08 am
  #12  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: DL Plat, HH Diamond, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 301
Editable Spreadsheet

I don't know if this will help, but I've compiled the data so far into a Google Docs spreadsheet. It's editable, so new info can be put into it. Sykes, if you like it, you're more than welcome to put the link into the first post for greater visibility.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArYlIVj7fyrHdDR5eTFoSTJ3enNPaG5pUkI0UHJxZ mc
jadenus is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 8:15 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington, D.C.
Programs: UA Premier 1K: PlAAtinum; DL SM, MM; Marriott Gold; CO Plat Emeritus; NW Plat Emeritus
Posts: 4,776
131 CDG-IAD March 14
1K
Y
$559
Declined, GPU did not clear.
Alpha Golf is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 10:12 am
  #14  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Virtuoso Travel Agent, Commercial Pilot
Posts: 2,116
Originally Posted by abefroman329
We're focusing on Y -> C, C -> F and Y -> F upgrades and not E- -> E+ upgrades, correct?
Correct. I don't know of any documented problems with E- -> E+ upgrades, although if anyone sees anything that appears to be out of sorts, I think that this is still an appropriate place to post it.

Originally Posted by jadenus
I don't know if this will help, but I've compiled the data so far into a Google Docs spreadsheet. It's editable, so new info can be put into it. Sykes, if you like it, you're more than welcome to put the link into the first post for greater visibility.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArYlIVj7fyrHdDR5eTFoSTJ3enNPaG5pUkI0UHJxZ mc
Thanks! I'll add it to the first post--it's a great idea.

I also got an email notification that someone posted asking what "TOD" stands for, but that post appears to have been removed now. I'll clarify in the OP, but for anyone that doesn't know, TOD is short-hand for "ten-of-dollars" and is used to describe buy-up offers that seem to take priority over elites on the upgrade waitlist but are offered for much less money than a paid upgrade to a confirmed first class ticket should cost.
Sykes is online now  
Old Mar 15, 2012, 10:23 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 886
Originally Posted by Sykes
Correct. I don't know of any documented problems with E- -> E+ upgrades, although if anyone sees anything that appears to be out of sorts, I think that this is still an appropriate place to post it.
I was offered $59 to upgrade from E- to E+ on a DCA-ORD tomorrow morning and think that's highway robbery, thought I'm not sure that's out of sorts per se.
abefroman329 is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.