I am going to China at the end of March 2013 for one week and will be traveling with one companion (for an MBA school trip). I will be booking my own travel and flying UA direct from LAX to Shanghai.
At the time of this trip I will have United 1K status and I would like to fly business class or better given the length of this flight.
My question is as follows: Should I book an economy plus seat and then hope I clear a business class upgrade? Or should I just use a GPU for my two flights guaranteeing that I get it?
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussow
I am going to China at the end of March 2013 for one week and will be traveling with one companion (for an MBA school trip). I will be booking my own travel and flying UA direct from LAX to Shanghai.
At the time of this trip I will have United 1K status and I would like to fly business class or better given the length of this flight.
My question is as follows: Should I book an economy plus seat and then hope I clear a business class upgrade? Or should I just use a GPU for my two flights guaranteeing that I get it?
Thanks for the help!
How do you intend to get the upgrade? You don't get complimentary upgrades on flights to China. Only options are GPUs, miles and copay, and cash.
I would look for a flight in W fare with R availability and upgrade to business at booking. Best option in my opinion.
I thought that at 1k you cound get complimentary upgrades on international flights. My mistake. I think that clears it up.
So I will need to book a flight and use the GPU or miles. What does W fare and R availability mean and how will I know that those options are available when I am booking? I have a lot of flight miles but I use a travel booking service through work so I don't know a lot about the fare classes and upgrade options.
What does W fare and R availability mean and how will I know that those options are available when I am booking? I have a lot of flight miles but I use a travel booking service through work so I don't know a lot about the fare classes and upgrade options.
Also, should I use miles over the GPU?
In order to use a GPU you have to purchase a W fare or higher, which these days cost about 50% more than cheapest fare. If you set United.com to expert mode you can click on fare class, and look for R class. If it is 0, you will be waitlisted for your upgrade, thus play what we call Upgrade Lottery
To upgrade with miles alone without copay, you would have to purchase a very expensive full fare, otherwise it's ca$h and miles for u/g.
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Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussow
I thought that at 1k you cound get complimentary upgrades on international flights. My mistake. I think that clears it up.
So I will need to book a flight and use the GPU or miles. What does W fare and R availability mean and how will I know that those options are available when I am booking? I have a lot of flight miles but I use a travel booking service through work so I don't know a lot about the fare classes and upgrade options.
Also, should I use miles over the GPU?
Thanks.
GPUs can only be used with W fare and higher in economy. So you CANNOT book the cheapest fare. When searching for a flight you can request W fare. When you get some search results you have the ability to look for Fare Class on the flight you would like to book. If R>0 that will be your indication that upgrade seats are available and can be confirmed at booking using a GPU.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussow
I am going to China at the end of March 2013 for one week and will be traveling with one companion (for an MBA school trip). I will be booking my own travel and flying UA direct from LAX to Shanghai.
At the time of this trip I will have United 1K status and I would like to fly business class or better given the length of this flight.
My question is as follows: Should I book an economy plus seat and then hope I clear a business class upgrade? Or should I just use a GPU for my two flights guaranteeing that I get it?
Thanks for the help!
What dates are you traveling? There are some flights with R=9 in the $1500 range (W fare) non stop from LAX.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Dec 5, 12 at 11:57 am..
Reason: merge
If you use a travel service through work, you can tell them that you need a W class ticket, and they can tell you the price. If you want to search on United.com, you can search for a specific fare class, but in order to see the R inventory, you will need to Log on, edit your profile, then enable "Expert services" under "Search Preferences".
Then, when you see a flight option, you can click on "Fare Class" and see all of the fare classes that are available on that flight. Look for R with a number greater than 0 next to it.
There is good information in the United FAQ sticky under the Ticketing section.
Programs: UA 1K, DL 1MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Priority Club Platinum
Posts: 291
The last 2x I booked a flight to SYD, if it was R0, it was equivalent or cheaper $$ to book the cheapest available option and use miles + co-pay. If it did clear, I also had to pay the miles. If it didn't clear, I had saved $500-$1000, depending on whether it failed to clear OW or RT. In some instances, I would also have saved on the order of $100, even if the upgrades did clear RT. It all depends on whether you have miles to burn or money to spend.
If OP doesn't understand the system it is well worth either asking his corporate travel to help (if that is permitted) or to paying the phone booking fee to UA and handling this by telephone. All OP needs to do is tell the CSR that he wants to purchase an upgradeable ticket and find a flight with upgradeable space.
At the time of this trip I will have United 1K status and I would like to fly business class or better given the length of this flight.
Thanks for the help!
So from what I read you are Plat now and will be 1K before traveling (presumably in the next 26 days). Please let me know if I am wrong. If that is the case then the best option will be miles and cash since you don't have GPU's at the moment. You could book a W fare and hope that R space is available when you get the GPU, but that is risky.
So from what I read you are Plat now and will be 1K before traveling (presumably in the next 26 days). Please let me know if I am wrong. If that is the case then the best option will be miles and cash since you don't have GPU's at the moment. You could book a W fare and hope that R space is available when you get the GPU, but that is risky.
Programs: UA 1K/1MM; HH Diamond; GM for everything else
Posts: 426
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussow
I have about 250k miles right now and don't mind spending a little money. I just want to get the best deal for my money/miles/GPUs whatever that is.
I will be flying about 23rd-30th of March.
Personally, I will try to consume all my GPUs for upgrade before considering using miles+$ option. The main reason is that GPU will expire but miles won't as long as you have some activities posted to your MP account. March should still be low season so the chance of getting upgrade cleared should be good.
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,266
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussow
The cheapest united fair I can find is 1120.30 and that's UA887 LAX->PVG in S and UA199 PVG->LAX in K.
If I go to M to search for flights, I can book the exact same flight and it's $3,401.30!! This seems high to me...
I am having a hard time figuring out how much it would cost in Miles/$ if I booked the S/K flight and then tried to upgrade that way.
If you booked a W fare it would be around $1,700 on the dates you provided. Much cheaper than booking M fare and still cheaper than if you did the miles and co-pay upgrade. Are you dates flexible at all?
