Best days/times to fly to score an upgrade (Silver Elite)?

VoiceActor · Jan 14, 13, 5:23 pm

Hello all:

I'm silver - fly out of EWR and I've never really paid attention to WHEN I fly. I usually go the day I need to be somewhere - or the night before and come back when I'm done - except when I go to LAX where I always try to spend a few extra days. I have a lot of flexibility in choosing when I fly (I work for myself so it's a big plus that I can make my own schedule - but then again it's on my own dime!)

I was wondering if there were any "best" days of the week and/or times during those days that are easiest to get upgraded. For a silver. Which I know is the bottom of the food chain. I mostly fly EWR-LAX and figure my chances for that run are probably next to nothing, but for places like EWR-MCO, or FLL, MIA, CLT or anywhere that's not LAX are there best times to fly to increase my chances?

Thx!

cfischer · Jan 14, 13, 5:36 pm

right now I'd say none whatsoever. Even mid last year I'd have told you Saturday/Sunday morning flights are easy, but now I am finding myself as a 1K at F0 for several flights on Saturday and leaving a hub like EWR is not making it easier. At this point I'd not pay too much attention to this and simply enjoy if it happens.

vandrei · Jan 14, 13, 6:22 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoiceActor

Hello all:

I'm silver - fly out of EWR and I've never really paid attention to WHEN I fly. I usually go the day I need to be somewhere - or the night before and come back when I'm done - except when I go to LAX where I always try to spend a few extra days. I have a lot of flexibility in choosing when I fly (I work for myself so it's a big plus that I can make my own schedule - but then again it's on my own dime!)

I was wondering if there were any "best" days of the week and/or times during those days that are easiest to get upgraded. For a silver. Which I know is the bottom of the food chain. I mostly fly EWR-LAX and figure my chances for that run are probably next to nothing, but for places like EWR-MCO, or FLL, MIA, CLT or anywhere that's not LAX are there best times to fly to increase my chances?

Thx!

I got upgraded on the Sunday after Thanksgiving on a PDX-IAD red-eye. Maybe the higher level Premiers didn't go flying that weekend.

SunLover · Jan 14, 13, 6:36 pm

CPU's for Silvers these days are mission extremely difficult. IMO:

Try to book the plane with the most F seats
Fly mid-week/Saturday/Sunday morning
Try a different station: LGA instead of EWR
Try a different routing: NYC-CLE/DEN-LAX
Fly from JFK to LAX and get guaranteed E+ on the current PS metal (a small upgrade from E-)
Book a full fare Y ticket

SunLover

oblisk · Jan 14, 13, 6:41 pm

As a former silver who does EWR-FLL/PBI a great deal.

Best bet for this upgrade, is mid-week, mid day departure, middle of april - august. PMCO day's as a silver i'd clear 80% of the time. Last March/April as a silver I cleared 1/9 trips.

PDXPremier · Jan 14, 13, 7:57 pm

As a Silver based out of PDX, I find the IAH-PDX to be the easiest and SFO-PDX to be the hardest....as for the previous poster who got the PDX-IAD upgrade the Sunday after Thanksgiving, that route (the red eye) is seasonal (at best)...we don't even get the ORD red-eye year round anymore.

VoiceActor · Jan 14, 13, 8:09 pm

Thanks much
So it seems I should look at mid-week and/or weekend a.m. I'll try that on my next flight.

I flew to MIA and back on 12/31 and was upgraded to F on the outbound flight to my surprise. The plane was practically empty. Only 5 people in F I think. On the way back it was a full flight - they gave me E+. It was automatic, I didn't request either. It made me think there might actually be upgrade possibilities! I see it was probably an anomaly - and who's flying on 12/31 anyway?

thx

Oh, and thanks for the suggestions of alternate airports. Sounds good in theory but even for a flight EWR-LAX I'd rather travel in the OB than haul myself out to JFK.

aacharya · Jan 14, 13, 8:20 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoiceActor

Oh, and thanks for the suggestions of alternate airports. Sounds good in theory but even for a flight EWR-LAX I'd rather travel in the OB than haul myself out to JFK.

Maybe try BUR or ONT routing via IAH or even starting in PHL.

mjcewl1284 · Jan 14, 13, 8:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblisk

Best bet for this upgrade, is mid-week, mid day departure, middle of april - august. PMCO day's as a silver i'd clear 80% of the time. Last March/April as a silver I cleared 1/9 trips.

When I was Silver, the midweek midday departure is what I did. Not much success but an upgrade did happen now and then.

unavaca · Jan 14, 13, 8:27 pm

Tuesday or Wednesday and Saturday mornings ought to be doable.

Pick flights on 737-*, 764s, or PMUA 752s (not PMCO 752s) since they have the most F seats.

VoiceActor · Jan 14, 13, 8:39 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by unavaca

Tuesday or Wednesday and Saturday mornings ought to be doable.

Pick flights on 737-*, 764s, or PMUA 752s (not PMCO 752s) since they have the most F seats.

Awesome! Thx! How can one tell which are PMUA 752s and which are PMCO?

vandrei · Jan 14, 13, 8:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDXPremier

As a Silver based out of PDX, I find the IAH-PDX to be the easiest and SFO-PDX to be the hardest....as for the previous poster who got the PDX-IAD upgrade the Sunday after Thanksgiving, that route (the red eye) is seasonal (at best)...we don't even get the ORD red-eye year round anymore.

Yes, I know. I picked that weekend to travel because it had a red-eye flight.

Thanks for the tip about the IAH-PDX upgrade chances. I'll keep that in mind for my next trip to Oregon.

cordelli · Jan 14, 13, 8:48 pm

Start looking at flights every day, all day long. In the status see how many people are on the waiting list for upgrades. If there's 45 people on the upgrade list for sixteen seats already checked in full, you know that's not a day and time you want to fly.

Eventually you will get a pattern that may help your odds.

ijgordon · Jan 14, 13, 8:54 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoiceActor

Quote:

Originally Posted by unavaca

Pick flights on 737-*, 764s, or PMUA 752s (not PMCO 752s) since they have the most F seats.

Awesome! Thx! How can one tell which are PMUA 752s and which are PMCO?

The ones with more F seats are PMUA.

jbsay · Jan 14, 13, 9:16 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cordelli

Start looking at flights every day, all day long. In the status see how many people are on the waiting list for upgrades. If there's 45 people on the upgrade list for sixteen seats already checked in full, you know that's not a day and time you want to fly.

Eventually you will get a pattern that may help your odds.

That's a great idea. For CPU fanatics, I suppose this should be a no-brainer - it's common knowledge that F upgrade lists exists on .bomb for all multi-cabin flights and is available for every flight several days out. But analyzing that data over time to maximize one's CPU chances never crossed my mind.

Any coders want to scrape that data and analyze it, at least for major hub routes? (Or is that prohibited by UA's TOS?) Seems like this data set would be far more reliable than UDU Stats, given its miniscule sample size and selection bias. Granted, the .bomb upgrade list doesn't reveal the status of pax or if they used instruments - but extrapolating that data shouldn't be too difficult. We already have a rough idea of the elite "pyramid" - presumably the ratios aren't all that different from 2005, even if the absolute figures are.