<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gfowler-ord-1k:
It still does not make economic sense to me, but a lot of the fare rules don't either.</font>
Agree 100%. E-ticket reissuance has to cost close to zero, and you'd think UA would want to make it as easy as possible for us to buy up to higher fares, whether the itinerary is domestic or international.
For example, look at the 3X/2X/5K bonus deal. Only applies to segments on V or higher fare bases. Many people will have tickets bought by their employer (or bought themselves using the inflexible online tools that won't allow you to buy specific fares), that they would perhaps be willing to spend $25, $50, whatever out of pocket to bump up to a V+ fare level. Very unlikely though, IMHO, that someone would pay $100 PLUS the fare diff in this type of situation.
If these guys want us to buy higher fare buckets, they need to make it A LOT more convenient to do so.