We're all familiar by now with point seven of the seminal posting from UA Insider in September 2011 -- how Complimentary Premier Upgrades are supposed to work in 2012.

Quoting:

Within the 120-hour GS CPU window, GS trumps everything according to the hierarchy above.

Well, I had a talk tonight with a sUA United agent who serves a lot of Global Services members. I'll keep the rest of the details as to why I had the conversation fuzzy to protect him.

In the course of a discussion of the post-3/3 changes, the agent said that it was the change to upgrade policy that bothered him the most. Global Services customers achieved their status by buying very expensive tickets, he said. They usually didn't need CPUs, except perhaps for personal trips. The agent said it really bothered him that now, when a GS customer called for an upgrade within the 120-hour CPU window and with SHARES showing upgrade space available he was now prohibited from forcing the upgrade.

He had been instructed repeatedly to let the computer do the upgrading. He was told specifically this morning by a manager in a group meeting that the computer would do the upgrade for the GS member only if there was no other Premier on the same flight (i.e., a CPU eligible passenger) who had not paid a higher fare. Otherwise, the GS traveler was not to be cleared. The traveler with the more expensive ticket further down the MileagePlus status hierarchy would be cleared when his or her CPU window opened. The GS passenger would be cleared later, and only if his or her ticket were then the priciest on the plane.

(The agent said he didn't know what happened at T-24 when un-upgraded premiers went to the airport upgrade standby list. At that point GS passengers might be tops, regardless of fare.)

I was flabbergasted to hear that between T-120 and T-24 fare and not MP status were trump, as this contradicts what UA Insider had said. What I kick myself for not seeking clarity on is whether the CPU upgrade system is looking at booking class or actual fare paid. The agent said actual fare paid, but I would have liked to confirm that.

I'd really like some confirmation from UA Insider that her guidance from 09/2011 is still valid. SHARES and upgrades are a black box, even to UA employees, and, while I have no doubt the agent was being straight with me based on what he had been told, I don't rule out that his bosses might have been ill-informed.

But, if what I heard was true, there seems little point under MileagePlus to achieving any status higher than Gold - that gets one E+ -- or maybe 1K for the M-ups. Again, if this info is true, CPUs come based on fare paid.

The agent I spoke with was professional, and was by no means talking smack about sCO. He toed the company line in many areas. He simply thought the new upgrade policy was wrongheaded and would alienate GS travelers to see "Golds on better fares upgraded first."

As an aside, maybe this is a substantial unappreciated problem with the new upgrade system? Perhaps it's not just TODs -- it's that fare is trumping status, when it is not supposed always to do so?

I'd just like to know what the rules are, United...