Originally Posted by
gtslow
My gripe was that I was given an un-upgradable fare class by United when booking over the phone and should have been upgraded at the same window. Now that window is gone and I know to check the fare classes. In the grand scheme of things working "as documented" by United I am probably coming out even, but as many people would note the system probably should have bumped us both.
Unless they've made some changes lately or my memory is totally hazy (very possible), being booked in X vs XN really shouldn't matter. In fact, for a long time the system was upgrading X tickets properly but refused to upgrade XN tickets, and I would have to call and beg to have the ticket converted to X. Also, since XN is a subset of X, it's entirely possible for an elite to get booked into X if XN is already sold out. (Am I wrong? - again, maybe something has changed but I've had X fares multiple times over the years). Upgrades on award tickets have been working like a charm for me, although I did have one recent experience where there was no convicing a phone agent that a Continental Presidential Plus MC did in fact qualify for this benefit - but I let it go.
If being booked in XN is now an outright requirement to get the award ticket ug, please let me know!