Starman

Thanks. You're right about limited Z availability, at least on my 4 recent CM legs, which I watched closely before the flights -- Z never opened on any of them. My issuing carrier was CM, not UA. It finally dawned on me to to check whether there was a discounted C fare on my route (to SCL), and there was, in D class, and it was just $400 more r/t than I had already paid for my M fare. CM allowed me to upfare the M seat to D with no penalty, and I then magically had a confirmed business class seat on the entire itinerary (including 50% RDM bonus) for far less than I would have spent on UA to South America once my GPUs were exhausted, namely $1000 for r/t u/g copay. Sure, the seats are not lie-flat, but I found it an extremely pleasant trip with a better soft product, a much quieter, small cabin (with 16 seats, like the upper deck on a 744), and no constant battle over the u/g as would be true with UA. I'll do this again in a flash.