Originally Posted by
Baze
My own conclusion is that no matter how empty the F cabin is or what R inventory is, if UA thinks they can sell the upgrades they are not going to give them away for free. And they will keep manipulating the buy up price until someone bites. And if one bites I'm sure they feel more will, especially as they keep manipulating the price until the plane leaves or no more bites, then they give them away as CPU.
This.
Of course, their algorithm sucks.
Today, UA1616 was a last minute sub of a 739 for a scheduled 738. F went from F1/R0 to F5/R0.
At F1 OLCI stopped trying to sell me an upgrade for $269. When it bounced to F5, again, no sale offered at OLCI, however the app offered me $289, and the mobile website checkin offered $309. Nothing for sale at the chicken. I was on a U fare.
Predictably, nothing cleared off the WL when it went from 1->5, one person bought a T/HOD sometime between T-90 and T-45, and at T-40 they cleared the next 4 names off the WL and F went to full. There must not have been true TODs offered to anyone, since it stayed pretty open. Interestingly, as I was sitting within earshot of the GAs at SMF, I heard at least 4 people ask about buy-ups prior to boarding, but none of whom bought. So at least at SMF, UA is getting the desired results, training people to at least think of paying T/HOD to ride up front.
Ignore the fact that when I purchased my ticket last Friday the lowest F fare available was ~$1200 one way. With my U fare plus the HOD I was offered, the prevailing F fare on day of departure added up to about ~$800 one way ($550 U fare + ~$250 HOD).