Originally Posted by
ORDnHKG
10 years ago if you try to upgrade with miles internationally, first you have to buy H class and up fares, then you have to waitlist. However, if your upgrade don't clear, only your miles will be refunded, but your H class sticks, so it means you pay H class for nothing.
Originally Posted by
aacharya
And ten years ago, wi-fi didn't exist on planes.
Not sure the point of this post.
His point is that mileage upgrades on PMUA used to have no co-pay option; you had to buy the higher fare as you do today with GPUs (and on PMUA, always have).
With the co-pay option you can often score an upgrade for less cash than if you had bought the higher fare. The post merger change that UA thinks we like is that the co-pay is due at time of upgrade versus check in. UA wants to be a bank now. Might as well, banks at least make money unlike commercial aviation.