Originally Posted by
Kacee
It is generally impossible to predict the "odds" of getting a buy-up offer. Sometimes it happens sometimes it does not.
I can say though that the likelihood you get a "TOD" - which means "Tens of Dollars" - offer is pretty much nil.
As mherdeg notes, You may get an offer at check-in in the range of $400-1000. Around $600-700 is pretty typical.
Okay, what I meant by "TOD" was "cheap buy-up offer", where "cheap" means cheaper than MP upgrade award. I understand that this will likely be a HOD upgrade, if it happens at all. I'd obviously like to ride in the front cabin, but would rather not pay out 30k miles if I can avoid it. To me, $500 + 30k miles is a lot more costly than, say, $600 cash.
Originally Posted by LaserSailor
Flight looks open for instrument/miles upgrade with R=5. You don't get CPU on INTL of course, so if you want to sit upfront, BUY NOW !!!
I could have bought any time between when I booked (about 1.5 months ago) and now. Actually, R5 is the LEAST amount of R space I've seen since booking the flight. It was R9 from time of booking until 1-2 days ago. This, combined with the fact that it's a UA 772, and has personal AVOD and power plugs, and that I snagged a aisle row E+ seat at booking, combined with not wanting to pay out miles unnecessarily, are the reasons I didn't take a MP upgrade offer when I booked, and still haven't jumped on the opportunity.
Originally Posted by Miles Ahead
Agreed. Also, you might want to see if they are offering a buy-up to Global First. I took one to Japan that was substantially less (hundreds rather than many, many thousands) than the offer to buy-up to Business First.
Wait, there are buy-ups directly to int'l F, from Y? If I do get one of those, how much more costly would it be than the buy-up to C? I'd LOVE to try out UA GF service.
Okay, additional question: if I want to get an upgrade offer, when's the best time to check in? Exactly at T-24? T-12? Right before heading to the airport? Does UA changes the prices of the offers (adjusting downward, if people aren't taking them)? Also, is it better to check in on UA.com or on the Android app?