Originally Posted by
russellwd
It's always through United website, and some are miles and some are cash. For instance, our recent Vegas trip was cash through the United website... on this flight 10 people were on the upgrade list, all 10 including my SO were upgraded, I was left completely off.
Did your frequent flyer number appear on the boarding pass? Was your status listed properly?
Note that if you are traveling on the same reservation as your SO, you should be eligible for an upgrade even without your MP# on the reservation, so something's definitely fishy.
As far as earning toward platinum -- yes, you should have PQDs and PQMs in your account from the flights you've taken. However, being MM Gold (or MM Gold companion) doesn't provide you with a leg up toward Platinum -- you'd need 75K PQM or 90 PQS, plus 9,000 PQD or a waiver, to reach Plat. So, if you're seeing zeroes for PQM/PQD, that indicates a problem, but if not, it just indicates that Plat is a lot of flying.
