Originally Posted by
CZAMFlyer
Speaking as a UA Gold, I haven't noticed much difficulty getting upgraded for no cost on certain routes I fly. My success rate falls whenever departing IAD, or flying eastwards from ORD, but that's to be expected at their hubs and my comparatively low status. On the whole, UA gives me a much better system than I had with similar status with AC. Coupled with the reduced earning requirements, the superior accumulation on partner airlines (except LH O fares - what's up with that?), good onboard product and lots of options from my home airport, there's little reason to switch back.
As in all FF programs, upgrade success rate is highly route and travel pattern dependent. I have often been upgraded on my to/from Canada segments (and have seen colleagues as low as Silver routinely clear DEN/SFO-YVR upgrades). At the same time I've been below 100 on the upgrade list for hub-to-hub flights. My record was being 132 on a HNL-SFO 777 flight.
However, AC offers generous upgrades for flight pass customers that are unmatched by anything in the UA universe.
So any question of "which airline is easier to upgrade on" has to take into account a person's specific travel patterns.