Originally Posted by
prometa
I would echo it’s extremely route dependent. SEA based is probably much better than hub based for CPUs — especially since SEA is AS’s home hub, so many if not most frequent travelers will be flying AS.
Unless you're flying SEA/SFO in-pattern, in which case not even GS stand a real chance
I agree overall though, upgrades are a bit easier if you're not flying between UA hubs. A lot of my travel is between SFO and WAS, and I don't even bother trying with the upgrade game. I've lowered my goal to finding flights where I don't have to pay full fare.
Originally Posted by
prometa
(there’s exceptions to that rule, for example when you have a super discount fare, and UA is only selling discount economy and discount business). Even so, I’d rather pay up to 150% of the upgrade price to get the PQD.
There are a lot of nuances to the upsell offers, but you're in that they anchor strongly on what it would cost to buy F outright. However, sometime it can be difficult to get a properly issued F ticket if the problem is a stingy employer, and day-of-departure cash upsells can work best for that.