Originally Posted by
warakorn
If it too easy to upgrade, then why would passenger buy J-fares anymore?
Presumably because GPU are only accessible in very limited
#s to United's most loyal and valuable customers. They exist solely as a reward for their loyalty, to let them upgrade to J a few times. Most of these customers likely buy J fares the rest of the year, which is how they earned their status and the GPUs in the first place. If they aren't easy to use and are essentially useless, then why issue them? Without this benefit, usually the most valuable for top tier status, then why bother being loyal to UA?
Originally Posted by
Catbert10
For long-haul, AA. Doesn't require a minimum fare class and AA doesn't aggressively market TODs.
AA EXP here. This is true, but C space is tough to find in advance and we only get 4 SWU for 100k EQM. I managed to use all of mine with diligent EF searching, including both ways on NYC-CDG-NYC this summer, but it's a lot of work to find space in advance if you're not willing to let it ride and hope for the best.