I'm having some trouble concerning an SDC on an itinerary in which I've used PlusPoints to get on the waitlist for a flight from AAA-BBB-CCC. I am flying today, and I've been on the bubble (right around
#10 on the upgrade list with 10 seats still showing available on the upgrade list), but earlier today business showed up as being booked full, and now I'm
#2 on the list. So, I don't think that upgrade is going to go through.
Looking at the Travel Options on the website, it gives me options to switch to AAA-CCC direct, or AAA-DDD-CCC. The AAA-CCC direct has plenty of availability (48 seats, 33 booked, and only 4 people on the waitlist). I'd prefer the connecting DDD-CCC flight, because it's on a polarized 777, but I'm not sure how the upgrades work for that. Premium Plus is booked full (in fact, talking to the UC agent here, he says it's actually overbooked and they've got space to overbook it by 10 because Business is showing 39 booked, an additional 5 seats blocked, and a capacity of 60). Looking at the upgrade list for Business, there are ~25 people on the list, and the agent I spoke with looked through the list of names and their statuses, and he thinks I'd end up being around
#13 or so on the upgrade list. So, with 21 seats available, and 12 hours until the flight, my chances would be pretty good. However, he's not able to make the change because of the PlusPoints upgrade, and he suggested I call the 1K line.p
So, I called the 1K line, and immediately the lady I spoke to says there's only 2 upgrade seats available on the DDD-CCC flight because there are 44 seats taken (39 booked plus the 5 blocked) and then there are 14 people checked in (the next line down) for a total of 58 seats out of 60. I try to convince her that the 14 that are checked in are also in the 44 seats that are booked, but she's not willing to listen. [EDIT]And then she says she only sees 1 business seat available to be purchased, even though I just looked, and Expert Mode is showing J9 (and 9s showing all the way down to P9).[/EDIT]
She says she's going to talk to a supervisor and comes back a few minutes later saying that they can switch me to the AAA-DDD-CCC flight as an SDC, and that will be free, but then I will lose my upgrade chances because they can't even put me back on the list because it's within 24 hours of the flight. Or, she says, I can switch to the AAA-CCC direct flight and pay an "add collect" fee of $410 for switching to the direct flight, but because there are upgrade seats available, they can switch me right now and basically confirm my upgrade.
So, a couple questions...
* Didn't the need for requesting upgrades outside of the 24 hour window before the flight get removed once UA switched to PlusPoints? From the website, I see "
PlusPoints upgrades can be requested all the way until the cut-off time to check in for your flight." So, wouldn't I be able to switch to either flight and still stay on the upgrade list (or request to be put back on the list if I'm not on it after the switch, even though I'm within 24 hours of the flight?
* Is the $410 "add collect" fee something that the agent sees because I'm removing a segment and flying direct? As I said, AAA-CCC direct is shown on the app, and that would be a free change. Is that just one of those things where the app ignores fare rules?
* If I switch on the app, will the PlusPoints upgrade follow my reservation? Or do I just have to do it and see what happens?
* Is this a case of HUACA?
Thanks in advance!