Originally Posted by
wilsliu
I'm flying roundtrip LAX to EWR on planes with premium economy. Is there any difference in PQP earning or business upgrade priority between upfaring and getting the ticket reissued in Premium Economy vs using the paid upgrade feature? The former is $380 and the latter is only $225 for the outbound flight.
Will the full $225 qualify for PQP if I choose to do the paid upgrade? Will I get the same upgrade priority to business as if I booked a fare in PE?
PQP earning will be based on the amount paid. The upgrade will earn 100%, because there are no taxes deducted; the upfare will earn 92.5% of the fare difference due to the aforementioned tax. Incidentally, I can't figure out how UA gets away with not paying tax on sticker-type upgrades...
As for any difference in a J upgrade -- it's not documented, and experiences appear to be mixed. My guess would be that it depends upon what fare bucket they clear your buy-up into, and there's no way to know what that is.
I'm not sure how much it really matters, though. Upgrades are notoriously scarce on that route and I suspect most go to GS-supported upgraders.