Originally Posted by
grubens
We will be traveling from Boston to Australia on United in December 2023 as a family of four. We have the requisite 240,000 points to request upgrades (+ fee) from coach, but will need to transfer in points from Chase to do so. I have Silver status on United. No upgrades are currently available, but we can go on the waitlist. Is there any advantage to paying the fee and moving the miles in now as opposed to waiting until say 1-2 months before the flights? Does getting on the waitlist earlier increase our chances of the actually getting the seats? Also, if we pay for Premium Plus are we any more likely to get off of waitlist for Polaris?
Thank you for any insights.
What is the final destination in Australia? UA fly to SYD, MEL & BNE Or another city/area?
Are other airlines flying to/from AU from a range of AU & USA airports. More than just UA.
Originally Posted by
Repooc17
December is generally peak travel month to Australia. I wouldn't expect anything, especially for 4.
Be mindful once you transfer from Chase to United, it is not reversible if upgrade requests do not clear (and you would need find another use for 240K from United).
The later in Dec the more passenger there are trying get to AU. But in the few days before 25 Dec, can be less people travelling on the employers dime in J. So more upgrades possible, but the airlines know that.
Originally Posted by
roberto99
I suspect that Silver status has only 1 in 10,000 odds of clearing the upgrade list.
With a party of 4 to AU in December that is being optimistic.
The
grubens family should expect to travel in the class as purchased.
Edit
Apr 3 -->
ORD>SYD around xmas, best route to clear pluspoints upgrade as 1K?