Hi, I'm a new United Platinum Member and trying to understand how international flight upgrades work.
Let's say I want to buy a non-stop ticket from NYC to Tokyo, Japan and the flight has these availabilities:
- 20 of 50 Business/First class seats purchased (30 Business/First seats available)
- 10 of 30 Premium Plus seats purchased (20 Premium Plus seats available)
- 10 of 40 Eco Plus (30 Eco Plus seats available)
If I buy tickets for myself + 1 in fare class Q or V and DO NOT use any PlusPoints, do we have a chance at getting upgraded to business/first based on my elite status, the ticket's fare class, and
all that free space up front? Because I'm understanding that upgrades work in this order:
- Global Services requests (not me)
- PlusPoints and mileage upgrade awards (not used)
- Elite status (Platinum)
- Fare class. More expensive fare classes clear first (Q or V fare class)
- Etc.
Basically I'm trying to figure out if we can still get upgraded on an international flight from NYC to Tokyo
without using PlusPoints?
Or is there a general rule that you need to use PlusPoints to get upgraded simply because it's a long international flight? And United will just leave all those seats vacant?
Thanks