Originally Posted by
jsloan
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I had previously been in the “if it’s not available at booking, I’m not interested” camp, but I eventually softened my stance to include waitlists on some flights where I had high confidence they’d clear and where I had a backup plan if they did not (same-day change, alternate routing, even canceling for a credit and booking something else). So far, I’m 4/5 on clearing in advance, and I was able to re-route into confirmed PZ for less than $100, a week prior to departure, on the remaining one. But there’s definitely still work involved to fly in J, and much more work than was necessary even a few years ago.
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Same for me. Over the years my work travel, especially international has dropped off so nearly all my international trips are personal so I have great flexibility. Cleared upgrades in both directions are a requirement otherwise I won't go on the trip. Thus UA is actually making it harder for me to give them my money and makes more if they clear my upgrades. The more trips I can go on, the more likely I can maintain 1K and repeat the next year. (but I know I'm in the minority)
In the past, I'd only book if PZ>0 at booking. It's become so difficult to find anything lately, I started rolling the dice. Luckily one can cancel for credit on most flights. I'll give it up to a week before my trip before cancelling out the whole thing. This does increase costs for some things like hotels and flights once I'm there. I've had good luck with flights to HND and TPE clearing well ahead of time. Europe is becoming more and more of a challenge. Currently looking at going to germany in early Dec. Luckily flights on the way back are easier to find.