Originally Posted by
mtftw
Interfering. I took a cash upgrade from a Q fare to Prem Plus (my rez now showing “Fare Type: United Premium Plus (A)”) thinking that I could jump higher on the Polaris MUA list this way in the event I don’t snag a reasonably priced upgrade, worst case falling back to my PP seat.
Sounds like that’s not how it works?
You retain a Q basis with the original coupon value plus a "sticker" EMD that supports revalidation in the higher cabin. For the purposes of changes, the EMD is severable and not part of the coupon value, so a voluntary change will use the original value and per the terms the EMD is forfeit.
For the purpose of the Polaris upgrade list, historically you did improve your position based on your new class (A), but I think I have heard that this changed recently.