Originally Posted by GoAmtrak
My first few months as a 2P have been wonderful. I've felt more personalized customer service, and E+ is simply the best domestic coach product in the sky. ^
But UA's upgrade program has really blown me away. I'm batting 1.00 so far -- 4 for 4, using various paper and electronic instruments (no miles). It's been a pleasant surprise. Based on many of the posts here, I expected to secure upgrades only every now and then as a lowly 2P, especially considering that I fly almost only with S and T fares. So it's been a real treat!
I suspect that I would not be enjoying similar success with AA, DL, CO, or NW.
The upgrade rate depends entirely on the route / time you are flying. From my experience, if you want to fly ORD-SFO on a late Friday afternoon you'll be lucky to clear as a 1P. However, ORD-MSP at 8pm on a Saturday evening you would have no problem. OK - these are extreme examples, but there really is a huge difference (and somewhat conter-intuitively, the cheaper ticket class, the more likely your upgrade!). If you really want the upgrade and are flexible, you can be really quite sure it will clear. However, if you are working to a schedule along with many other FFs, the status required to clear goes up.