Originally Posted by
denverhockeyguy
SWUs are extremely valuable, and as such you should be using CR1s for a trip to HNL ;-).
This difference between a W fare vs a Y/B fare can be quite extreme depending on the route. It can easily be thousands of dollars.
What you will find is that most of us will only apply SWU, CR1, miles to the most valuable leg (e.g.; LAX-HNL) and when/if that clears, we'll call UA and have them apply it to the rest of our trip.
Right on all counts. When HNL to mainland points is all you fly, sometimes you wind up using SWUs for what CR1s are better suited for if you have plenty of both. Hawaii is tough, without a lot of advance notice, you may have no XF for a couple of days, so you are forced to take your chances or sit in E+. Bummer to pay for the upgrade then not clear. I would fully agree with your point if it was possible to undo a SWU or CRI when the major leg fails to clear and replace with E500s.