answida

Hello all,

I was just curious as to people's luck getting upgraded on UA based on AC E/SE status. I was upgraded at the gate yesterday ahead of some mileage plus folks (no complaints!). Any suggestions for trying to turn this into a streak? Have other people had any luck?

Cheers,

Answida

acysb87

Never,ever has UA upgraded me.I managed to get E-Plus seating for the 1st time this year .after many years of sitting at rear as a * Gold member.

antirealist

Was this an operational upgrade?

blue2002

99% E+, 0% C

cattle

I've had two comp u/g's with UA both on cheap tickets. E+ the rest of the time

answida

I should have clarified - I always get E+ on flights where there is E+ seating. This was the first time I got the bump to domestic First. It was an operational upgrade.

Answida

padregusmao

I was bumbed from E+ to First at the gate on a very busy DEN-DFW recently. The guy sitting next to me was also upgraded and told me it is based on status miles (i guess with any star alliance partner). not sure how to do this more often other than going on busy flights.

yyznomad

In the past I've been upgraded to F on UA on flights like:
PDX ORD
OKC DEN
MDT ORD

There have been more but I forgot. Sometimes it's at the gate BEFORE boarding starts or even when I'm already settled into my E+ seat. The FA would come over with manifest in hand and ask if I want to sit in F. You can guess what my answer always is
99% of the time it's an operational upgrade but there have been a couple of times where I know the check-in agents well so they give me a free upgrade if F/A isn't full (UA.F = AC.J and UA.A = AC.C). I would like to point out that I fly UA 25% of the year (simply due to my domestic US flights) and the rest basically goes to AC.

I always get E+ seats when I book on UA stock. I just call in to change my seats to E+ if I haven't been assigned them by the system already. No big deal.

yyznomad

Interesting. How about upgrades done when you've already seated yourself on board? The manifest doesn't show status miles.

charliet

I have flown 20 segments on UA this year, half trans border and half International. No upgrades. All segments except one were in E+. The one time I was seated in Y, was a transborder and the FA came by and apologised offering me a couple of free drinks.

torontoflyer

I call it luck. But twice have i been upgraded from a full fare J to the F suites on LHR-IAD, and this was at check-in. IMHO, I would still prefer AC ExecFirst. Although the flat beds on UA F are pretty nice. But for me service comes first, and AC wins hands down.

BOH

Just phoned UA to see if I can get seated in E+ for next weeks SMF-DEN-ORD flights. These are AC code-shares and my res gives AC flight numbers.

She had a look at some rules on her screen for *G pax from other airlines and confirmed it is policy for E+ "when space available". In this instance she could only confirm the DEN-ORD leg today and suggested the SMF-DEN leg would probably be available at check-in.

So the "seamless travel benefits" of an alliance does work it seems ^

EliteTrotter

I was given a UA op-up on a HKG to ORD flight from economy to business class earlier this year. The agent at the transfer desk told me that the flight was pretty full and I would be upgraded based on my status (AC Elite at the time).

Upper deck on a 747 was an enjoyable experience and although the service was not as good as AC J, it was good.

I've also been batting 500 on op-up on CX for some strange reason. I'm not even a Marco Polo member. I stumbled into a strategy that seems to work well.

EliteTrotter

Shareholder

All alliance member airlines have basically the same policy when it comes to op/ups: their own STARGolds/ONEWORLDEmeralds&Sapphires, then partner airline Golds/Emeralds&Sapphires, then their own STARSilvers/ONEWORLDRubys, then partner airline Silvers/Rubys. After that it's chance. (BTW, airlines can only see you status, not actual mileage balances.)

I've had a couple of op/ups on UA and LH, as well as on CX. Never a problem getting E+ seating on UA though this must be done with a call to their res line, cannot be done when making an online booking, as that engine appears not to recognize status from non-MP members.

yycguy2

I believe they can. Connecting through SFO on one of its usual foggy days all flights were delayed, my co-worker and I were traveling together and we were trying to get on another flight after misconnecting due to the fog. I got the last seat on the next flight out. Our status and fare classes were the same, I had more Q miles and that got me the seat over my co-worker. The GA quoted our balances to us.