What's Up With Limited "U" Availability?

Old Apr 23, 2019, 6:27 pm
  #181  
 
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I'm still doing well with advance upgrade fares, the last couple of which have cleared well in advance without ever triggering my EF alerts. I may not manage to burn all my GGUs this year, but I am still sitting in front pretty consistently for prices I'm willing to pay.
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Old May 26, 2019, 5:06 pm
  #182  
 
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My travel plan changed and I did find 3 U space for SNA-SFO-EWR pretty much mid day good timing. No luck on any mid day LAX to easy coast 3U unless it's overnight. I used one companion fare to upfare M and the other used GGU. End up paying $1800 for 3. Companion fare is 12k. Actually. I'm wondering, can I just downfare my ticket in between T-3 and T-2, and use my MVPG complementary upgrade, will that work?
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Old May 27, 2019, 2:51 pm
  #183  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
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It seems that U space is also opening up about 7-8 days prior to departure. Was just able to apply a GGU to a booking next monday, when the F cabin has only 1 person booked in it (out of 12). Now there are 3 of us, and Sabre shows 1 U space left. *shrugs*
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:38 pm
  #184  
 
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About 9 hours till departure, at least 7 F seats left to sell, and no U space. I called to ask if they'll request 2 seats from RM to use the GGU. No, they won't.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 3:44 pm
  #185  
 
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Does AS ever offer three seats available for U upgrades well in advance of a flight? Ive been able to book two seats quite a few times to Hawaii 6-9 months in advance but now trying for three and dont see much.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:03 pm
  #186  
 
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I have done this for Seattle-->Chicago, booked 3.5 months in advance.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:03 pm
  #187  
 
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Originally Posted by ffman999
Does AS ever offer three seats available for U upgrades well in advance of a flight? Ive been able to book two seats quite a few times to Hawaii 6-9 months in advance but now trying for three and dont see much.

I have done this for Seattle-->Chicago, booked 3.5 months in advance.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:21 pm
  #188  
 
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Just had to buy an M class for the first time in a very long time. 2.5 weeks in advance. No U open... No F open!!
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 4:59 pm
  #189  
 
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Originally Posted by ffman999
Does AS ever offer three seats available for U upgrades well in advance of a flight? Ive been able to book two seats quite a few times to Hawaii 6-9 months in advance but now trying for three and dont see much.
When I was booking my OAK-LIH flight ~5 months out, both outbound and return showed U4 at various times as I was monitoring prices.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 10:28 pm
  #190  
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Originally Posted by mangoMan
When I was booking my OAK-LIH flight ~5 months out, both outbound and return showed U4 at various times as I was monitoring prices.
Looking earlier today, there was U available for both HNL-OAK and HNL-SFO on June 23 . . . but in both cases the upgradeable fare priced considerably higher than purchased F.

Some benefit

Last edited by Kacee; Jun 16, 2019 at 10:59 pm
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 7:49 am
  #191  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Looking earlier today, there was U available for both HNL-OAK and HNL-SFO on June 23 . . . but in both cases the upgradeable fare priced considerably higher than purchased F.

Some benefit
If you are talking about instant upgrade fares, that is usually the case unless you are 75k.

If you are taking about GGU-eligible, that's occasionally true, but not in this case. AS 710 on 6/23 is currently showing lowest main at $294, GGU-eligible at $364, and paid first class at $569.

Personally I would not pay $70 to secure an upgrade on that flight (it's an easy comp upgrade) but if you want to, it's there.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 7:57 am
  #192  
 
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Maui Upgrades Do Exist

Last week I had an expiring $99 companion certificate to use; after some digging I found DEN-SEA-SFO (stopover) SFO-OGG (destination) OGG-PDX-SEA-DEN for late October. All segments had U space (for two) except for DEN-SEA. That leg is a 737-900 showing 0/16 booked in F so I'm confident it will open up. Good price and it's nice to not worry about upgrades clearing for the most part. Being flexible is key for us.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 11:57 am
  #193  
 
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I was able to use 4 GGUs on one OAK-LIH flight earlier this year
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Old Jun 21, 2019, 1:59 pm
  #194  
 
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Availability today finally showed U2 for my flight in exactly 7 days, SAN-EWR. I booked it at the beginning of the year and it was always U0, which I guess makes sense for a Friday transcon.
Using the 2 GGUs at this time feels more like using a "skip ahead of the 75Ks" card, rather than a "confirm your upgrade in advance so you can confidently make travel decisions based on being in First".

If it were just me I probably would have waited, especially as it's now F4 (was F6). But with a companion I think it's risky to assume we'll get U2 again during the comp window.
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Old Jun 21, 2019, 2:03 pm
  #195  
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Originally Posted by sudobuntu
Availability today finally showed U2 for my flight in exactly 7 days, SAN-EWR. I booked it at the beginning of the year and it was always U0, which I guess makes sense for a Friday transcon.
Using the 2 GGUs at this time feels more like using a "skip ahead of the 75Ks" card, rather than a "confirm your upgrade in advance so you can confidently make travel decisions based on being in First".

If it were just me I probably would have waited, especially as it's now F4 (was F6). But with a companion I think it's risky to assume we'll get U2 again during the comp window.
Are there 75ks on SAN-EWR?
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