aisleorwindow

Did a search, but came up empty. Pardon my ignorance, but I'm a UA 1K and haven't flown CO metal internationally since the 90s.

I am about to purchase an upgradeable B fare on this route, and cannot find confirmed upgrade (R bucket, right?) on the dates I want (granted, Thanksgiving is a factor in my dates, so I'm not surprised).

I guess I don't mind waitlisting, but wanted to see from other's experience how tough upgrades are on this route. If it's notoriously difficult, then I'll not waste the $$ on the B fare, (even though my company will reimburse it, I hate to waste the $$ on principle).

So, how brutal is this route for upgrades? (Aircraft is a 777).

Also, if I want to have a family member gift me the miles for one of the waitlists is that doable?

Lastly, I understand that the waitlist expires at 24 hours before departure time, but if there's an open seat once I get to the gate, will they let me upgrade?

Thanks in advance for your help/advice.

snod08

See post #56 onwards on this page:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...-newark-4.html

It is a very hard segment to upgrade on any fare.

Generally avoid thursday/friday travel to HKG; Sunday/monday to EWR if you want to try for the upgrade.

As you know, you can only waitlist if you use CO miles.

Someone can use their miles to waitlist for you. However, you get that "someone's" CO status with respect to your position on the waitlist.

CO PresPlats, CO Plats, Gold/Silver, everyone else = waitlist priority; Fare class comes in to play only at T-24.

At T-24, its CO status and Fare class for the upgrade waitlist.

They wont let you upgrade at the gate unless you are in position according to the waitlist.

rkkwan

Highly depends on when you're going. My parents get confirmed upgrade at time of purchase for travel in May/June this year. But fall and spring are heavy business season, especially during Canton fair or other trade shows.

spaced2

i flew ewr > hkg, nrt > ewr in late august and did the waitlist. My upgrade cleared about 30 days in advance of both flights. Looked like there was a lot of paid bf availability but they didn't open up upgrade inventory immediately.

(i'm CO Gold)

Harry IAH

I have flown EWR-HKG 3 times in the past 2 years, and I have had very good luck with upgrades, even though I usually fly Q fares - 4 of the past 6 segments have been upgradeable. 3 flights were waitlisted and 1 upgraded at time of ticket purchase, but they all cleared at least a week before the flight. I am a CO Plat.

I am flying again in November, on consecutive Saturdays. I have heard that these were difficult days to upgrade, but again, both were upgradeable at ticketing. One was U fare, and the return an M fare.

Unfortunately, I can't upgrade the return M fare flight, even though it is only $250 + 30K FF miles, because I have run out of miles ... been upgrading too much lately

Good luck !

snod08

help! We have a TRUE medical emergency !!

aisleorwindow

Thanks for the feedback.

So, does my United 1K status help at all?

By the way, the dates I'm looking at are EWR-HKG on Thanksgiving Day (looks pretty good right now), and returning the following Tuesday (looks iffy).

Jaimito Cartero

The CO BF service is pretty decent. I had a DL ticket, returning, and they had a bunch of mechanicals, and I managed to get put on the CO flight. Even a day before the flight they had 2 seats available for a Saturday.

Nothing is sweeter for a NW elite, to use a NW SWU on a DL coach flight, and then still get to fly CO on the return leg.

ijgordon

I'm not sure how it could. As was mentioned above, you can only waitlist if the upgrade is being paid for with CO OnePass miles. When that happens, the "status" of the reservation becomes the elite status of the OnePass account from which the reward is redeemed. As an example, a non-elite can avoid the domestic mileage upgrade co-pays by using an elite's account to redeem the upgrade award.

So unless you pull the miles from a CO elite account, I don't think your MP status can be factored in on the waitlist. I could be wrong, and someone may come by to correct me.

snod08

This is the way I understand it too.

Houston2mnl

I am 5 for 5 on getting upgrades on this route for the last 1.5yrs.

On a B fare I think the odds are quite good for a CO PLAT....I can't speak intelligently for UA but the high bucket should get you closer to the top than not.

dvo1029

Fare class means nothing for your chances of an upgrade (except on the day of departure, but I am not sure I believe it really factors in). The most important factor is status, followed by date added to the waitlist. The only benefit of a B fare is 50% EQM, and because the cost of the B fare is usually fairly close to a cheaper fare + co-pay to upgrade, I usually go that route.

As for the best days for upgrade, there is no doubt that Saturday from EWR-HKG is the hardest and on the return it would be Saturday or Sunday. For the best chance simply travel Tues-Thurs and your chances are good.

ijgordon

I'll refer the original poster back to the thread linked to in post #2 here by snod08 for more details on what the policy is "stated" as vs. what some peoples actual experiences are, including commentary from sjmoss23 and myself. Perhaps someone would like to RBP and suggest the threads be merged?

snod08

OK, good idea. I will do the RBP now and see what Mods want to do.

digbydog

In the last 12 months I have done EWR-HKG-EWR 7 times and upgraded 100% of the time. Last week it was touch and go as only 3 UG's were available but I still made it.

Always on a B fare with Plat status.

Normally fly out a Sunday and come back on a Saturday.

Back up Plan B is row 32!!!!