Jan 22, 2016, 2:52 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Instant Upgrades will be ended 21 Aug 2025
Not PN access for 1K Domestic Y/B/M fares
Instant Upgrades (Economy to First) are available at booking for elites selecting Y/B fares on CPU Eligible flights. There also needs to be PZ space if Plat / Gold / Silver or PN if GS / 1K. GS/1Ks are also eligible for M fares.
If not available at booking, GS/1Ks will be waitlisted for the upgrade in PN and will be prioritized above 1Ks and lower elites on supported upgrades (PlusPoints, Miles+copay) and CPUs, and below GS instrument and CPUs. If PN becomes available after booking, you will need to check if the upgrade button is visible or call/chat -- upgrades are not automatic and require a manual step.
TL;DR
(status: space required / eligible fare classes / availability)
PremPlus tickets show "B" fare (but underlying fare may be lower) for non-PremPlus flights and there are reports this may not always be recognized for Instant Upgrades.
For more on waitlisting, see Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively .
Feb 2016, Waitlisting was restricted to 1Ks/GSs. Plat / Gold / Silver can still Instant Upgrade but only if available at the time of booking. For lower elites, even if PZ later becomes available, it is not intended for them to be eligible -- however, occasionally someone can have success. YMMV
Changes (2016Q2) to required fare class to clear
RN has been repurposed to Premium Plus / Premium Economy upgrade
PZ is the right fare class for Plat/Gold/Silver
Related, more general but older thread -- Y/B/M Premier Instant Upgrade - How does it work? {Archive}
Add: When the instant upgrade link is broken (DIY does not work on App/web), you need to call. You can say something like that: "Hi, I bought an instant upgrade fare and it looks like the upgrade is now confirmable, can you please help me with that." See post #1384.
May 22, 2025 - UA announced that YBM upgrades are no longer offered as of August 21st 2025
Not PN access for 1K Domestic Y/B/M fares
Instant Upgrades (Economy to First) are available at booking for elites selecting Y/B fares on CPU Eligible flights. There also needs to be PZ space if Plat / Gold / Silver or PN if GS / 1K. GS/1Ks are also eligible for M fares.
If not available at booking, GS/1Ks will be waitlisted for the upgrade in PN and will be prioritized above 1Ks and lower elites on supported upgrades (PlusPoints, Miles+copay) and CPUs, and below GS instrument and CPUs. If PN becomes available after booking, you will need to check if the upgrade button is visible or call/chat -- upgrades are not automatic and require a manual step.
TL;DR
(status: space required / eligible fare classes / availability)
- 1K & GS: PN / YBM / at booking & able to waitlist (priority over instrument upgrades)
- Silver, Gold & Plat: PZ / YB / at booking only (waitlist YMMV)
PremPlus tickets show "B" fare (but underlying fare may be lower) for non-PremPlus flights and there are reports this may not always be recognized for Instant Upgrades.
For more on waitlisting, see Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively .
Feb 2016, Waitlisting was restricted to 1Ks/GSs. Plat / Gold / Silver can still Instant Upgrade but only if available at the time of booking. For lower elites, even if PZ later becomes available, it is not intended for them to be eligible -- however, occasionally someone can have success. YMMV
For flights departing on or after February 1, 2016, the following is the order of priority for upgrades, within five days of departure, on flights that are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades:
Premier 1K members on eligible Y-, B- and M-class fares: Premier 1K Instant upgrades that weren't confirmed in advance are prioritized by fare class on the upgrade waitlist and are ahead of:
Premier 1K members on eligible Y-, B- and M-class fares: Premier 1K Instant upgrades that weren't confirmed in advance are prioritized by fare class on the upgrade waitlist and are ahead of:
Travelers on waitlisted PlusPoints Global Premier Upgrades, Regional Premier Upgrades and MileagePlus Upgrade Awards: Prioritized by Premier status of the traveler, then fare class and then the time of request
All remaining Premier members: Prioritized by Premier status of the traveler, then fare class and then award travel
UA has introduced some additional waitlist tie-breaks -- "preferred customers / certain credit cards, .... See the earlier thread link on upgrade priority
All remaining Premier members: Prioritized by Premier status of the traveler, then fare class and then award travel
UA has introduced some additional waitlist tie-breaks -- "preferred customers / certain credit cards, .... See the earlier thread link on upgrade priority
PZ is the right fare class for Plat/Gold/Silver
Related, more general but older thread -- Y/B/M Premier Instant Upgrade - How does it work? {Archive}
Add: When the instant upgrade link is broken (DIY does not work on App/web), you need to call. You can say something like that: "Hi, I bought an instant upgrade fare and it looks like the upgrade is now confirmable, can you please help me with that." See post #1384.
May 22, 2025 - UA announced that YBM upgrades are no longer offered as of August 21st 2025
Y/B/M Premier Instant Upgrade - How does it work? [ended 21 Aug 2025]
May 23, 2025 | 4:08 pm
#601
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,292
May 23, 2025 | 4:12 pm
#602
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA LT Plat 2MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 72,961
At least it is not what DL has done with its WN-like fare structure.
May 23, 2025 | 6:23 pm
#603
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus. Eurobonus Millionaire
Posts: 38,613
Likely the uniform fare lettering for economy across *A created barriers in this exercise. Something had to give and it was Instant Upgrade. Not defending UA, UA has been adding new options over the years and in their wisdom it was time for Instant Upgrade to go, so it could offer these other options.
At least it is not what DL has done with its WN-like fare structure.
At least it is not what DL has done with its WN-like fare structure.
uld have divided Y/B/M in a different fashion, say M for E+ and domestic PP fares -- and then only done instant upgrades from Y/B ... or some other combination, without getting rid of instant upgrades altogether.
May 23, 2025 | 6:38 pm
#604
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 25,579
You’re giving UA way too much credit. It’s far more likely that nobody thought about the consequences.
I suspect that B was used because so few people bought B fares. Y could not be used — remember, they zero out the B bucket now if E+ is full, so Y4 B0 M4 has become a thing — and there are some markets where M fares still come up semi-frequently.
The inventory component is the only reason they needed a separate booking class in the first place, incidentally.
UA could easily have made changes without affecting *A "uniformity" (such as it is). They culd have divided Y/B/M in a different fashion, say M for E+ and domestic PP fares -- and then only done instant upgrades from Y/B ... or some other combination, without getting rid of instant upgrades altogether.
uld have divided Y/B/M in a different fashion, say M for E+ and domestic PP fares -- and then only done instant upgrades from Y/B ... or some other combination, without getting rid of instant upgrades altogether.The inventory component is the only reason they needed a separate booking class in the first place, incidentally.
May 24, 2025 | 2:16 pm
#605
Flyertalk Evangelist, Moderator: United Airlines MileagePlus
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL DM, UA Nostalgist, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 16,101
Actually, in nearly all domestic markets, UA now publishes differentially priced refundable fares as part of the fare family. This is generally a change since COVID, when it was instead such that all fares above a certain level were simply refundable.
May 26, 2025 | 1:00 pm
#606
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 220
Without instant upgrade, what is the point of PN/PZ class? Can PlusPoints upgrade pass the upgrade waitlist? If not, then no matter whether PN/PZ is available or not, everyone has to pay PP or mileage+copay to waitlist the upgrade anyway.
May 26, 2025 | 1:28 pm
#607
Join Date: Dec 2022
Programs: UA1K
Posts: 774
Yes, if you use miles or pluspoints (regardless of status) when PZ is open you will immediately clear the upgrade. If you’re GS, then it will clear as long as PN is open.
May 26, 2025 | 3:19 pm
#608
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 220
Just want to confirm does the original fare class matter? Even if one book say G class and found PZ open, they can use mile or PlusPoints (regardless of status) to get immediately upgraded, is this true?
May 26, 2025 | 3:20 pm
#609
Join Date: Dec 2022
Programs: UA1K
Posts: 774
as long as it’s not basic economy. the other way fare class will matter is determining how many miles/pluspoints will be required to upgrade
May 26, 2025 | 5:17 pm
#610
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,292
+Ps: yes. Miles there may be co-pays that will depend on route, booking class + status.
May 27, 2025 | 5:08 am
#611
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KARB
Programs: DL 2MM
Posts: 26,823
UA could easily have made changes without affecting *A "uniformity" (such as it is). They culd have divided Y/B/M in a different fashion, say M for E+ and domestic PP fares -- and then only done instant upgrades from Y/B ... or some other combination, without getting rid of instant upgrades altogether.
uld have divided Y/B/M in a different fashion, say M for E+ and domestic PP fares -- and then only done instant upgrades from Y/B ... or some other combination, without getting rid of instant upgrades altogether.
Jun 2, 2025 | 5:21 pm
#614
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: 1K
Posts: 789
I have a flight booked in B on August 28th - no inventory available for instant upgrade. Will this new rule apply to me if *ticketed* before that date, or is it based on travel date?
The reason I ask is because I need to apply plus points and unsure if I should apply to the domestic legs...
The reason I ask is because I need to apply plus points and unsure if I should apply to the domestic legs...
Jun 2, 2025 | 5:39 pm
#615
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,292
I have a flight booked in B on August 28th - no inventory available for instant upgrade. Will this new rule apply to me if *ticketed* before that date, or is it based on travel date?
The reason I ask is because I need to apply plus points and unsure if I should apply to the domestic legs...
The reason I ask is because I need to apply plus points and unsure if I should apply to the domestic legs...