I am flying from IAD-LAX 3 class out 2 class 767 back redeye.
I already cleared both ways for the upgrade (sponsored CR-1)

I can refare and get over 100 dollars back but it says " We may not be able to honor any upgrades requested prior to itinerary changes. Please re-apply for upgrades after you have completed your new trip itinerary. If you have previously purchased Economy Plus seats, this itinerary change will result in loss of those seats."

I do not want to lose my upgrades as I booked those flights as i wanted to make sure i was upgraded, esp on the 3 class out there.
what is all your expierence in refareing but not losing the upgrades?

thanks

don't do the refare online, CALL and get a human to do it. i've had no problems doing it that way, but always stress that i want to keep my upgrades. a good agent will be able to do this.

also, check online after the request has gone through to confirm that your upgrades are still there. ^

I just did an online refare a couple of days ago and my upgrades remained in place. Just check your itinerary immediately after you do the refare. I've done this a few times and my upgrade requests always remained.

Definitely call, especially with sponsored upgrades. The chances of the upgrades disappearing are too great with an online refare.

What many including I have discovered about the manual refare done by the CSR however is that the sponsored upgrade, which if done originally on the web by the owner requires no further authorization (i.e., an airport visit to sign the bluey in person) suddenly becomes "unauthorized" when the CSR does the refare on the phone. Not to alarm you, but you might not discover this until you try to do OLCI 24 hours out, when it will state "upgrade not authorized", even though the upgrade is indeed properly reserved and confirmed and shows as such on the web. There seems to be no way to determine the authorization status of the sponsorship on the web. What then happens when you get to the airport can be unpredictable, and is a risk if the original u/g owner is not also present.

For this reason I've stopped refaring tickets with sponsored upgrades unless the difference is huge. Of course, if you're traveling with the sponsor, it doesn't matter.

along with the refare voucher not showing up if you refare on on-line

AHHHHHHH I hate the ICC! I have hungup on 5 people today alone trying to refare it......theres no longer seats available BS they always throw at you.

i know the agents can refare and keep the upgrades in place!!!
why do they say they can't? ahhhhhhhh
(sorry for the rant, im just getting annoyed)

2 things:

A) Sometimes even domestic agents on the 1P line don't see the fare I've found on united.com. So, I suggest creating the PNR, place it on hold (if avail) then quote the PNR for them to view. That's worked a few times for me when they say "we don't see the fare you've quoted, sorry"

B) check the NC/NF inventory... it could get sticky if both are now at zero, theres a chance in the time between canceling your old res and creating the new one that folks on the waitlist will clear since you gave up those NC/NF seats. This has never happened to me, but the agents have warned me of the possibility.

This is very true, Starman!

I was once traveling on an itin with a sponsored upgrade when UA cancelled one of the upgraded legs, forcing me to fly on a different flight. If you can believe it, I got into a near shouting match with a SD who kept insisting that the upgrade couldn't be applied to the new itin because the sponsor hadn't authorized it! Every time I patiently tried to explain that this was ridiculous, that I was flying the same routing on different flights only because UA's metal went mechanical and that there was no reason in the world why the upgrade shouldn't be applied, he kept saying "Sir, the upgrade has not been authorized by the sponsor for this flight." Eventually I called back and got a hold of someone who knew their job.

But to the point, there are two ways to preempt problems. First, when refaring, communicate the problem to the CSR, that you're traveling on a sponsored u/g and that you want to make sure that the authorization -- and not just the upgrade -- transfers to the refared itin. After the refare is done, with the agent on the phone, check online to see if it looks all right. Even then, ask the agent whether the upgrade shows "HK" ("Holding Confirmed"), which means it's authorized. Second, be sure to use OLCI at the 24-hour mark. If there are problems with the upgrade, this is where they show up... IME, refaring an itin almost always means problems with OLCI, usually a message saying they "can't find your electronic ticket" or something like that. A phone call is needed to fix this. If there are any residual u/g authorization problems, this is also where they show up (i.e., if it won't let you check in and gives some message about unauthorized upgrades). Again, a call to UA is needed to fix it, perhaps escalating to a SD. At the end of the day, authorization should be portable between itins after refaring or irrops, so be persistent.

Bottom line: Go ahead and refare your itins with sponsored upgrades (by phone, never online), but be aware that you'll have to jump through a few more hoops to avoid unpleasantness at the airport.

I feel for you. I would never trust the ICC to do a refare, much less a refare with upgrades in the balance.

If it matters to you, be persistent, escalate to a SD, take names the entire way, and keep at it.

Sometimes fares are web-only. Sometimes agents don't know what they're talking about. It depends.

A good CSR can handle this situation. Others can't. When dealing with the 1K desk, I always make sure in advance that the upgrades will stick. When agents say, "oh yeah, I know how to do this," then I let them. If they sound iffy, I say, um, I gotta go...thanks for your help...and call back.

well 11 CSR later and 2 sups I finally got it done, refare with the upgrades still applied....

wow, just wow.....
-so the problems were cant keep the upgrade, cause they have to reissue and no NC/NF space available (which i knew, hence why I ddint want to do it online)they at least knew the price difference. I just really wish they knew how to do stuff that takes 10 seconds.
thanks for the help on this one

NEXT ISSUE!

and btw doesnt matter if your immediate family is GS or not, they wont help you if you are def not GS(which yes I knew, but thought I would give it a chance)

If your immediate family is GS, I would have them do the transaction for you!

would of but he was out of the country and couldnt get hold of him

If the upgrade is waitlisted, can a skilled CSR refare while keeping the itinerary in the same place in the PA queue?