Agent Confusion Regarding FC Standby (Paid First Ticket Standby ONLY for F, NOT Y)
#1
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Agent Confusion Regarding FC Standby (Paid First Ticket Standby ONLY for F, NOT Y)
Late last week had a PIT-IAH-DEN return in Z, and arrived at IAH early enough to catch the 7:XX flight rather than the booked 10:XX one to DEN
Flight was J0 booked 20/20 but App showed only 19 checked in at about T-40.
Asked agent if I could standby for FC since there was a decent chance that a seat would open up due to a no-show. Both GAs insisted repeatedly that I would have to clear into Y first (flight was also Y0) and by then one of the 58 folks waiting to upgrade would snag that seat. I insisted politely but firmly that I had a paid FC ticket and should be able to standby directly into FC.
After calling a supervisor the GA called me over, said "you were right, I was wrong" and handed me that FC boarding pass.
I sort of knew that I had a shot when the GA responded "Yes" to the supervisor's key question several times, which was "does the passenger have a paid FC ticket?".
Was nice to get home at 11:45 PM instead of closer to 2 AM.
By the way, I ended up showing as having been upgraded to FC for some reason (even though I remained in Z), so maybe this is a data point regarding those mysterious last-minute upgrades that suddenly appear out of nowhere, annoying whomever is #1 on the list.
Flight was J0 booked 20/20 but App showed only 19 checked in at about T-40.
Asked agent if I could standby for FC since there was a decent chance that a seat would open up due to a no-show. Both GAs insisted repeatedly that I would have to clear into Y first (flight was also Y0) and by then one of the 58 folks waiting to upgrade would snag that seat. I insisted politely but firmly that I had a paid FC ticket and should be able to standby directly into FC.
After calling a supervisor the GA called me over, said "you were right, I was wrong" and handed me that FC boarding pass.
I sort of knew that I had a shot when the GA responded "Yes" to the supervisor's key question several times, which was "does the passenger have a paid FC ticket?".
Was nice to get home at 11:45 PM instead of closer to 2 AM.
By the way, I ended up showing as having been upgraded to FC for some reason (even though I remained in Z), so maybe this is a data point regarding those mysterious last-minute upgrades that suddenly appear out of nowhere, annoying whomever is #1 on the list.
Last edited by Bonehead; Dec 17, 2018 at 9:03 am
#2
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Both GAs insisted repeatedly that I would have to clear into Y first (flight was also Y0) and by then one of the 58 folks waiting to upgrade would snag that seat. I insisted politely but firmly that I had a paid FC ticket and should be able to standby directly into FC.
After calling a supervisor the GA called me over, said "you were right, I was wrong" and handed me that FC boarding pass.
After calling a supervisor the GA called me over, said "you were right, I was wrong" and handed me that FC boarding pass.
I don't believe there is any way to stand by for first class -- there's just the one standby list.
However, once you cleared standby, you should have gone to the front of the upgrade list, given that you were on a FC ticket. So, if they processed the standby list before the upgrade list, you would have ended up in first class anyway.
I think what happened is that they realized that the correct thing to do was to give you the seat, and they tinkered with the system enough to make it work. That may be why you showed up as a cleared upgrade; that may also be a total red herring, given how messed up the upgrade list has been recently.
I'm glad to hear UA did the right thing, though.
#3
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But if the OP had a paid F ticket and there was an F seat available on another flight, they shouldn't have to go on standby - it should be treated as simply changing to a different flight. I understand that initially the OP wasn't sure if the F seat was available, but clearly it was since they were given a boarding pass immediately after the GA got the clarification from the supervisor.
#4
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But if the OP had a paid F ticket and there was an F seat available on another flight, they shouldn't have to go on standby - it should be treated as simply changing to a different flight. I understand that initially the OP wasn't sure if the F seat was available, but clearly it was since they were given a boarding pass immediately after the GA got the clarification from the supervisor.
Furthermore, since OP said it was J0, I think what happened is that the supervisor offloaded the passenger who hadn't checked in and then immediately processed OP into F. (I'm assuming T-30 had come and gone during the conversation).
#5
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Not sure what they did exactly, and yes, all the changes occurred inside T-30.
Is this a known fact?
Last edited by Bonehead; Dec 17, 2018 at 12:12 pm
#6
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Hmmmm...since I showed up as upgraded it would seem that I was somehow cleared into Y and upgraded, but then why did I stay on a Z fare? I had to put the GAs on notice because I'm sure that as soon as they offloaded the missing FC passenger they would have cleared #1 on the list.
It's empirically true, in that it matches the behavior that has been observed on multiple occasions. A business class passenger should get PR-1 when seated in Y and waitlisted for an upgrade. In Aero (the UI in front of SHARES used by UA gate agents), you see that list separate from the upgrades. The public UI merges them together.
That's not to say that the agent will always do everything properly to put you in the right place, but that's how it's supposed to work. I don't imagine it's documented externally, though, so I don't know that I can point to any particular location and prove to you that it's true.
#7
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It's empirically true, in that it matches the behavior that has been observed on multiple occasions. A business class passenger should get PR-1 when seated in Y and waitlisted for an upgrade. In Aero (the UI in front of SHARES used by UA gate agents), you see that list separate from the upgrades. The public UI merges them together.
That's not to say that the agent will always do everything properly to put you in the right place, but that's how it's supposed to work. I don't imagine it's documented externally, though, so I don't know that I can point to any particular location and prove to you that it's true.
That's not to say that the agent will always do everything properly to put you in the right place, but that's how it's supposed to work. I don't imagine it's documented externally, though, so I don't know that I can point to any particular location and prove to you that it's true.
Effective August 14, 2018, upgrade waitlists are processed in the following priority order:
--Premier status of the traveler
--Fare class
--Chase United MileagePlus Club cardholder
--United Corporate Preferred participant
--Time of request
https://www.united.com/web/en-us/con...S=US#cpriority
I'd love to know for sure that being on a FC ticket jumps that priority order!
Last edited by Bonehead; Dec 17, 2018 at 1:06 pm
#8
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However, if you had flown in Y, I don't know that you would have gotten the 200% PQMs without calling.
#9
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I've never seen an example of the latter.
Definitely not if relegated to an economy fare class from a FC fare class...had that happen a few months ago.
#10
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On the agent's screen, it's a separate list.
#11
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This is a constant source of frustration at AA too. The gate agents there as well want to clear you into coach and then make you clear into F even with a J/D/I ticket.
With their same day change, if you've bought a discount I (like UA P), it has to be open in that class to do a same day change.
However, if standing by should go ahead of all those passengers trying to upgrade.
With their same day change, if you've bought a discount I (like UA P), it has to be open in that class to do a same day change.
However, if standing by should go ahead of all those passengers trying to upgrade.
#12
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It's been quite a while since I've been on the standby list, usually these days if I change flights I confirm onto them directly. However back in the day when I used to standby for flights that were not confrimable right away, my experience was that the GA always cleared upgrades first then standbys. This wasn't ideal for me since, while it would let me take the earlier flight, it would not allow me to upgrade. If processed in the opposite order, I would have went to number one on the upgrade list in a number of cases. Maybe the processing order has changed in recent years, but was something that I didn't really like at the time.
#13
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It's been quite a while since I've been on the standby list, usually these days if I change flights I confirm onto them directly. However back in the day when I used to standby for flights that were not confrimable right away, my experience was that the GA always cleared upgrades first then standbys.
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Wow, someone should report the supervisor. Curious if UA reads this thread ... someone is going to get into trouble.
You can SDC into an available Z-class ... but that was not the case. Else you can SDC into Y class and then waitlist for 'Z-class' which should put you on top of the list (unless someone waitlisting for a higher fare class).
You can SDC into an available Z-class ... but that was not the case. Else you can SDC into Y class and then waitlist for 'Z-class' which should put you on top of the list (unless someone waitlisting for a higher fare class).
#15
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20 odd years ago I was flying UA TPE-SFO-YYZ on a paid F fare. The flight arrived in SFO early, and I wanted to take an earlier flight to YYZ.
There was 1 F seat available, but they refused to give it me - instead they upgraded a 1K from Y class, and offered me the Y seat.
I stopped flying UA ( all paid F transpacific) after that.
There was 1 F seat available, but they refused to give it me - instead they upgraded a 1K from Y class, and offered me the Y seat.
I stopped flying UA ( all paid F transpacific) after that.