Question on Using CO miles for UA int'l upgrade
 

Hi all, long time very appreciative lurker here :)

Here's the scenario, all UA flights (B fare class):

outbound: EWR->SFO->SYD (9/6)
inbound: SYD->SFO->EWR (9/10)

My miles are with CO and have plenty to spring for the upgrade.

I booked this with my corporate travel agent (only permitted to book upgradeable economy) with the only instructions of it being an upgradeable *A fare, so she booked me on UA with a B fare and said they could not confirm the upgrade and basically I would have to go to Continental's website and try for the upgrade every day.

I just tried (through their "Redeem OnePass Miles for Upgrade Awards on Star Alliance Partners" page) and sure enough...no upgrade available.

Is this correct? Seems like a huge PITA. Assuming I do this, do I have any shot at getting the upgrade?

Anybody have a different suggestion or a better approach. Don't care which airline as long as I can use CO miles to upgrade.

Thanks for any insights or thoughts!

Yes, this is a sucky system. There is no option to wait list for the upgrade.
However, it lets you buy a (high) economy fare and upgrade.
I have had success upgrading on LH flights with CO miles this way.

If this ticket will not be canceled, you simply have to keep trying this every day. (or simply use some tool to watch for upgrade-bucket seats on UA).
As soon as you see a seat open up, call CO Star Desk and confirm the upgrade.

You can try going the "long way" through LAX-BKK-SYD on TG. however, the problem is the same no matter what way you go.

One option is to first find out if any route (on a star airline) has the upgrade bucket seats available for your dates. Then call in to buy the B fare through your agent.

Look at: TG and NH options for sure.
Also, I see there is a YVR-SYD on AC.

Remember = Dont bother looking at SQ. No one can upgrade on SQ's newer aircraft.
Air NZ upgrade seats are also very hard to come by....according to the forums.

Awesome info!!! Thank you so much snod08 for your suggestions!!!
Cheers!

PS - any suggestions on a fare bucket tool to check?

Also not sure how to do this on UAL's site....when I do a search, some results say "upgrade may be available" which doesn't really tell me what I want to know.

You are welcome.

BTW, WELCOME TO FT jerseyvette!

Will your travel rules permit you to fly "Premium economy"?

Air NZ (to AKL) and TG (LAX-BKK-SYD) have true premium economy products that are priced between business and high economy fares.
These products have nicely reclining seats, separate meal service (compared to economy).

Thanks again snod08, I checked w/ both TG and ANZ and for TG, they only had PE available on the LAX to BKK routes and ANZ didn't have it all all :(

But thanks for the info (and the welcome!)...much appreciated.
Cheers!

If you're going UA, and you're willing to go to JFK, then you'll at least get a much better ride in C JFK-SFO than you will in F on EWR-SFO, and the upgrade is far, far more likely to clear.

Thanks for the advice UA...I can do JFK, but honestly, I do so many EWR to SFO trips (office is in Sunnyvale) that the East to West flight doesn't phase me. It's really the SFO-SYD and reverse leg that I'm gunning for.

I signed up for the KVS tool (per research on FT) and it is showing the following:

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- -------- ---- -------- --- -- -------------
UA 863 SFO 22:58 SYD 06:25 744 0 FS- CS- YS+

So if I'm reading this correctly, there's no upgrade availability for First or Business (assuming this means using miles for upgrade OR full ticket). Am I reading this right guys?

The availability you have posted is actually for UA awards, not upgrades. Please consult the table at http://Help.KVSTool.com/#Classes to determine the upgrade booking classes and which KVS Tool Method you need to use for that.

I just saw this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...y-service.html
Perhaps TG is best avoided if you are paying a high fare...it says, that now, TG gives out the same food in pretty much all classes, and same blankets!!
:td::td:

Very useful info about UA booking codes can be found here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-each-one.html

Below is stuff from the thread referenced above:

QUOTE:
There are special "new" (to us!) classes UA uses that show on this and other similar sites, that need "translating" into terms and award classes we understand. And that UA staff understand - most have little or no clue what "X" or "I" class is, as they are referred to verbally and printed on boarding passes etc as "NF" and "NC" etc.


'R' = XF = First Class - free ticket using miles
'X' = NF = First Class UPGRADE from Business*
'O' = XC = Business Class - free ticket using miles
'I' = NC = Business Class UPGRADE from Economy
'N' = XY = Economy Class - free ticket using miles

"NY" is a special USA/Caribbean/Central American AWARD for 1Ks only - 25,000 RT for lower 48. 35K Caribbean/Central America etc, 40K Hawaii - as far as I can determine. Often easier to get than XY. Indeed the 3 agents I phoned on this tell me there is seldom an issue getting NY seats. (And update - FT reports from July 2009 confirm special "NY" award bucket for 1K/GS, now covers most, if not all, UA worldwide routes!)


You will then see a series of codes like this (but more extensive of course) for each flight:

R4 - X4 - O1 - I5 - N7

END OF QUOTE.

That thread has a huge primer on UA upgrades. Please read. Thanks.

Thanks KVS for the response!
I am not very good at decoding the various fare classes on various airlines.

Yes, you are.

Just so you're aware, the data that you're paying for is freely available. There was no need to pay for it if you don't want to.

Actually the OP is looking in the correct place for partner upgrade awards since I'm pretty sure those come out of what's published into *Net for award inventory, not the UA upgrade inventory.

Awesome customer service once again. :rolleyes:
But only relevant if using UA miles for the upgrade. Since the OP is trying to use their CO miles things are different.

Thats true!! Thanks for picking that up!

Not according to the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-...g-classes.html thread.

If you know of a more authoritative source for this, please provide a link.

Thank you.

Considering that the information in that thread suggest that X on UA is both economy award and F upgrade inventory I'm pretty comfortable in my belief that it is at least somewhat askew. Oh, and there's the part in that thread that states quite clearly, "If looking on a CRS or via other carriers, you still need to look/book O I and X (Star Standard) classes for UA rewards." Since the OP is looking for CO upgrades they are going to be using the standard classes and need to be looking at what is exposed to partners. That's why using the ANA data is most reliable for them.

Care to disagree further?


Not so much in picking up on sarcasm, huh? :rolleyes: