Upgrade Priority
 

if 2 1K's are on a waitlist for an upgrade, assuming fare basis is the same, does a Million Miler trump a non-MM 1K? Does a 1k2MM trump a 1kMM and so forth?

Thanks

Prior to 3/3, the (correct) conventional wisdom was that neither MM status nor "YTD flown miles" were tie breakers in the situation you describe. While I don't think anyone knows the answer to your question in this new and "improved" merged airline - IMO, the answer is no.

COdbaUA has shown that it doesn't "really" care about benefits for MM flyers - unless they are InfiniteElites - so I don't believe they'd have changed the upgrade status list.

Others may disagree.
Dave

No. Purchase date and then check-in time break the tie, I believe. MM status does not come into play at all.

Yeah time added to the list is the tie breaker. MM status is not a factor.

IYO, is it time added to the WAITLIST, or time added to the DM upon checkin?
Agreed.

Dave

this is unclear for CPU, but for GPU/RPU/Miles pre-gate it is time of request.

Are some 1K's better than others?
 

Okay, I'm frustrated. Please help me out:

I travel with a colleague from IAD-ICN and back each month. He became a 1K for the first time a few months ago and has flown about 130K BIS this year. I have been Global Services for 4 years, and 1K for 6 years after that. I have 1.5M miles on UA, 200K BIS this year.

Since my collegaue became 1K he is ALWAYS higher than me on any of the upgrade lists. His last name starts with a G, mine with an S.

It got really ridiculous today, as we are returning from ICN:

Tickets were booked together on one PNR. Same status (1K), Same fare class (V), same ticket price. As soon as the tickets confirmed we requested upgrades. We were using SWU from the same account (mine) for the return. The PNR separated into two separate (but linked) PNR's 24 hours before departure on the outbound.

He used auto-check in for his flight and was automatically checked in for the return a T-24.

I checked in manually at T-23.

At that point the DM list looked as follows:

1. XYZ/ A
2. My colleague, Mr. G.
3. XYZ/A
4. Myself, Mrs. S.

and so on.

As we get closer to departure, people start slotting in between us. He remains no. 2 for a long time, I keep dropping. As we are on the bus to the airport, I call UA and ask them what is going on. At that point Mr G is still second, I have dropped to 8th and won't be clearing. Nobody can explain why I keep dropping, and he stays put. Remember: same status, same fare, time added is different by one hour, but that doesn't explain why people are getting between us on the list. Based on what I know they should either:

1. Be GS and slot in above Mr. G.
2. Be 1K and a higher fare and slot in above Mr. G
3. Be 1K, same fare and added to the list later and slot in below both of us.

Number 3 on the DM list makes sense: 1K on same fare who checked in after Mr. G, but before me.

2 Supervisors review this while I'm on the phone and tell me the Mr. G and myself are still adjacent on the "sequence list", and they have no idea why we are separating on the DM list. They end up putting a memo on the record for the airport staff to review the list. At the airport another supervisor looks at it and agrees it makes no sense. He ends up overriding the list and clearing me just after Mr. G, and number 3.

If I hadn't called and had it reviewed, I would have been in coach (the horror!).

Additional data point: We were cleared for first on the SFO-IAD leg at booking. On the screen at the airport they show cleared upgrades at the top of the list. Mr. G was listed as number 3 on the list, I was number 15. Those cleared at the same time several weeks back, but the priority glitch still "made the list" with 12 spaces separating us.

So:

Is there a ranking system between 1Ks (for example are 1Ks appointed by MMers less than first-hand 1Ks)?
Is there something wrong with my profile at UA that gets me bumped down the list?
Can it be fixed?

I'm puzzled and really frustrated. At first it was sort of funny that a brand new first time 1K would trump a MM 1K on the same fare, but when it results in this sort of skewing, I am no longer amused, and wondering what else I am not clearing as a result? Usually I do not have the benefit of knowing the status and fare and time added of my fellow upgraders. It seems clear that something is not right, but how can I fix it?

Froeken

Do they perhaps look at how long one has been 1K vs fare vs revenue earned overall ?

eg I'm zero now. Literally. But am thinking of doing like 4 MRs in coach on LH/UA for around $8K which can make me 1K which would make me look like peanuts in UA's eyes !

Are you now a GS?

If you are no longer a GS but a 1K, then MM status does not matter.
It is suppose to be status, fare class and time of request

Note the time can not be the same, so whoever requested first is first.

If that were the case I think Froeken would be higher on the list as she was a GS for several years.

I had the opposite happen, where I was #1 on the list and they cleared two people below me for the last remaining seats. I went up and asked and was told that they were already upgraded on an earlier flight and missconnected. I was told they showed up below me because they had lower fares, but that they upgraded them ahead of me as they had already been upgraded, so they had priority.

Sadly when I missconnected after being upgraded, and had to wait for the upgraded flight, I was not offered the same courtesy.

I really don't trust that upgrade list, or the way they mange it these days.

Why did this get moved to a GS thread? OP makes it clear that she is a 1K.

I have had this happen. Wife and I were #1 & 2 using my GPU's on same PNR and others. Started appearing between us. This was PMCO (Shares pre 3-3). CO researched, and actually told me they believed it was manually done by an overseas contract agent. I was even successful at the time getting a RCC agent to move me to #1 on the list manually (I got the battlefield upgrade post boarding).

:confused:Nope, a 1K now. I see that MM status does not matter, I just included the info for a complete picture. So with Status, fare, and time added being the criteria, how are we becoming separated? We were added an hour apart with one person between us. At that point, I would have thought that we would travel up and down the list together (with one person between us).

Did it keep happening to you, or was it a one-time occurrence? In other words, do i need to call UA and have them do something with my account, or will this likely not happen next time?

Do either of you have a United-branded Chase card?

No.
Is your colleague's ticket number earlier in sequence than yours? Even on the same PNR tickets are issued in order, not simultaneously.
Pretty sure that view is alphabetical, not order in which they cleared.

Shouldn't matter.