RichardInSF

This is on an upcoming domestic flight IAD-SFO on a 2-class 767. Out of the blue, it went from NC0 to NC9. NF remains at 0.

I cannot upgrade either using a regional upgrade or through UDU. Reservations won't do it, .com won't do it. Reservations says that this flight number continues GVA-IAD-SFO, although there is a change of plane at IAD, and the NC has been allocated solely to allow international passengers to upgrade, but not anyone domestic.

Seems rather weird to me, but if that's the case, it's another downgrade as this 1k has never encountered this before. Do I need to keep calling, was it the agent? If so, what do I say?

Thanks in advance for your help!

fastair

That is nothing new. NC as well as C is not to be used for domestic continuations of Intl thru flights. At NC9, if there are really 9 or more seats, I think IM may have a glitch, especially if it went from 0 to 9. I would expect, if the system is working properly and there are at least 9 seats for some to trickle up to NF.

If it is a glitch and it doesn't fix itself, just think you most likely won't need any instrument to upgrade at the gate unless your status has fallen significantly to put you behind the others at the gate.

Often1

It's not new by any means and isn't about status, it's about revenue. UA sells the GVA-SFO UG because that's an intl. itinerary. UDU comes after the fact. As a 1K, you are still on the UDU list and will continue in whatever position you have.

UA may free up seats for domestic itineraries as the departure date approaches. And, if there are any seats left when the flight departs GVA, those, of course become available for the domestic segment.

Folks who thought that UDU was a great thing only thought about half the equation. It's a freebie so it comes last.

You face: 1) The anecdotally the toughest UG in the UA system (IAD-SFO); 2) intl. routing so paid F & C inbound all flow into domestic F; 3) fewer F seats due to capacity cuts (although your particular aircraft has 34); 4) Below GS, which in DC can hurt.

That's the good news. This really manifests itself in 2012 when the new MP program prioritizes fare bucket over status level other than for GS. Thus, any *A status in Y beats out 1K in discounted bucket (below Y/B/M).

RichardInSF

Thanks for the answers. I have had ExpertFlyer watching the flight and yes, it reported that it indeed jumped from NC0 to NC9 between tests. First is wide open on the flight and the flight as a whole is only 75% booked according to res.

It's not just UDU, I can't use a regional upgrade either.

The real good news is that thanks to all the cuts in perqs for 1k's, I won't be flying UA nearly as much next year. It may well be that no one else is better, but I'm going to try to find out.

Joshua

Is it confirmed that Star Silver and Star Gold on Y/B/M will trump 1K on W, etc. fares?

UA-NYC

It was over a year ago, but an agent once forced a WL'd domestic segment for me to capture positive NC space (since NF was zero). Might be a YMMV situation with a different agent.

JeffS

The following for UDU applies to 2012 benefits:

Y/B/M instant upgrades that weren’t confirmed in advance (sorted by fare class then premier tier)
Paid upgrades (i.e. GPUs, RPUs and mileage upgrades) sorted by status, fare class, and date of waitlist
All remaining premier customers by status, then fare class

exerda

Quick question: I've seen recently 2-class flights with D & Z fares for sale (e.g. DEN-IAD was one). Yes, it was a first segment of a "direct" flight onward to Europe. So the D & Z fares shouldn't have been offered for sale for that segment, either, right? (Only F / A should have been offered?)


UA/CO *G and *S, yes.

As for other airlines' *G & *S, I don't think that's been confirmed. I'd be a bit disappointed if so, because that's rewarding other airlines' elites ahead of UA's own elites.

mahasamatman

Is there actually a D or Z fare filed? Or are you just looking at the buckets?

Often1

Yes, it's in the posted rules for 2012 on UA's website.

UA-NYC

I don't see any reference whatsoever to non-UA/CO elites getting auto-upgrades on YBs

http://www.mileageplusmergerupdates....gradesOverview

You can be a *G/*S, but not a member of Mileage Plus - so why would you get access to the Mileage Plus upgrade system?

sbm12

And you won't. Because they don't.

Bonehead

I think that the two-class 76s simply do not have a 'C" bucket available domestically since they have only Y and F cabins (At least that's how I think about it). As mentioned, the only reason there's any NC is due to having to accommodate connecting "C" passengers...right, guys?

exerda

They were available for booking on a couple of flights that day, based on a dummy booking I did to see what the cost would be (which showed a D fare for one flight and a Z for the other). One was a 752 and the other a ghetto bird 763. Seems like the Z came in somewhere around $1100 and the D around $1500, but I could be completely wrong on the prices--I wasn't about to pay for either.

(Only reason I checked was a CSR I was trying to talk into doing a SDC onto one of them said Y wasn't available, but if I wanted to pay the fare difference to "discounted business," I could do so but that it probably wasn't worth it to do so. I tried to do a one-way, business booking out of curiosity and was offered an F or A fare on most flights, but D & Z on those two.)

Often1

Non UA/CO *A don't qualify for UDU at all. And, unless something changes, which it won't, they won't in 2012 either.