phatonycmu

Hello,
My wife and I are planning our honeymoon in SE Asia in January. Thanks to all who have contributed a ton of good info on this site. It's helped me immensely gain a basic understanding of the fare codes and process. Not easy especially since it seems that UA has changed the process and tools a few times. Also given that we are flying international, I think there are a few things that complicate the matter.

We are currently booked on S-class tickets on UA116 from HKG->EWR. At time of booking, I'm Gold, but will likely only qualify for Silver for 2013. My wife and I are flying on the same itinerary.

If my understanding is correct... I would require a 3-cabin upgrade to go from S to Business on a mileage upgrade. If I'm reading the upgrade fare code charts properly, this would require availability in either I (Saver) or JN (Standard) + a $600 co-pay per person because it's an S fare from South Asia to NA.

Fare code availability from the recently re-enabled "Expert Mode":
UA116 - HKG -> EWR, 1/19/12

J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z0, ZN0, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

My main question - I see plenty of availability in JN, but my upgrade has not cleared yet (miles deducted from my MP account and paid credit card). Can anyone explain? My only guess is that my understanding of the fare codes is wrong. I understand that my miles / $$$ will come back to me if my upgrade doesn't clear.

Secondary question - If my understanding of the fare codes is incorrect... At this point any additional "Business mileage upgrade from S" fare code availability would be capacity controlled at UA's discretion. I believe this translates to "United may open up additional seats in the "Business mileage upgrade" fare code if they are unable to sell those seats in Business. This can occur pretty much at any time between now and day of departure. Is this accurate?

Final question - Mileage upgrade awards would clear day of travel based upon status at departure time (i.e. if I'm Silver in Jan, they would let me know day-of as opposed to 48 hours with Gold).

Bonus question - Is there a snowball's chance in hell I'm not sitting in Economy Plus for a 15+ hour flight?

Sorry for the long post. I've researched for a few hours, but just am not 100% sure that I've come to the right conclusions based on my research.

UA-NYC

You're actually just looking for R space, that's the mileage+copay/GPU bucket

Search Tuesdays & Wednesdays for your general best chance of finding R space (for upgrades)

UAPremExecflyer

As UA-NYC notes, you need R availability to clear for an upgrade.
Check this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ght=find+award
And also this one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ght=find+award

QBK

It's probably best to think of international upgrades and domestic upgrades as totally separate beasts. In particular, absolutely nothing about complimentary premier upgrades can be expected to hold true for international flights.

I'm not sure what you mean by "3-cabin upgrade". United international flights have at most 3 cabins: Y (economy), J (business), and sometimes F
(Global First). S is not a cabin (it's a fare bucket/code). Economy plus is not a cabin (despite what flight attendants say). So you would be upgrading from economy to business, which is often called a 1-cabin upgrade. 2-cabin upgrades (from economy to Global First) are generally forbidden.

And, as noted by UA-NYC, all upgrades with miles or instruments clear into R. I and JN are not upgrade space, they are award space (for award tickets booked directly into business/first using miles). JN does double duty on domestic flights as "free automatic upgrades for Premier members on full Y fares".

Your upgrade hasn't cleared because there's no R space. Miles/money will come back if it doesn't clear. Sometimes R space opens up but your upgrade doesn't clear (due to system issues), in which case you should call immediately and ask for it to be cleared.

Yes. The flight should not go out with J seats empty if there is anyone on the waitlist. However, they will offer the last few seats (if there are any left) for cash upgrades on the day of departure -- possibly for less than $600. Possibly before clearing your miles/cash upgrade.

No. Upgrade windows (24, 48, 72, 96 hours) are strictly a domestic CPU thing. Mileage upgrades can clear whenever R space opens and you float to the top of the list. Or at the gate.
[/quote]

I'm not qualified to answer this, but I'm afraid I'd bet against you. Sorry.

bartonhill

I have two certificates for Biz class international travel from COs' Reward One program. I spent two hours with agent on phone and still unable to locate ANYWHERE that has R fares available in Dec. or January. Tried TLV, India, China, Brazil, Athens, Sydney. All no luck from any US gateway city. Flexible travel dates. Any suggestions?

zrs70

Are these upgrade Certs or free ticket Certs? You are looking for R inventory, so I imagine the former.

Just took a stab at Jan 16, SEA-NRT. Plenty of R space. Same for IAD-LHR on the same date. Same for LAX-LHR.

Again, those are for upgrades, not free flights.

PV_Premier

on Weds just booked ORD-FRA on 1/26 and FRA-IAD on 2/1 and both had R open (R was 3 on both flights it's now 2 or less ). check the markets with more seats (into FRA, LHR, etc) if you arent picky about where you are going.

rankourabu

maybe a KVS short term membership?

KVS is a very effective and quick look up for R fares, even if you still have to plug it in one by one.

I just found R3 to KWI on January 20 at first glance

bartonhill

The certificate is for two seats free in Biz class, but it must be on UA metal

CAPT Tee

You should be looking for I bucket. R bucket is for upgrade from coach to biz. Also, are you trying to book directly into R fare, which I don't think it can work?

bartonhill

Certificate is an ER81

Yes the certificate says it must be booked in R Class but it is impossible. The Miles plus people would not help me on this. They said they could not book flights and switched me twice to people in India who have no experience or knowledge of the particular program. Even an IM to Scott asking for help was not answered.

JetAway

How did you get these certificates? Are they old?

bartonhill

I got them in May before the CO and UA programs fully merged. All travel must be completed in one year (May 2013).

WineCountryUA

sorry you having difficulties but this is far from impossible, however on such short notice with the holiday travel, Dec & early January are going to be especially difficult

This ER81 requires R inventory (which is normally iinternal bussines class/domestic F class inventory) to book into and does require some knowledge by the agent to book. As a Plat you should be talking to the elite desk.


some past threads
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...rtificate.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...s-merging.html

R space has become more difficult to find as related in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...er-2012-a.html but it can be found to certain destinations but takes some effort to find and you need to look well in advance (and honest some understanding of how the system works).

sbm12

Not for these certs. R is the correct bucket.