RS250Racer

Have not had much time to really get into this thread but can someone tell me if they are putting miles and co-pay ahead of other instruments?

For example I have an intl trip that I booked into a cheapo fair, upgrade one way was $600 plus 30k, R space has been zero but got an email saying they could clear my upgrade, nearly a week before the flight with C showing less than 6 seats left...

Am I right in guessing they want cash plus the miles off the book instead of someone using a GPU?

United757

This was my point. I know a 2P on an M fare shouldn't be able to cut me on a G fare, but that's what it seems like!

dimramon

Was number one on the upgrade list, with F being full.
I took my seat in E+, and noticed, after the door had been closed, that there was an open seat in 2A. At that moment, the flight attendant asked me to ring my call button, walks up to me, and tells me I can take 2A.

BThumme

Hey Guys,

Had a quick question about buying upgrades and didn't want to start a new thread.

I have an interview in Houston and the company is paying to fly me down and back for the interview. The interview is thursday so the company pretty much payed full price today, for what I'm 99.9% sure are refundable tickets.

Anyways, I did a dummy booking and saw there are plenty of seats that I can upgrade "for as low as $143".

I'd be interested in booking a segement at that rate. My question is, the company bought the ticket, and I would like to pay for the upgrade via my own money, but I'm not sure how to (if I can)...is that something I have to wait til I check into and talk to a checkin or GA for? But if that's the case I'd probably be out of luck to due others getting upgraded right?

Thanks!

gooselee

My guess is the answer will depend heavily on what your actual fare class is.

However, one thing to watch out for is that the company may need a copy of your boarding pass when you arrive, and it probably ought to match their records. I fly people into our office for interviews all the time, and because of how we're funded, we must obtain paper boarding passes as proof-of-travel, and the must match the purchase (or, I'm stuck with a pile of paperwork...). This is an immense PITA, especially trying to get their return BPs or when, God forbid, someone chooses to fly WN, but alas, it has to be done.

Simplest solution is to OLCI before upgrading and keep that copy of the BP in case the company asks for it, and in fact I do this often for my own travel (same doc guidelines). Seems silly, but small step to take to make sure you're getting them what they need, esp. since you're interviewing with them!

Fredd

We've flown a lot in the past couple of weeks. We got chatting with a friendly FA at one point about some of the changes. She said they were seeing a lot more pax in F who had obviously never flown in F before, asking questions like how much the alcoholic drinks cost.

When we explained the new emphasis on selling UGs over loyalty UGs she said that explained what they were seeing. She said she missed the "regulars" because they were generally better to deal with.

kb1992

+1

Since the merger, I have seen sooooooo many rockie F pax.

Generally these are kids/parents/ who fly once a year.

Guess lots of 1K/Plat/Gold are stuck in coach.

Great work by SMI/J to generate TOD upgrade income while stabbing his loyal customers.

LASUA1K

This is not true. Every flight that I have booked this year has been Y or B. i have asked other passengers and I see alot of 1P's and 2P's buying last minute fares.

I love the confirmed upgrade and UA did not do this before. When I found the rule, i was routing thru IAH.

With the new system I'm 16 for 16. This is buying Y and B fares. I love it

Should they be selling upgrades, no not that cheap, but UA is making money and they wont realize until you stop flying them.

In some cases, that 149.00 one way upgrade is more than a 1K's cheap ticket for 250.00 round trip. UA has told the 1k's to pay or leave but 1Ks continue to fly.

This is the same as E+. They made silvers pay for it, all I heard as a silver(befor my MM). 1K's loved the move now it's biting all 1k's back.

The fact is may Premier and Gold spend more than 1Ks and UA is rewarding people buying Y and b. i take and upgrade away frk
Someone every time I fly.

Again, you want first, pay for first. I spent 16K last year as a Silver but many 1k's said silvers dont deserve E+, fly more. But i spend the same and even more than 1K's and UA is rewarding me with first.

I spen the other half on AA and WN. I fly whatever works better on mg schedule. I used to email UA every receipt from the competition. Did they care? When you add it up, AA and WN get another 16 K from me.

Either way, it sucks, silvers get no E+ and 1K's get no first.

Bring back the 500 miler upgrade way.
At the end all 1K's will have to pay for this benefit that was free in the past

colpuck

not going to read the whole thread, but I got offered at check-in a $4,369.00 upgrade.

Can anyone beat that?

Fredd

A relative was offered a $6000+ UG. He declined.

UA-NYC

I don't disagree with you - UA has basically admitted there's a lot with SHARES they just can't control at the moment at its current level of functionality, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were "irregularities" or "glitches" or whatever other euphamisms they want to use for a lack of systems control related to the UG list

PHLGovFlyer

If all of the YBM-instant upgrades and the ToD upgrades show up on the upgrade list as cleared that might explain some of the behavior.

emanon256

I bought a ToD UFC last week, yep $89 to UG BOS-DEN, and I was not on the upgrade list as cleared. A few weeks ago when I bought a $219 UFC, I was on the upgrade list as cleared. I don't know if its always the case, but it seems odd to me that a fare-difference put me on the list, while a ToD did not.

exerda

I'm seeing 30 people ahead of me waiting for the u/g, though, exclusive of those on the cleared list IIRC. I have trouble believing that 1/3 of the elites on the plane are 1P/2P/Plat who bought Y/B fares (since after all before I was behind 4-5 1Ks/GS on Y/B fares on the same flight). I think there's something else wrong.

M5Flyer

+1. Seems I rarely get a reward upgrade as a Platinum anymore unless I use miles to buy it. I miss COA.

Has anyone in Houston changed their preferred airline for long domestic trips?