mh3265a

ANYONE that is having these upgrade issues within their upgrade timeframe when R>0 needs to PM UAInsider so they can look into the matter. There are still issues with system integration and they need to know about these problems.

Bonehead

From my reading of the various upgrade-related threads over the last week, I have concluded that there are at least two possibilities for upgrades not clearing within one's window when R/RN>0:


1) 2) Out-of-sync (or whatever) reservations that stop the CPU process in its tracks on some (many?) flights, as described by Shannon (UA Insider). She said that integration has vastly increased the number of such reservations in the system.

Once this all gets sorted, it will be interesting to see whether the "problem" essentially disappears. It was my experience pre-integration that, in general, flights with RN (or its equivalent at the time) at sweep time always had that inventory reduced. Knocking wood...

000123UA

I'd be willing to guess that on your average A319 ORD-SFO there are 2-4 people on paid F and as many as 5 on B/Y fares, if for no other reason than the flights are full and that's how IM works. That accounts for all of the F seats, without considering any GM or lower elites that may be using an instrument. Again, not taking a position on whether it is good or bad; just different.

I fail to see how this could possibly be true. Theoretically, there are a greater number of potential passengers ahead of a 1K traveling on an H fare on the upgrade list than before March 3. I am of the strong opinion that the empirical data will prove out the theory. Again, again, not taking a position on whether it is good or bad, but it is different from before.

thach1ef

I'd love to understand why you think this. I do not see 1 change that is in a positive direction from a 1k perspective.

star_world

Free changes approx. +/- 24 hours around your original flight is a major one.

cooltraveler

It really does boggle the mind that most of us know the rules and nuances to the elite program better than most of the United employees!

I think all the agents should be given an exam every now and then to make sure they are up to speed with the information. Granted, it's not a job that requires certification like some professional occupations, but it's an important element of the airline business. It's a shame that we have to sometimes call two or three agents to get one that is familiar and knowledgeable. Maybe they could promote an incentive of sorts to agents who pass with flying colors.

And maybe we could come up with the questions in a quiz format! I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples that would make for excellent testing material found here on this forum...

mnmme

Nope, unless your putting a ton of business $$$ it still isn't enough miles a year to blow on mileage upgrades.

thach1ef

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. That sentence doesn't make sense to me.

Beerman92

I think it refers to the ability to confirm a flight change onto another flight at 24 hours prior to departure. PMUA was much shorter (4 hours I think)

thach1ef

Ah I see. Well if that's what he was referring too, I'd hardly call that a major change. That change is a special circumstance change. There have been tons of negative changes that effect every single flight you take.

Beerman92

I'm not trying to argue semantics but I'd characterize it that there have been a fair number of changes that may or may not cause a ton of turmoil with any given itinerary or ticket. So some are having pretty bad experiences while some are having few, if any problems.

I'm sure that means nothing to a pax who is going through the bad experiences. They don't care that 80% (pick a number from 0 to 100 I don't care) of pax have few to no problems but they are in the 20% having problems.

mh3265a

Fair enough but the only to prove one or both of these theories is to PM UAInsider with specific examples so they can continue to try and address this matter

ijgordon

There's no reason to PM them on #1. They've already stated that the CPU process does not map to the R/RN bucket. In other words, the availability of R/RN does not ensure that any CPUs will clear, even when the "sweep" runs.

While R/RN may give an indication of CPU availability, it does not guarantee it.

NickP 1K

This was in another thread I posted to:
THESE DO NOT USE R INVENTORY - PEOPLE STOP SPREADING FALSE INFO!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just did a ticket from SNA-EWR-SNA that was M fare and instant upgrade.

My ticket was issued by our corporate travel agent so even though not united.com originated upgrades online were available

You have to click on the Instant Upgrade link BELOW the itin ; NOT try to click Upgrades on the Res Tools bar as that will apply other instruments/miles/money - WARNING: INSTANT UPGRADES DO NOT SEEM TO BE AUTOMATIC!!! YOU MUST GO INTO THE RECORD AND CLICK THE INSTANT UPGRADE LINK

What I see is this:

PN is needed for B/M Instant upgrades
JN for Y Instant upgrades

PN seems to match ZN which is standard First/Biz Awards - This also seem to match regular farecodes A and P

JN seems to match regular seat availability in F - so a Y instant farecode upgrade means if a rev seat is available it's yours (so it seems)

On my flight I saw the following on Rev fares/regular farecodes:
F5, A3, P3

On Award codes I saw:
PN3, ZN3, JN5

Upon confirming the upgrade on the link, A, P, PN and ZN all went down to 2

On these flights R and RN were zero'd out which are used for GPU (SWU), RPU (CR-1) and miles (RN for Elites) ; so if I used an instrument it would have gone to a waitlist

Hope this sheds some light - BTW Expertflyer.com shows all new combined UA inventory perfectly

Red_Rob

I stated that
A) PMCO upgrade rates were good for Plats
B) New UA should be better (than PMCO Plats)
I was NOT comparing overall to PMUA.

Basically the rules are the same as PMCO, but as a new 1K you rank ahead of many legacy Plats (75-99K). Given similar rules, and a more exclusive status, upgrades should be better (than PMCO, which I mentioned were pretty good).

The likely big losers for upgrades are PMCO fliers from 75-99K. Winners are PMUA fliers from 75-99K and PMCO fliers at 100K plus.

If you have data showing low upgrade rates (relatively) for PMCO Plats historically, that would obviously negatively impact my hypothesis. My upgrade rates for a few years as a PMCO Plat (before I made Pres Plat) were around 85%. With most missed upgrades in Dec-Feb (should be Decc-Jan going forward) when elites were inflated before some fell off the rolls.