Feb 22, 2017, 12:57 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Active thread Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Waitilisting for awards
Click for the current rules from United
Member experiences:
At the airport if you have not yet cleared:
Note: The correct priority term here may in fact be a code that is one of WAI, WBI, WCI, or WDI depending on status. The is per GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
Note: PR-1 status is given to those who "paid" the requisite miles for an upgraded seat (i.e. biz) when only the non-upgraded space (i.e. coach) was available. The PR-1 status is to clue the system (and agents) in so that it is clear that you have been "displaced." (NOTE: once you have obtained PR-1 status, should there be any change to your ticket, e.g., an involuntary reroute by UA due to missing a connection, the PR-1 status will most likely get dropped and you must have it reattached (esp. before any UGs are given to others).
Unfortunately at T-24, many GAs do not get this concept. Use the above to plead your case but be prepared to be unsatisfied. One method that can get you to a higher level of understanding is the UC. Their staff seem to not only have a better understanding of the issues, but they can contact the gate and exert some influence on the less informed GAs, AND they seem to have more of an interest in helping PAX. If you can get into the UC, it will be worth your while.
**Note: If you get the UG on the long haul, the higher level of award miles you are using (like with the GPU) are considered used up regardless of the short haul. You will not be charged the lower level # of miles (i.e. refunded the diff between the lower level and the higher level you paid in advance), rather the higher level award miles will be considered spent. That is the risk you take when you do Plan B.
Waitilisting for awards
Click for the current rules from United
From the above link:You may redeem miles for travel in United Global First, United First, United Business or United BusinessFirst, even if the space is not available. In these cases, United Economy in the same award type must be confirmed, and the front cabin will be waitlisted. If the courtesy waitlist does not clear, it will expire 24 hours before itinerary departure, and you will automatically be added to the airport upgrade standby list upon check-in. In these cases, you will be confirmed on a space-available basis by a United airport representative at the gate once the flight has closed for check-in. For United BusinessFirst and United Business travel awards, the difference in miles will be refunded when the United BusinessFirst or United Business class segment of the trip could not be confirmed. Waitlist requests may only be made over the phone with your local United Customer Contact Center.
- You must have a confirmed segment to wait list for different cabin and/or a different flight.
- Can only waitlist for UA/UX operated flight, cannot waitlist for partner flights. Can waitlist for UA/UX flights on a mixed itin.
- Maximum number of WL segments in a PNR is 2.
- When confirmed segment is on a partner, you can waitlist for UA operated alternative.A report of being refused waitlisting for Economy{mixed reports - need further confirmation/clarification}.
At the airport if you have not yet cleared:
Note: The correct priority term here may in fact be a code that is one of WAI, WBI, WCI, or WDI depending on status. The is per GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
The agent should give you “PR-1 status” which gives you top-priority status and moves you to the very top of the upgrade standby list, ahead of employees and everyone else trying to upgrade with miles+cash. If one agent won’t put you on the list as a displaced Business class passenger with PR-1 status then find another one who will. With this status the odds of you getting a business class are very high if there are still open seats (or if anybody no-shows).
If the agents in the airport are all clueless you should direct them to look
up “gg onestandby” in their system (they’ll know exactly what this is)
and look around lines 85-89 which spell out the details of the procedure for
this award.
If the agents in the airport are all clueless you should direct them to look
up “gg onestandby” in their system (they’ll know exactly what this is)
and look around lines 85-89 which spell out the details of the procedure for
this award.
Unfortunately at T-24, many GAs do not get this concept. Use the above to plead your case but be prepared to be unsatisfied. One method that can get you to a higher level of understanding is the UC. Their staff seem to not only have a better understanding of the issues, but they can contact the gate and exert some influence on the less informed GAs, AND they seem to have more of an interest in helping PAX. If you can get into the UC, it will be worth your while.
**Note: If you get the UG on the long haul, the higher level of award miles you are using (like with the GPU) are considered used up regardless of the short haul. You will not be charged the lower level # of miles (i.e. refunded the diff between the lower level and the higher level you paid in advance), rather the higher level award miles will be considered spent. That is the risk you take when you do Plan B.
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues [ARCHIVE]
Oct 1, 2018, 11:01 am
#2626
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 3
And on top of this, the miles form my last waitlist have not been returned to my account automatically. I called and was told to submit a request online with the ticket details.
I dont think I checked in the previous cases whether the miles were returned, so now I need to go back through 2 years to check it.
This "feature" of the program is going from a simple disappointment to a real negative.
I dont think I checked in the previous cases whether the miles were returned, so now I need to go back through 2 years to check it.
This "feature" of the program is going from a simple disappointment to a real negative.
Oct 1, 2018, 12:25 pm
#2627
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K; DL DM; IHG Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 237
I thought waitlisting for a UA flight in economy (when you are confirmed on an award ticket with partner flights in economy) was no longer possible --based upon the first 10 pages of this thread.
Decided to call the Premier Desk and give it a shot anyway.
Agent was able to waitlist me on UA180 HKG-EWR. Original award ticket was HKG-HND // NRT-YUL-EWR.
Question: if this clears, will I be notified? Will it be automatic?
Initially, I thought it would be like SQ, where they notify you if it clears, and you have to call them to finalize the process. But I don't know how this works on UA. I don't want them to clear me if I get a crappy seat.
Anyone know?
Decided to call the Premier Desk and give it a shot anyway.
Agent was able to waitlist me on UA180 HKG-EWR. Original award ticket was HKG-HND // NRT-YUL-EWR.
Question: if this clears, will I be notified? Will it be automatic?
Initially, I thought it would be like SQ, where they notify you if it clears, and you have to call them to finalize the process. But I don't know how this works on UA. I don't want them to clear me if I get a crappy seat.
Anyone know?
Oct 1, 2018, 1:32 pm
#2628
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: UA 1K; *G and *A Top 1000; HHonors Diamond; *$ Gold; Global Entry
Posts: 2,272
Lufthansa Connecting Flight
Is it possible to waitlist for an earlier connecting flight operated by LH?
I have a HND-MUC-STR Business award flight booked. Not looking forward to the four hour layover at MUC. However, there is a MUC-STR flight departing earlier that would give me only a two hour layover. Would prefer that instead.
I have a HND-MUC-STR Business award flight booked. Not looking forward to the four hour layover at MUC. However, there is a MUC-STR flight departing earlier that would give me only a two hour layover. Would prefer that instead.
Oct 1, 2018, 1:57 pm
#2629
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
I thought waitlisting for a UA flight in economy (when you are confirmed on an award ticket with partner flights in economy) was no longer possible --based upon the first 10 pages of this thread.
Decided to call the Premier Desk and give it a shot anyway.
Agent was able to waitlist me on UA180 HKG-EWR. Original award ticket was HKG-HND // NRT-YUL-EWR.
Question: if this clears, will I be notified? Will it be automatic?
Initially, I thought it would be like SQ, where they notify you if it clears, and you have to call them to finalize the process. But I don't know how this works on UA. I don't want them to clear me if I get a crappy seat.
Anyone know?
Decided to call the Premier Desk and give it a shot anyway.
Agent was able to waitlist me on UA180 HKG-EWR. Original award ticket was HKG-HND // NRT-YUL-EWR.
Question: if this clears, will I be notified? Will it be automatic?
Initially, I thought it would be like SQ, where they notify you if it clears, and you have to call them to finalize the process. But I don't know how this works on UA. I don't want them to clear me if I get a crappy seat.
Anyone know?
Is it possible to waitlist for an earlier connecting flight operated by LH?
I have a HND-MUC-STR Business award flight booked. Not looking forward to the four hour layover at MUC. However, there is a MUC-STR flight departing earlier that would give me only a two hour layover. Would prefer that instead.
I have a HND-MUC-STR Business award flight booked. Not looking forward to the four hour layover at MUC. However, there is a MUC-STR flight departing earlier that would give me only a two hour layover. Would prefer that instead.
Oct 1, 2018, 2:35 pm
#2630
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: UA 1K; *G and *A Top 1000; HHonors Diamond; *$ Gold; Global Entry
Posts: 2,272
Last time I had a waitlist clear, an agent assigned seats (into the 7CD block on an E75 no less!) and left me a voicemail about it. The default action will be to confirm the waitlisted segment and de-sync the PNR to flag it for human review to delete the other confirmed segments, so a human should get involved at some point.
No. You can only waitlist UA-operated flights.
No. You can only waitlist UA-operated flights.
Oct 1, 2018, 3:00 pm
#2631
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
Oct 1, 2018, 8:15 pm
#2632
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K; DL DM; IHG Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 237
Last time I had a waitlist clear, an agent assigned seats (into the 7CD block on an E75 no less!) and left me a voicemail about it. The default action will be to confirm the waitlisted segment and de-sync the PNR to flag it for human review to delete the other confirmed segments, so a human should get involved at some point.
Oct 1, 2018, 8:22 pm
#2633
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
@findark, so when they left you a voicemail, was it to tell you that they've already confirmed your waitlisted segments, or to double check to make sure you still want them to make the switch? There may not be any more bulkhead seats by the time my waitlisted segment clears
I don't do this all the time so I can't promise my experience is typical. The only guarantee is that the computer will confirm your new segment and stick the "out of sync" notification on your PNR.
Oct 2, 2018, 10:38 am
#2634
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: United 1K - Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8
41 out of 60 booked for my flight and United hasn’t opened any R space. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Obviously I will clear, but I’ve noticed in the past 2 months they’ve not been opening very many R space prior to the flight.
Just realized because they haven’t cleared me I won’t be able to go in the Polaris lounge....
*edit
now cleared within the 24 hour window. Didn’t think they could do that? Oh well ^
Just realized because they haven’t cleared me I won’t be able to go in the Polaris lounge....
*edit
now cleared within the 24 hour window. Didn’t think they could do that? Oh well ^
Last edited by scotsman8; Oct 2, 2018 at 5:28 pm
Oct 2, 2018, 8:14 pm
#2635
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K; DL DM; IHG Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 237
I called them back today to ask what the procedure was.
The agent I spoke to told me they wouldn't be able to make the change without first contacting me, because there would be a difference in taxes they'd have to charge/credit me for before they could finalize the switch.
Seems plausible since I'm going from paying taxes at 3 different airports to just one.
Hope it's true...
The agent I spoke to told me they wouldn't be able to make the change without first contacting me, because there would be a difference in taxes they'd have to charge/credit me for before they could finalize the switch.
Seems plausible since I'm going from paying taxes at 3 different airports to just one.
Hope it's true...
Oct 2, 2018, 8:19 pm
#2636
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
Interesting. I think in my case it was from a one-stop to a nonstop and I never did receive my extra AY back 
Oct 10, 2018, 1:15 pm
#2637
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 19
Mileage Award Question
Hello,
I've booked an award flight for my wife and I from AUS - DUB next summer. We booked it as a Business class award, and the long legs are in business class. However there are a couple domestic legs that did not have business class award availability.
Is there anyway to get wait listed for the other legs?
Thanks,
-Dan
I've booked an award flight for my wife and I from AUS - DUB next summer. We booked it as a Business class award, and the long legs are in business class. However there are a couple domestic legs that did not have business class award availability.
Is there anyway to get wait listed for the other legs?
Thanks,
-Dan
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Oct 10, 2018 at 2:00 pm Reason: merged into consolidated thread
Oct 10, 2018, 1:26 pm
#2638
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,452
Yes, just call and ask to waitlist for first class. Some agents don't know how to do this and/or will claim it can't be done. You may have to call more than once to find an agent who knows how.
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Oct 10, 2018, 1:28 pm
#2639
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 19
Yes, just call and ask to waitlist for first class. Some agents don't know how to do this and/or will claim it can't be done. You may have to call more than once to find an agent who knows how.
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Great!
Thank you!
-Dan
Oct 16, 2018, 6:34 pm
#2640
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: PHX
Programs: AS MVP, HH Diamond
Posts: 3,259
Just got booked into X and waitlisted for I for a segment between two I segments. It is a UA segment. Not sure if the DP is really necessary, but thought it may give hope to others. First agent said this wasn't possible. A 1K agent was able to help with this (we're not 1K's, got lucky)