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]
Jun 5, 2019, 7:27 pm
#2821
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: IAH & HOU
Programs: UA GS & Marriott Titanium
Posts: 443
Thanks for the quick responses! I will give it a go with an agent.
Jun 5, 2019, 7:34 pm
#2822
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 2,781
If I book ORD-LHR-FRA-FLR in XN, with the first segment on UA and the second two on LH, can I waitlist for ORD-FRA nonstop in J?
Jun 5, 2019, 8:25 pm
#2823
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
Probably not, although you could ask. The biggest concern I'd have is that if the waitlist came through, your ticket would have to be reissued, and that could be a problem if there were no longer any X space on FRA-FLR.
Jun 5, 2019, 8:30 pm
#2824
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 2,781
I've had success (with a little badgering involved) in the past with getting agents to manually change segments without revalidating partner legs, so I think that part could be done, at least.
Jun 5, 2019, 8:37 pm
#2825
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
Also -- how long ago? A couple of years ago, it was routine for agents to store partner award inventory during a change. That's no longer the case since about October 2016, if I remember right -- agents are now requiring partner availability at the time any change is made, even for flights that aren't being changed.
My suspicion is that you will not be able to convince a UA agent to do this. If you do, you'll need to watch it like a hawk and be prepared to call immediately to get it reissued if the waitlist clears. You'll then need to follow up with LH to make sure that they have the new ticket number in their system and that it appears to be valid.
If it clears two weeks prior to departure, I think you'll be fine, especially if there is still X inventory on FRA-FLR. If it clears during ORD-FRA boarding, on the other hand, you're going to be racing the clock and hoping that the gate agent at ORD knows exactly what to do. Also, you probably won't be allowed to check luggage unless your flight clears prior to check-in, due to positive passenger-bag match requirements for international travel.
Jun 5, 2019, 8:58 pm
#2826
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 2,781
Including removing a separate partner segment? UA might let you board at ORD, but that's no guarantee that LH will let you board at FRA. If the ticket isn't reissued, by the time you get to the gate at FRA, your reservation will likely have been cancelled by LH. (You can't get by with a revalidation when you're changing transfer points, and especially when you're changing the number of coupons).
Also -- how long ago? A couple of years ago, it was routine for agents to store partner award inventory during a change. That's no longer the case since about October 2016, if I remember right -- agents are now requiring partner availability at the time any change is made, even for flights that aren't being changed.
My suspicion is that you will not be able to convince a UA agent to do this. If you do, you'll need to watch it like a hawk and be prepared to call immediately to get it reissued if the waitlist clears. You'll then need to follow up with LH to make sure that they have the new ticket number in their system and that it appears to be valid.
If it clears two weeks prior to departure, I think you'll be fine, especially if there is still X inventory on FRA-FLR. If it clears during ORD-FRA boarding, on the other hand, you're going to be racing the clock and hoping that the gate agent at ORD knows exactly what to do. Also, you probably won't be allowed to check luggage unless your flight clears prior to check-in, due to positive passenger-bag match requirements for international travel.
Also -- how long ago? A couple of years ago, it was routine for agents to store partner award inventory during a change. That's no longer the case since about October 2016, if I remember right -- agents are now requiring partner availability at the time any change is made, even for flights that aren't being changed.
My suspicion is that you will not be able to convince a UA agent to do this. If you do, you'll need to watch it like a hawk and be prepared to call immediately to get it reissued if the waitlist clears. You'll then need to follow up with LH to make sure that they have the new ticket number in their system and that it appears to be valid.
If it clears two weeks prior to departure, I think you'll be fine, especially if there is still X inventory on FRA-FLR. If it clears during ORD-FRA boarding, on the other hand, you're going to be racing the clock and hoping that the gate agent at ORD knows exactly what to do. Also, you probably won't be allowed to check luggage unless your flight clears prior to check-in, due to positive passenger-bag match requirements for international travel.
This hypothetical would be for next week, so just a few days away. X seems to be fairly easy to come by that date, so I'd be willing to risk it still being there if it clears a day or two out.
Jun 7, 2019, 8:42 pm
#2827
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Programs: UA Gold 1mm, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 662
Business Award
I booked a business award (BHM-ORD-YYZ-MUC. The first two flights are on United and the last on AC. The BHM-ORD flight is single cabin so in economy class. The ORD-YYZ flight is on 737-800 and shows J9. However the ORD-YYZ flight is also booked in Economy. Should I not have First/Business on the ORD-YYZ flight?
Jun 7, 2019, 8:47 pm
#2828
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,133
Only if there's award inventory. J is not award inventory, so J9 doesn't matter. However, since you booked a Business Class award, you can call United to waitlist for Business on that segment.
Jun 7, 2019, 8:51 pm
#2829
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Programs: UA Gold 1mm, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 662
I called and the agent said I could not waitlist. The agent said I could watch the inventory and if availability showed, I could call and request business, but I could not waitlist.
Last edited by mgmsteven; Jun 7, 2019 at 9:01 pm Reason: Add new info
Jun 7, 2019, 9:34 pm
#2830
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
Assuming you booked this as a MileagePlus award, and not through a partner program, the agent is mistaken. Hang up and call again.
Jun 10, 2019, 7:42 pm
#2831
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Programs: UA Gold 1mm, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 662
Jun 11, 2019, 12:47 am
#2832
Join Date: May 2006
Location: New York, London, Sydney
Programs: United GS/2MM, DL*P, VS*G, AA*EXP, Avis CHM, Hertz Platinum, Sixt*D, HH*D, HGP*P, Starwood*P
Posts: 9,847
Has anyone done a Plan B recently? If so, did it behave as expected?
I've done two recently and the passenger ended up wayyyyyy down the u/g list at the airport, which did not seem correct. Worrisome trend, so curious to collect data points.
I've done two recently and the passenger ended up wayyyyyy down the u/g list at the airport, which did not seem correct. Worrisome trend, so curious to collect data points.
Jun 11, 2019, 7:34 am
#2833
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 1,679
Read the wiki, you may need the agent to fix it, you need to say you are a displaced business passenger and never use the word upgrade.
Jun 11, 2019, 7:47 am
#2834
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,448
Jun 11, 2019, 8:45 am
#2835
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 3
LHR - IAH
I booked an economy standard award at 70k miles, and business saver would be 60k. Upon requesting the waitlist, Agent and Supervisor are saying that I need an additional 60k in my account to get on the waitlist, and if it clears, the original 70k will be returned to my account.
Is that correct? I can get additional miles in my account, but would prefer not to transfer my Chase UR and have a large balance in my United account should it clear.
I booked an economy standard award at 70k miles, and business saver would be 60k. Upon requesting the waitlist, Agent and Supervisor are saying that I need an additional 60k in my account to get on the waitlist, and if it clears, the original 70k will be returned to my account.
Is that correct? I can get additional miles in my account, but would prefer not to transfer my Chase UR and have a large balance in my United account should it clear.