bluedemon211

Currently in C, offer to F for $989. What is crazy about this is the flight is F6FN6A6ON5...........they are sold out in Y and C. Everyone on the upgrade list is a non-Rev (on the S/B, business, and first lists). If they were to offer a reasonable price (~$500 I would bite). But $1,000 for a 6:30 flight where I am going to sleep anyway is crazy. So at that price, they get $0 from me or likely anyone else in C and fill F with non-revs that generate $0 for them. I get that I didn't pay for F, but I am willing to pay something, just not $1,000. Am I off base here?

Kacee

If you're on UA902 July 20, it's blocked 5 in F, so there are likely to be some op-ups. I'd guess you have a reasonably good shot as GS.

Doesn't make much sense from a revenue perspective. Good deal for the NRSA. An anomaly that will soon be gone, as they phase out F.

bluedemon211

Thanks Kacee. Yes I am on 902. It was as I listed above until about 5 minutes after my post. Then they blocked the 5 seats, and zeroed out all the Y and J buckets leaving 2 F remaining. Fingers crossed and thanks as always for the insight.

Wooglin

And returning tomorrow-

@ OLCI
RDU-IAD (n/a CPU cleared at T-47.5)
IAD-CLE $99

FlyerBeek

Flying UA950 IAD-BRU tonight in J. Surprisingly, no F buy-up offered via online or kiosk check-in (or O inventory available) despite 5 open seats in the F cabin. Must be great to be a non-rev these days as int'l F is phased out.

-FlyerBeek

bluedemon211

Update; got the op up! Very nice surprise and delight from UA.

minhaoxue

Thank you. I called UA today and they did the upgrade on the new flight for me.

Kacee

^

Revo KC

Hi All,

I am new here, so thank you in advance for your help and pardon my lack of knowledge with flight upgrades .

My S.O. and I will be traveling MCI > ORD > CUN on Monday and are currently booked as United Economy (Y), but would like to upgrade as neither of us have ever flown first. The current price to upgrade to first/business from MCI > CUN is $202/per person. The flight from MCI > ORD has 6/12 open first seats and the flight from ORD > CUN has 14/20 open business class seats. Also, neither of us have status.

a couple questions:

1. Is $202 reasonable for this upgrade?

2. If all of the first class from MCI > ORD gets booked, and business is open from ORD > CUN, will the price for the upgrade be lower?

3. Would it be realistic for this price to lower at check-in?

Thank you

sbm12

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

1) Depends on what else you'd do with the $400. That can be a really nice meal in CUN or an upgrade in the hotel as well. But it also means a more comfortable flight experience getting there. Deciding where you want to splurge on the vacation isn't something others can decide for you.

2) Maybe, maybe not.

3) I doubt it, but hard to know for sure.

It is possible the number you're seeing is the fare difference from what you paid originally to what the F ticket would cost. If that's the case I wouldn't expect the offer to change much.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You'd also get United Club access and snack/meal/free booze in flight. Also free entertainment if DTV flight. Just divide the upgrade price by total number of hours traveling to get a per-hour cost. Is it worth paying that much extra per-hour to you for a nicer seat, club access, and possibly free entertainment? It might be...it might not be.

goodeats21

Welcome to FlyerTalk, Revo KC!

I think $202 is pretty reasonable, but I value the comfort of First Class. For a 1.5 hour and a 3.5 hour flight, I would do it. But as sbm12 indicates, this is a personal decision.

Trying to predict how the upgrade costs will be in the future is pretty dicey. You could be presented with a lower price when you check in for the flight. You could also be out of luck if all the seats are already taken.

One last note: If you are looking at the seat map to determine how many seats are open, that is not too accurate. Looking at the fare buckets (expert mode) is a better indicator. If you post the exact flight numbers, we can probably give a better opinion.

Regardless, hope you have a great trip and keep sticking around FlyerTalk.

chance_the_napper

Findark will probably chime in, but $202 looks pretty low to me. I buy up often and the price is typically about $50 per hour of flight duration (e.g. $200 for ORD-SFO, $130 for ORD-BOS). So for five hours of flying, $202 strikes me as a great deal. These numbers are generally very stable.

Kacee

I'd pay $202 for that buy-up.

AugustusM

Same, that seems like a fairly good price for the time/distance.