PHXonUA

I need some advice for an upcoming flight. I +1 are traveling to Paris on Saturday. Ticketed in W fare bucket 1 week ago and GPUs were applied to all segments. Each segment was waitlisted. The domestic segment for the outbound will become eligible for a 1K CPU tomorrow.

Outbound we are PHX-IAD-CDG. Domestic portion (738) showing right now at F5 A2 Z1. International is a 2-class 757 with BF and is showing J2 C2.

On the return we are flying CDG-ORD-PHX. International segment is a 3-class 767 showing F1 A1 J1 C1. The domestic portion (738) is showing F9 A9 Z6.

As it now looks pretty bad for any of the International segments to clear:

Can I (should I) pull the GPU request and see what happens with CPU?

Can I change the request for either direction from a GPU to a RPU?

If I can't pull the request and if I am upgraded on the domestic portion but not on the international, can I have Mileage Plus or an agent at the airport replace the GPU used for only domestic with a RPU upon landing in Paris/PHX?


Thank you in advance for any help/advice anyone can give me.

PHLyer82

It is my understanding that the GPU will only be used if the international portion clears. So if the IAD-CDG clears you have used 1 per person and by the same token if the CDG-ORD clears then you have used 1 GPU per person. If only the domestic segments clear the GPUs should be returned.

PHXonUA

Thank you for that information PHLyer82, I was not aware. I will report back what ends up happening.

StingWest

Wow, I didn't realize that they even flew 757's IAD->CDG. Your situation is even worse now, as it's C0 to Paris. Maybe you can check early Saturday morning and do a free change to another route (if good coach seats are available). Then you could try upgrading to C on a less full flight.

Paris can be nice this time of year - looks like a lot of people agree..

sbm12

No.

If the BF segment doesn't clear you get the domestic upgrade for free and you get the GPU returned to your account. Call this one of the sCO policies folks actually should like. :-:

kittiyut

(Please correct me if I'm wrong)

On the old UA, if you requested an upgrade using SWU (now GPU) and PHX-IAD clears but IAD-CDG doesn't, you would've wasted 1 SWU. What I would do is use a RPU on the PHX-IAD leg (and not play the lottery) and GPU on the IAD-CDG leg. Now again, this all depends on how many GPU/RPU you have, when they expire, how much you value them, your future itineraries, chances of get the upgrade with CPU, etc. etc.

And to answer your last request, I think it would be very difficult to do so (change upgrade instruments) AFTER you have taken the flight. It is much easier to do it before. I don't see any reason why you can't pull the request before taking a flight.

Wow, is that really true?? It is awesome if it is!!!

KathyWdrf

What exactly do you mean by "and not play the lottery"....?

Are you assuming that an RPU/CR1 will automatically clear? Such is not the case.... There's at least one fairly lengthy thread about this, and my personal experience also shows me that even when domestic R/RN space is available, RPU upgrades are not automatically clearing. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. Lots of folks are phoning UA to try to get their RPU upgrades to clear once they see that R/RN is available.

UnitedSkies

From united.com:

In most cases, the Global Premier Upgrade will be considered used if any segment of an itinerary is upgraded or flown. However, for travel which includes segments in United BusinessFirst or United Global First, the Global Premier Upgrade will be re-deposited if the United BusinessFirst or United Global First segment(s) could not be upgraded.

PHXonUA

So less than 6 hours ago there was F4 on the first segment (PHX-IAD). I just looked (shortly after midnight local departure time) and it is now down to F1. Now while it is possible that 3 people bought first class or that 3 GS changed to my flight, I think what is more likely is 3 people who were on the CPU list were upgraded and because of some of the system issues my upgrade for this segment was passed over because my GPU was waitlisted.

I have been informed that if the GPU does not clear on the International portion of a trip you get it back, which would be nice. And if I am not upgraded on any segment I expect this to happen automatically. But I guess as a 1K on sUA in the past I feel like I would have received the upgrade on the domestic segment at 96 or at least 72 or 48 hours before departure. It is harder to accept no upgrades when I purposely spend more to purchase a W or higher fare bucket and it looks like the end result is nothing.

I will PM my details to United Insider and I hope I get some information as to what happend. But by the looks of things it seems as though I am going to have an all Economy experience to Paris.

Oh well, I apparently picked a very popular week to go to Paris. At least that part of the vacation will be fun.

channa

You need to be watching "R" class, that's the upgrade bucket.

It's possible "R" was open and as you point out, the waitlist was not clearing (known issue), so it was doled out during the CPU sweep.

Remember that with CO's systems, everything is distributed across multiple processes, and if one piece isn't working right (which is often the case), then other pieces will produce results that are not intended.

If you spot R class available, you can call in and have them force the upgrade through since you're using an instrument-supported upgrade. The only time you can't do this is during the T-24 window, during which time your upgrade is locked in limbo. You can, however use another instrument during this time should you catch "R" space being available.

PHXonUA

I will apologize in advance for this long post about the checkin and Waitlist process. I wanted to provide as much detail as I could so that maybe others can benefit from my experience.

For reference the details again on this trip:
Traveling is PHXonUA +1 (who is also a 1K)
Flight route: PHX-IAD-CDG
Schedule departure for first segment: 9AM (local), scheduled departure for international segment: 5PM (local)

Purchased tickets 2 weeks prior to flight in W bucket and requested upgrade for all segments using GPU within 1 hour of ticketing. All segments were waitlisted.

No segments cleared (I was unsure if the International one would clear in advance, but was surprised the domestic didn't). I checked for R/RN space about 3 times per day since ticketing and it never showed up.

Because of all the issues with with waitlisted upgrades, I went down to the airport to checkin at 24 hours before departure.

Here is what happened as I can remember the details.

About 5 minutes before the 24 hour in advance minute, I get an email from UA with a subject of UA Waitlist Notification for my PNR. It goes on to state they are sorry they can confirm upgrade for domestic portion and that I will automatically be added to the upgrade standby list when I check in for flight. It tells me to make sure I go to mobile.united.com after I check in to see realtime upgrade waitlist status. There is a section of the email that states if Miles were used (they weren't) that they will be redeposited if I am not upgraded.

At T-24 I step up to checkin kiosk. Agent comes over as it is not busy, watches as I scan Passport, system pulls up reservation for both of us. Check mark both names to check in, scan other passport.

System offers me confirmed upgrade to BusinessFirst (domestic segment upgrade not available so not included) for $1250 per seat and states there are 4 seats left. I don't want to spend that much more as I have to save some money for the food we will be having so decline offer.

System says it is processing reservation and then spits tickets out, PNR has been split.

System screen states, when other flight is eligible for checkin it will do that. The way it was worded, I believed it was referencing the international segment. But now I realize it could have been talking about our return we have next week.

I leave airport and check upgrade lists. Domestic Segment we are listed, #2 and #3. International Segment no one is listed, but booked to 12 out of 16. I think no names on list is because it won't show the list until 24 hours before that actual flight.

After 1 hour I check the lists again, no change on domestic, but International now shows one name on the upgrade standby list. My name is not the one listed. I call in and ask what is happening. Res agent states she can see me on the list and I am number two, my +1 is #3 and agent doesn't know why it is not showing on mobile.united.com but she can see it in her system. I have to accept that answer at this point.

Wait until T-24 for International segment, check list and now it shows booked to 15 out of 16 and one name is still showing on the upgrade standby list. No other names are listed. I call in again and ask what is going on, Agent spends some time on phone with Help Desk. Comes back after about 15 min and states I don't know why you were not on upgrade standby list, but we have put you on it. I explain my +1 had record split and please do same thing for her. Another 15 minutes and this is done.

I don't think first agent was out-right lying, I am sure when she looked at it I was on the list. But for some reason in between that call and T-24 for that flight (about 4 hours) the system pulled us both off the list and we had to be manually added back.

Now when I check upgrade list for that flight, it still shows 15 of 16 booked. One name on the Upgrade Standby list, and no other names listed.

Does anyone have an idea as to what happened here? Why does my name and my +1 not show?

The lessons I am taking away from this is:
If you can afford it, just buy first upfront (I don't have this option)
GPUs are only good if you can confirm into higher class at booking
If you buy a ticket too close to flight to confirm upgrade at booking, don't waste your money on W or higher class. Just take the upgrade offer.

I hope they can truly automate this process so that it runs correctly without any babysitting, and make it transparent so each person can see exactly where they are in the process.

This will be my first international trip in Y on UA in over 6 years.

blueslip

You could've done a SDC to reroute your flights where there's R2/RN2, even just for the international segment. I've done this for my return flight 2 weeks ago HKG-EWR-NRT. However, as mentioned earlier, you have to have extra GPUs to use since the existing GPUs for the WL are tied up. As a 1K, SDC is free. Your flying companion will have to pay if she is not a 1K.

SFOTurtle

How does this work if the companion was originally ticketed with the 1K on the same pnr? Is the same day SDC not available to companion also?

Slightly off topic but not by much: I have a pnr for myself and my wife for which I have already successfully applied GPUs for the outbound and currently waitlisted for the return. At the time of booking, the outbound was R2 so I was concerned that if I did this as two separate pnrs, by the time I applied the GPU to one there was a chance that it would zero out R inventory.

Now that I am waitlisted for the upgrade on the return, should I or can I split the pnrs to increase the chances of getting the upgrade on the return if they open up R one space at a time? I'm nervous that UA will somehow screw up our confirmed upgrades on the outbound if I split.

ULMFlyer

What if I'm flying GIG-GRU-IAD and GIG-GRU clears but not GRU-IAD. Does GIG-GRU constitute a domestic segment for the purpose of having my GPU returned, even though it's abroad? I sure hope so.

blueslip

The OP stated that he and his traveling partner have split PNR. I could be wrong, but a change fee for SDC will be assessed based on the elite status of the pax regardless.