EWR-PTY-EZE... one GPU or two?
 

Hi All,

I'm looking to book an open jaw ticket of EWR-EZE and GRU-EZE. Obviously it would require one GPU for each "jaw" to upgrade. However, I see that EWR-PTY-EZE is a bit cheaper than EWR-EZE, and the PTY-EZE is on Copa, which I *believe* can have GPUs applied... Would it be one GPU for the whole jaw or would I have to apply them separately? Would you save the $400? Or would you go nonstop? Thanks!

EWR-PTY-EZE does not require any GPUs on Copa, it's all CPUable! If I had the GPUs I would do the direct, otherwise I would split it up and take the complementary. Keep in mind though that the Copa EZE-PTY is on a 738 (so think domestic F) and last time I flew it the flight from EZE left at about 2am or so.

You are correct that CPU is available on all COPA flights, but, of course, there is no guarantee that you will get it. I had not failed to get an UG on COPA on about 50 segments since Jan '11, but I missed 2 in the past 2 weeks (IAD-PTY and PTY-IAD). Another one was a near miss - I was UG'd seconds before the door closed. So, I would say that you should use the GPU if you can.

I am 99.99% sure that you only need one GPU for EWR-PTY-EZE. If you were using RPU's, I think you would need 2.

Whoa. How does that work?

Wow this is very cool news! I may be going to south America quite frequently... And when I run out of GPUs, I can just give it a go with free upgrades as a 1k on copa... Nice...

That is incorrect. If you are not making a stopover in PTY, then you will only need one RPU. It's very nice that you can upgrade on COPA (though the seat and service is very different from the non-stop business-first flight).

So... just to confirm... I could go all the way to EZE on CPUs if I go LAX-PTY-EZE? Obviously I'd rather take a non-stop flight on CO BusinessFirst, but that's not a bad route to go if I run out of GPUs.

Yes, this is correct.

I have a similar question... can you use one RPU/GPU on a "split fare" flight? E.g., what if you buy a ticket EWR-PTY-EZE but it constructs a fare with, say, EWR-PTY in M class and PTY-EZE in T class. Can you still apply a single RPU/GPU to upgrade both flights?

Is the $400 price difference between Copa's fare and UA lowest fare or UA's RPU upgradabel fare (W or higher fare code)?

Yes you only need one cert in that scenario.

RPUs can be applied for all published paid fares. It is GPUs on non-RPU flights that require W or higher fares.