Kacee

The 744 (SFO-HKG) has 52 BF seats. The 772 (SYD-SFO) has 40.

TommyB1965

Hi,

I am booked on United flights SNN-PHX returning DTW-SNN in October. I exercised GPUs on both directions & have been waitlisted on 3 of the 4 flights (one of them has no First cabin). Details of each leg is below - can anyone advise me on the likelihood of the upgrade coming through? I havent flown much this year and am worried my GPUs will all expire

19 Oct - SNN-EWR, Flight UA24, Class Q, Current availability - J6, JN6, C6, D0, Z0, ZN0, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S1, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

19 Oct - EWR-PHX, Flight UA1635, Class Q, Current availability - F8, A8, JN8, C8, D8, Z0, ZN0, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN0, Q9, V0, W0, S0, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

24-OCT - DTW-EWR Flight UA4202 - N/A (No first cabin)

24-OCt - EWR-SNN, Flight UA25, Class W, Current availability -J6, JN6, C6, D0, Z0, ZN0, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9, K9, G0, N0, XN9, X9

TommyB1965

I guess a more meaningful quesiton is - will United release upgrades for GPU periodically between now & departure (if so when?) or is it a case of waiting til check in time now that R is "sold out"?

Kacee

With D0 Z0 P0 it is unlikely there would be an upgrade prior to the gate. UA believes it is going to sell all those seats.

Only 16 BF seats on those aircraft, so not the easiest of flights to upgrade.

expo

how are people's experiences with EWR-LHR?

i'm currently waitlisted on the Tuesday 7:30pm flight (UA29), 1K, M-fare. Right now looks like 27 of 50 BF seats have been sold (777 aircraft)

J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P9, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9, K9, G0, N0, XN9, X9

TommyB1965

Thanks

In 2013 I always ended up on the fare classes that could not be upgraded using a GPU, and the flights on the SNN-EWR route always had empty seats in BF. This year I am getting the right fare class and there is no space.

Still back to Gold status next year (from 1K), so that will be one less thing to worry about

I guess the silver lining is I can use my drink vouchers if I am stuck in EP

harryhood

High amounts of Z and P availability are good news. Seatmap not reliable predictor of actual availability, but look and see how many E+ seats are filled. Flights with high Z and P availability this close in to departure, with lots of empty E+ seats are as good a bet as you can forecast. You also have a high fare class which will put you in front of most 1Ks.

Kacee

Flight is booked 38/50 in BF. With the M fare one week out I'd say good chance of clearing but not a sure thing.

expo

awesome, thanks. forgot to clarify that the flight is actually on 9/30, not next tuesday. prob makes a big difference!

Kacee

Then you're correct, booked 28/50. Those are pretty good odds, it would take a major disaster to miss.

expo

OK, about a week out (9/30, EWR-LHR). 34/50 booked.

J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9, K9, G0, N0, XN9, X9

thoughts?

Kacee

No different from prior comment.

PV_Premier

well, they zeroed out the P bucket, so that's not a great sign, but i'd be shocked if they sold 16 seats in 7 days.

at this point you should be monitoring for R at least 2x daily.

your bigger worry going forward should be about sale of upgrades for cash at check in i would think.

Kacee

IME it is not at all uncommon for there to be frequent fluctuations between P9 and P0 in the final weeks prior to departure. When there are this many unsold seats, I don't think it means much of anything.

I'd guess there's a decent chance UA runs a sweep between now and T-24 or so and clears pax off the waitlist. That's just a guess though. No guarantees until you're actually seated in BF

exerda

Shoot, I've seen the C and J buckets fluctuate between, say, C5 or C7 and C0 repeatedly throughout the final week before departure. "Crap, it's full!" and then the next day not only is it C7 again, but also R2...

I'd say group bookings, but that seems a lot of movement so close to departure.