aacharya

Sigh - you may be all missing the point in the eagerness to bash UA.

OP booked at least two on a PNR. As we all know, TLV is one of the hardest u/g legs - and he/she should have split the PNRs to get the best possible upgrade possibility. If R/RN only opened one at a time, OP might've cleared.

The "importance" of the OP as a 1K v. GS is somewhat relevant with respect to clearing priority - but not in this particular case.

Kacee

Not to mention the eagerness to bash OP for not being as familiar with the reality of upgrade availability as a forum regular would be.

The first time I ever applied a GPU - before I had heard of FT - it was to an absolutely dead empty BF cabin on SFO-CDG 10 months prior to departure. I watched in horror as all the BF seats slowly filled and I sat on the waitlist (I ultimately upfared to P when it became obvious I would not clear).

There is something of a gap between the marketed benefits of 1K and the reality, and I sympathize with tvroadman's frustration in this situation.

rankourabu

I dont, if I was to blow ~$2500x4 on air tickets, I would do a little reasearch before relying on the clout of my self-assigned "importance"

I totally agree with you though the general premise of GPUs being marketed as something they are not.

zombietooth

P and Z fares are available as low as ~2.5K-3.2K on the cheapest days this month and next, depending on your origin.

OP should have just waited until now and paid for BF.

emcampbe

You're probably not going to get much favor around here for being aggressive at other posters trying to help.

Fact is that this is one of the hardest routes to upgrade in the system (flights North America to TLV, no matter the carrier, always are). It's a fairly long one with lots of premium paid traffic. Whatever the incentive for premier customers to upgrade, it's certainly going to be behind the traffic - premier or not - that is willing to pay $ for the seats. And I don't think that's a bad thing.

The fact is the rule of thumb is that if you want to guarantee yourself a seat in the premium cabin, you need to pay for that privilege (either in $ or miles as an award). Using certs or miles + copay was always a gamble (unless R is available at time of booking) - now more than ever for sure, but it's always that way.

cxfan1960

I flew business this route twice and return once (the other was on a RTW itinerary) this year:
* EWR-TLV: First time - full cabin. Second time - one seat left (I was the lucky passenger with no neighbour).
* TLV-EWR: Full.
I don't know how many of the passengers are award or upgrade passengers, but with this type of loading, UA would not be allocating too many award (full redemption/upgrade) seats.

c699534

First post on here in a while. I'm ticketed on FRA-ORD this Saturday (Oct 25) on the 747-400. I'm UA Silver, booked in Economy with a Full Y fare ticket. Expert mode shows:

Available Cabins: F0, FN0, A0, ON0, O0, J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z8, ZN8, P7, PN2, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E8, U4, H1, HN1, Q0, V0, W0, S0, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

Thoughts on whether you think I'll clear prior to checking in to the airport will happen or not?

Thanks for any insight and previous experiences.

IADFlyer123

What upgrade have you applied? As you might be aware, there are no instant or complimentary upgrades. Your chances with a Y fare might be affected because you are silver. If the miles came from someone who is Platinum and Above, your chances will dramatically increase. Since it is a full Y fare, why dont you look for business class fare directly? It might be cheaper? In case it is something related to policy, you can always show an economy receipt that you currently have , then cancel it and book a Biz fare (unless going through a travel agency)

c699534

It's with miles, and those miles are mine. It does look like something has started moving around today with seats. I just checked again and the fare list now shows: Available Cabins: F0, FN0, A0, ON0, O0, J6, JN6, C6, D6, Z4, ZN4, P3, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E8, U3, H0, HN0, Q0, V0, W0, S0, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

So the PN bucket got emptied this morning, dropping the available seats down.

We'll see. I know I'm only Silver, but was hoping the Y fare would help me out.

IADFlyer123

Unfortunately, the status matters when applying for upgrades. Is it not possible to directly buy a Biz Fare?

dvercamer

Hi,

I have a YUL - EWR - SFO flight on 11/8 (a saturday). I am premier silver and applied miles for an upgrade. the YUL - EWR segment confirmed immediately but I am on the waitlist for the EWR - SFO segment. How big is my chance of clearing the list?

Expert mode currently gives F9, A9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P9, PN8, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9, K9, G9, N9, XN9, X9

zombietooth

With P9 and PN8 showing, it looks good for you.

Kacee

Not sure I would ever say that about a silver waitlisted on a hub-to-hub.

P9 PN8 means there's a decent change UA will open R at some point. Where a silver will come out is a different question. Particularly since UA has absolutely flooded the market with RPUs.

horse glasses

Forgive me if I'm confused how this works, I've never done it before. 1K friend had a bunch of upgrades he wasn't going to use so he put them on all my reservations that could accept them. Right now I'm still waiting on LAS-SFO-MEX, leaving 10/29 and returning 11/2. The domestic segments cleared right away, this is what it says for the others:

SFO-MEX (shows 8/12 booked)
Available Cabins: J3, JN3, C3, D3, Z3, ZN3, P3, PN3, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U4, H3, HN2, Q2, V1, W0, S0, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

MEX-SFO (shows 7/12 booked)
Available Cabins: J5, JN5, C5, D5, Z5, ZN5, P5, PN5, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y6, YN6, B6, M6, E6, U6, H5, HN3, Q3, V2, W1, S0, T0, L0, K0, G0, N0, XN0, X0

To make it more difficult, my husband is with me so I actually need 2 to clear on each. I'm Gold and he is nothing, but not sure if that matters. Our original fare class is K if that makes a difference.

WineCountryUA

Only 3 seats left in the first flight and 5 on the return. The J number is what matters.

Your status does not matter but the fare does (K is near the bottom).

You will be prioritized by your sponsor's status and then by fare.

This is a CPU flight, all GS, all those on Y/B fares and any 1K using certs/miles or on M fare will be ahead of you. All others, including non-GS on CPU will be below you.
GS is probably not an issue because of the PN values would clear the GS immediately.

I would say the odds for the outbound are poor to fair and the odd for the rerun if it gets no worse on sold seats is a bit better.