Where did you end up on the Final Upgrade List, UA Domestic?
 

I want to post some information from me, that I would find helpful from others. Basically, I want to know where you ended up on the final upgrade list before boarding, US domestic, if you did NOT get upgraded.

This information helps more definitively figure out which times and city pairs can expect to make (or more aptly, miss) an upgrade.

Here is my 1st data point:

Route: SAN-DEN
Status: UA Gold
Time & Day of Departure: 3:30pm, Wednesday
Flight #: 354
Equipment: A320 (12 F seats)
Fare Class: T
Final Position: 17 of 42
Offered Upgrade Cost (if applicable) at Airport/Check In: $169
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 6

I know other factors affect position, like time of check in. But, this can give folks a rough estimate of where they might land on the list and how long the list actually is, given the factors above.

I did a search for a similar thread in the UA forum, and did not find one. Moderators please merge if I missed it or close the thread.

I realize hub to hub and peak business travel times will have the longest lists in general. But the more actual data, the better.

I have one more data point for the flight above from a friendly 1K I struck up a conversation with (who was not upgraded):

Route: SAN-DEN
Status: UA 1K
Time & Day of Departure: 3:30pm, Wednesday
Fare Class: unknown
Final Position: 3 of 42

I don't know if www.udustats.com is still in use..it may have gone away after the merger.

But if this thread stays open please add more information to each post:

-Flight #
-Time of departure
-Type of aircraft

Yes, aircraft type (or simply the number of total F seats in the cabin) is essential for this to be useful.

Also, since we have the data now, it would also be useful to know how many people were upgraded (by counting the number of people with check marks next to their names).

it is still available. Usage has decreased but would be a much prefered way of recording the OP's data. it was long expdanded for more than complimenetary upgrades. Comment section can be used to add any additional info. It has the advantage of being sortable into sub catagories while a regualr thread would not. The web site has breakout on type of upgrade, day of week, time of day, aircreaft type, status, .... Some missing PMCO O/D airports have been added.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...g-results.html

ord to sfo
5 15pm departure
16 of ??
5.5hr delay
AWESOME flt crew...
seemed that it was the brand new 767...
not even E+ for me :(

I will add the Flight # and Aircraft type. Both good suggestions. I already have the Time of Departure listed.

Thanks WineCountryUA for the link. Let me investigate that as a tracking mechanism as well. ^

UPDATE: I'm already a fan of udustats.com. I did not know about this site before. Easy to enter and track data. It could use some updating (adding Platinum level, etc), and more data fields, but hey, it is pretty much most of what I was looking for. Thanks to folks who created the site

Unfortunately, the post link is "stuck" in the UA pre-merger thread. I didn't think to search there. I think we could really make the tool useful again with a presence on the more active consolidated forum.

Help keep udustats up-to-date, UA flyers, FT members. Thank you!

Someone enterprising could do a great service to this community by setting up code to gather all publicly available upgrade stats before each flight. Thanks to online upgrade lists at united.com and mobile.united.com , if we check just after the flight has closed, we could have a database with the following:

1) date
2) day of the week (follows from 1)
3) flight number
4) origin
5) destination
6) aircraft
7) number of total C or F seats (follows from 6)
8) number of people upgraded (number of checkmarks)
9) number of people booked into F or C with revenue, miles, or upsells (not upgraders, 7 minus 8?)
10) number of people on the waitlist at departure

This database would be quite helpful for planning purposes. Just knowing the percentage of upgraders on each flight would be fascinating. Sure, it would be great to know the status and booking class of the first person on the waiting list at each departure, but this database would be far more exhaustive and representative than udustats even if the question it answers isn't complete.

Agree this would be interesting information if in a sortable, searchable format. However without class of service, status, and whether upgrade was TOD (do TODs show as checkmarks or booked?) don't think it will be much easier to determine chances of upgrading.

Agreed. This would be a great, fairly easy "pull" solution. UDUstats relies on folks going there and putting in the data.

udustats.com has a lot of info there, but unfortunately, it's really stale as I see very few updates in 2012. A few minor updates and fields, and a little FlyerTalk UA forum participation, and you have a pretty easy tool to reference.

As for me, it's easy for me to collect the data as I board, and post it here or on udustats.

What I like is that the data proves or disproves the "no one is getting upgraded" mantra, and even more vocal, "paid TOD upgrades are stealing my upgrade."

udustats lets you put in a note where you can say if you were offered a paid upgrade, and where you were on the list.

I suppose my real point is that I see the value of the data, whether it is pulled from ua.com or inputted manually on udustats.com. I'll do my part to contribute, since I fly UA a lot.

wow, where did you get your position in the queue?

I just read it off the UG board on the flat screen before boarding the plane. It'll show you how many are eligible for upgrade, how many have already been upgraded, and where you are on the list.

Last week I ended up twice No.1 on the upgarde list even though I bought a first class award ticket with miles. Never showed like that before.

Yup!...Last week I was #1 on the upgrade list IAD-LAX even though I had purchased an F seat...and was on the aircraft in F (with an adult beverage) and the GA came on board to find and upgrade me :rolleyes:...He had no idea why I was on the list...and to make things worse for the upgraders on the flight, two seats in F went unoccupied that flight because they had to push before the agent could get the name of the next person on the list. Not a very efficient system if you ask me!

Thank you. I remember the old CO has an online system showing it, and it is on the iphone app as well. Wondering if UA can use that too...

? I this th eupgrade list that has always been available via the app, and recently restored online?

I've noticed some flakiness as to who is cleared on the big board versus the mobile app. Minor differences, especially with the number of folks who have already cleared.

Regardless, the data I posted may give folks some idea where they would end up. Doesn't have to be exact exact.

Where did you end up on the Final Upgrade List, UA Domestic?
 

I read some cases on here where they get upgraded... And then later on after boarding they get downgraded back to coach.. Why does that happen? (or how?) my question is more on the technical side of it -- computer upgrades X number of elites in the waitlist, F-cabin checks-in full, then what happens that triggers a downgrade???

Route: IAD-DEN
Status: UA Gold
Time & Day of Departure: 8:30am, Wednesday
Flight #: 133
Equipment: 757 (24 F seats)
Fare Class: k
Final Position: UPGRADED!!! 16th of 17 upgraded. 20 folks not upgraded on list
Offered Upgrade Cost (if applicable) at Airport/Check In: NA
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 17

My last flight for some reason we weren't on the upgrade list. Was this a glitch in Shares or did I upset a phone agent? No one can say at this point.

Note: I ended up changing my flight and not taking the one below, but it is still a data point, 22 hours out from flight time

Route: PHL-DEN
Status: UA Gold
Time & Day of Departure: 6:30pm, Wednesday
Flight #: 271
Equipment: A320 (12 F seats)
Fare Class: T
Offered Upgrade Cost (if applicable) at Airport/Check In: $199

T-22: 4 FC available still, I was 10th of 15 on the list. 4 folks had already been upgraded.

Route: CLE-DEN
Status: UA Gold
Time & Day of Departure: 4:30pm, Wednesday
Flight #: 1281
Equipment: 737-900 (20 F seats)
Fare Class: T
Final Position: 9 of 20
Offered Upgrade Cost (if applicable) at Airport/Check In: $159
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 7

udustats.com updated!

Some recent UA Plat UG experiences
 

Route: DEN-IAH
Status: UA Platinum
Time & Day of Departure: 1:15pm, Monday
Flight #: 672
Equipment: 757 (24 F seats)
Fare Class: Q
Final Position: 9 of 47
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 7

Route: IAH-MEX
Status: UA Platinum
Time & Day of Departure: 5:40pm, Monday
Flight #: 1092
Equipment: 737 (16 F seats)
Fare Class: Q
Final Position: 13 of 29
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 3

Route: MEX-IAH
Status: UA Platinum
Time & Day of Departure: 3:15pm, Wednesday
Flight #: 1091
Equipment: 737 (16 F seats)
Fare Class: T
Final Position: 2 of 22
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 6

Route: IAH-DEN
Status: UA Platinum
Time & Day of Departure: 9:10pm, Wednesday
Flight #: 1490
Equipment: 737-900 (20 F seats)
Fare Class: T
Final Position: 11 of 46
# of Cleared Upgrades (est.): 11

udustats.com updated!

NO DICE on any above. The saddest story was route 3, MEX-IAH. I was #4 on the List with 6 FC seats avaiable 2 hours prior to the flight. I ended up in coach and #2 on the final list. Pretty sure I was TODed out of the running. Oh well.

someone should make a mobile interface for udustats so it's easier to enter. is anyone maintaining/developing it still? going mobile i feel like would be a cool addition.

9/14/12

UA849 SFO-IAH
752 a/c
Depart 11:05am
Cleared upgrades: 7 (est)
My position 9 of 25


UA1205 IAH-FLL
738 a/c
Depart 7:56pm
Cleared upgrades: 7 (est)
My position: 5/12

Status - premier gold
Fare class - G

17th as a 1K on the upgrade list; has any 1K been lower?
 

I've complained in the recent past about how upgrades are much harder now for top UA elites, but I have a domestic A320 flight tomorrow to IAH where, as a 1K, I'm 17th on the waitlist for an upgrade. Admittedly, I'm in a cheapo bucket, but 17th? Has any 1K ever been lower?

BTW, the upgrade list is currently 48 names long!

I thought perhaps that it might be some computer glitch assigning me lower status, but I'm taking a connecting flight where I'm #2 on the upgrade list (I probably won't get that one either, but at least it's plausible).

I know Thursdays are big elite travel days, but isn't this a bit crazy? I can't imagine many folks thinking the loyalty was worth it if these are your upgrade odds. It would seem wise to me for UA to go AA's route and at least give 1K's a free meal and alcoholic drink in coach, because that's where they're going to be a lot of the time.

I was 27th one time on an evening DEN-SFO 757 flight. Sitting at exit row with numerous GS around me. That was the craziest for me.

Fly IAD-BOS occassionally on cheapo buckets on Thursday afternoons and regularly have found myself anywhere from 10th-25th on that list....

I find myself between 10 and 30 on a regular basis- lots of EWR-IAH flights.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 9000 (Bold): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A551 Safari/8536.25)

Try 32nd on IAD-SFO last year or 11th using a RPU on SFO-EWR. Both were on A320

IAD->SFO on a 777-200 domestic config
I was 43rd as a 1k on a W fare
the list was over 120 names

17th as a 1K on the upgrade list; has any 1K been lower?
 

Wow. If it makes you feel better I've been on a Y or B fare as a GS this year, middle seats, and at least twice not cleared on TPACs.

I think any hub flight it's pretty tough to get an upgrade or be even close during biz travel times for a 1k.

I forgot to mention that I'm usually in same 10-25 range for most of my thurs eve EWR-BOS travel as well. (Haven't seen an upgrade since the merger as a 1k on a thurs pm flight home from EWR)

One thing you are competing with this is companies, like mine, that are authorizing instant upgradeable first fares on certain length flights for biz travel. I want my people to know where they will be when they book so they can plan meals and work well before travel. Paying another 300-400 on a fare for 3-4 hours of productivity is a no brainer for me.

Not too bad, being a Thursday, IAH involved, A320 and for now worlds largest airline with lower capacity. I'd say SMI/J is exceeding all of your expectations. The fact is you are the 17 most valuable person on that flight is an accomplishment. Your flights were on time though, right. That's the most important thing.

you forgot the route network.

Probably means you're on an elite heavy route and people are buying higher fares. It's kind of annoying, but honestly I don't see what the big deal is. If there are actually a high number of 1K/GS on a plane with 16 seats in F, why shouldn't the person who paid more go before me? I'm on a cheap ticket in coach, it's what I paid for. So likely that's where I'll be sitting.

How about 37th on IAD-SFO mid-week, on a 757? Connecting from Europe with a GPU, with the first leg clearing on purchase.

17th is nothing. I was much lower the last time I tried to clear JFK-SFO. I can't remember the last time I cleared a wait-list RPU/GPU. I either clear at booking time or figure, forget it.

Do we still think that using an instrument prioritizes you above pax whose upgrades are not instrument-supported?

This.

Front cabin seats for CPUs are supposed to be "leftovers" after UA does what it can to get more than a coach fare for them. It's not UAs job to allocate a percentage of seats for CPUs. If you're on an elite-heavy route, tough luck. It's no different at other airlines. If you pay for a coach seat, you can't think you're entitled to a seat up front just because you're a 1K or whatever. You're entitled to one if UA can't sell it and no one else is in line in front of you. Want a guaranteed front seat? Buy it.

I was wondering about this as well. Upgrade instruments work with R>0 within upgrade window when CPUs do not clear. But I am not sure about the priority when clearing at the gate.