When I crossed the Platinum threshold, my 2 RPU's were in my account the same afternoon. Passed 1K a couple of weeks ago, 2 RPU's and 6 GPU's were in my account the next day. It does take 4 to 6 weeks to get your new MP card and luggage tags. It even took 4 weeks to get an email acknowledging my Platinum status.

Mine took a day. Maybe two at most.

mine too.

Now for a far stupider question. i am beginning to doubt that my EWR-HNL upgrade with RPU on Sunday will clear. I have been on waitlist for a week and seen available seats go from 12 to 3. Does anybody know if, when I try to SDC onto flights with available upgrades on Sat/Sun, I will be able to transfer the RPU? I would rather ruse the older one than the new ones that just posted.

If the new flight has space in both your booking class and R you should be able to confirm the upgrade. The RPU doesn't transfer, it has to be redeposited and reapplied. It can definitely be done. HUACA if the agent won't do it for you.

Hi, guys! I would LOVE any expert advice here. I'm on a flight Sat am from IAD to PEK. UA flight 897. I'm a 1K, and am still on the waitlist. Submitted the GPU request over a month ago. On the seating chart it looks like there are some free first class seats. Someone suggested that tomorrow, when it's 24 hours before the flight, I call the 1K desk to see if I can get them to put through the upgrade. I don't have access to ExpertFlyer (well, I have a free account, but I don't fly often enough to buy a pro account), so I don't know how to check and see if there are any 1st class seats left to be had.

So, two questions:
1 - Are there any seats left for me to call and ask for on that flight?
2 - If so, what strategies have you used when calling United to get the person to help you get an upgrade? Nice ask? Irritated "I never get upgraded, and I'm starting to think about leaving" ask? Something else?

What are the strategies you would use to increase your chances of getting upgraded on this flight? Teach me!!

Would absolutely love any advice you have to offer.

Thanks!

ExpertFlyer has a free 5 day Pro subscription. Why not sign up for that? You can set an alert to email you when upgrade space opens.

Alternatively, go to united.com and click advanced search. Do a one way search for your flight on the right date and check the box for "Mileage Plus Upgrade Award". If the search shows that an upgrade is available then that means you can call and confirm space (just say that you are seeing "R space available for the upgrade and would like to confirm in to BusinessFirst").

There are 7 seats left in the BusinessFirst cabin (but none available at the moment for an upgrade). Your chances are pretty good.

Wow, IADOrange. This is SO helpful. I've just really learned something here. Thanks so much for explaining this so clearly! I already used up the 5 day trial of ExpertFlyer, unfortunately, and even if I try with different email addresses, it won't let me. Clever guys. They must have saved my IP address or whatever.

Thanks a million for your help! I hope the appreciation is coming through here.

Cheers!

Hello,

I just made platinum for the first time. I have a flight coming up from SFO-IAD and have applied an RPU. I have been waitlisted. It seems like from this thread, I cannot trust the system to automatically upgrade me when space becomes available. Is that true? Do I really need to watch the flight for R space?

Trust but verify. The system has lots of opportunities to skip over folks patiently/passively waiting for their upgrade. The proactive traveler can, and often does secure the upgrade. I would watch for R space.

Thanks! Do you think I have any chance of being upgraded? There are 9 empty seats in F, the flight is on Nov 26.

I'd say a decent chance. Just watch out for open R (maybe an EF alert).

Nov 26th is the height of the Thanksgiving travel rush. Granted, most travelers will be in Y but you'll also have a lot of people going for F (either paid or with miles/upgrade). This is a great use of an EF alert.

So, I would get an EF alert and then call United to have them apply the RPU manually?

Correct. EF would let you know when it detected upgrade space available. At that point you could call United and they could manually confirm you (assuming the space is still there by the time you call in).

Ideally, shouldn't that be the whole point of the waiting list? Is the problem that the waiting list sweeps happen at different times than availability opens up?