This was absolutely a HUACA situation. Sorry it did not work for you.

Incredible thing was agent checked with her 'customer service specialist' and that was when she told it was not possible.

Am I correct that I just should not bother with the waitlist on RPUs?

There's no right answer. You might clear off the waitlist, either prior to T-24 or at the gate. But if it goes to T-24 and R opens up, yes, you're better off not being on the waitlist.

Just became a 1k and received the GPU's. I apologise in advance and ask for patience with my (dumb) questions .

I would like to use 4 of them for vacation travel to Europe next summer (flexible dates for a return trip 2 pax). I am based out of IAH and am willing to fly to LHR,AMS or FRA. So far by using the UA Expert Mode and doing some searches, finding R space availability that far out seems impossible. Here is what I think I understand from reading various threads... (a) LHR should be generally easier due to more flight choices and (b) I should chose Tue/Wed/Thu to reduce competition with business travelers and (c) finding R space is really tough. BTW I am not very keen on advance purchasing W class tickets and hoping for the best(lottery).

SO... my questions are;

1. How far out is R space released typically? Should I wait until closer to the potential travel dates? How close is "close enough"?
2. Is there any significant TATL R availability differences between June, July or Aug?
3. Is there any difference / advantage to going the M class instant upgrade route. Does the M class instant upgrade even apply for intl flights?
4. With the demise of EF capability, are there smarter ways of searching for R space than via UA expert mode?
5. Am I basically basically stuck the W class lottery gamble?

TIA.^

I was attempting to apply 2 GPUs to a SFO-LHR-SFO ticket online and at check out it stated there was a $100 "Service Fee" so I called the 1K line and they wanted $111. I went back and upgraded online for $100.

I've upgraded this same itinerary several times in the past year and this is the first time I was asked to pay to apply a GPU. Is this something new?

Hi 236Dakota,

This is likely the Air Passenger Duty that is charged for flights departing the United Kingdom. Similar to an upgrade co-pay, it is charged to a credit card at the time of request, and refunded if the upgrade doesn't clear. It varies based on cabin and routing (and may be lower/nonexistent if you're just transiting UK instead of departing).

The fact that you were quoted a higher price via our reservations centers may have been due to a manual tax calculation, but if you see it again please feel free to PM me with details of your reservation.

Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines

Will there be any problems (other than other people in the front complaining) using an RPU on someone traveling with a lap infant? I have some I don't think I will be able to use myself and my cousin has a booking for a flight that has open R. ORD-EWR-ORD, so not a particularly good value for them, but better than letting them expire unused I suppose.

I have an RPU that will expire on 1/31/2014.

If I apply this RPU to a flight on 2/28/2014 now, and it is instantly confirmed; will United take away the upgrade on the day of flight since the RPU has expired?

Thanks!

You will not be able to apply it. You can only apply it to flights that depart prior to expiration.

It won't be confirmed because it expires prior to the scheduled flight date. You must use it on a flight operating before its expiration.

I assume this applies to GPUs as well?

you assume correctly

on Sunday I am flying xxx-yyy-zzz domestic on a married segment itinerary.

i want to waitlist myself from xxx-yyy but NOT yyy-zzz, since i will probably clear CPU on the latter (R6/F9) and i want my instrument returned if i don't clear the former. in other words i don't want to confirm into R on yyy-zzz, but i do want to waitlist for xxx-yyy and rely on CPU for the 2nd segment.

is this possible? if so how do you do it?

The story here is that UA's Web site has hard coded the relevant surcharge as $100, but if a human reservations agent charges this they'll actually charge you �67, which will fluctuate with the GBP:USD rate. Sometimes calling is a better deal. Right now, with GBP fairly strong (1.63 USD:GBP), it's a better deal to upgrade online.

You can look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/apd.htm to see the actual reduced-rate (coach, �67) and full-fare (any cabin but coach, �134) APD rates for flights from the UK to countries whose capital city is 2001�4000 miles away. (That's the APD band that encompasses London to the USA since LHR-IAD is between 2000�4000 miles).

My partner used RPU and the upgrade was confirmed.
He canceled the entire reservation before the trip started, but he didn't get the RPU back into his MP account.
He emailed 1Kvoice, but he was told he already used it and UA couldn't return it.
Is that true even he canceled the reservation and didn't even fly???