Update 8 hours later... My online reservation does not even say Upgrade Requested any more. Called the 1K line the agent said my name is not on the ACI upgrade list and there is nothing she can do.

That sucks. Sorry. It shows we are all 1 mouse click away from being removed from the list.

I am curious, why can you not be added now? (or why did she say you cannot be added?)

Phone agent said only airport agents can do this. (I speak some of their language - her sign does not have authority for ACI as I asked and she confirmed.)

This company is just all over the place on this:

1 - 1Kvoice said BusinessFirst is not eligible for free or instrument upgrades from Y. Yes, they answered my e-mail very quickly. We even had a few back and forth. Unfortunately, it was pure garbage explanation

2 - Check in agent at my city called the Help Desk and added me to the list. Of course, I am now too much down the list to get upgraded. They don't know why I was not placed on the list

3 - LAX UC agent said "9 out of 10 times, when you give us something (cash, miles, upgrades) and it does not clear 24 hours before departure, the airport has to add you". She said if there is a tie, "how many miles you have" determines the priority. She was very helpful and she said none of the people in front of me are 1K, which is also confusing.

I am still confused by what the website https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...e/default.aspx says:

Priority within 24 hours

New waitlist requests for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades can be made until 24 hours prior to departure. At 24 hours from departure, waitlists will expire and automatic processing of upgrades, per the priority listed above, will continue. As customers check in, they will be placed on an airport upgrade standby list. This standby list will clear after check-in is closed, and is based on Premier status and fare class.

---

So, it sounds like:

"Waitlist" = reservation, open until T-24, keeps processing, status -> fare -> time of request?

"Standby List" = airport, opens at check-in, placed when one checks in, status -> fare, upgrade occurs when check-in is closed

Questions:

1 - when does the processing of the waitlist stop? Was this when the "Upgrade Requested" disappeared from my PNR? Sounds like some are saying it is sometime around T-24?

2 - are you removed from the waitlist when you check-in? Sounds like the answer is no, if the waitlist still exists

3 - what resolves the priority of the Standby List when two people have the same status and fare?

4 - so, the waitlsit keeps clearing then the standby list only clears after check-in has closed (T-30 or 45 minutes)?

I am sure some of the answers are in this thread and I will start reading now...

This is going to be my first TPAC GPU failure!

Thanks.

I have a complex itinerary that includes the following segments:

YVR-ORD on UA
18 hour layover
ORD-LHR on UA
3 hour layover
LHR-ZRH on LY (codeshare)

At time of booking a applied a GPU to the ORD-LHR flight. This did not push the YVR-ORD into an 'upgrade requested' category, but since there was no R space on this leg, I didn't follow up.

Now there is R space on the YVR-ORD leg and I wonder whether the GPU that got the ORD-LHR upgrade could also be applied to the YRV-ORD leg?

Thoughts, and strategies on how to get this done on the phone (or otherwise) would be welcomed.

You've been hosed. Not the first time this has happened. There are two waitlists, the original list, which is always invisible to pax, and the gate list, which is the one that shows on the flight status page. The original list continues to run until the flight goes to gate control, somewhere around T-1. Sometimes pax do not automatically transfer from the original list to the gate list. UA system flaw.

In all events, your place on the gate list should be determined per the priority listing you quoted. That is, first status, then fare class. So, if the reports you received were correct, you got hosed twice - first when your name didn't transfer to the gate list, and second when you were apparently placed behind lower status pax on the gate list.

I hope this all worked out for you. But if you did not get the upgrade, I would try 1kvoice again.

I hope this all worked out for you. But if you did not get the upgrade, I would start flying a different airline.

Why would you continue to put up with this nonsense?

3 characters: 1MM In my final 70K miles - don't want to think too much until I get there.

So, I ended up in Y. Luckily no one next to me so it was tolerable. It did not look like anyone got upgraded. It is a hard route/date to get upgraded after all.

Look at the bright side, with PQD, the extra $ I paid at least goes into that

"She said if there is a tie, "how many miles you have" determines the priority."

Did you understand what that means? How many miles this year? Lifetime? Award miles account balance? On your old Ford pickup? Just curious what the point was.

For USAIR (as a comparison) the tie goes to whomever has flown more miles that year. So I would think UA would follow a similar pattern.

UA used to put 1K MM ahead of 1K in the tie-breaker, but many have reported MM is no longer a criteria.

MM will get you Gold status, and the attendant free checked bags, E+ at the time of booking, 50% RDM bonus, and UC access on international itineraries. You'll get to to share Zone 2 boarding with all the credit card holders.

While better than nothing, don't expect it to give you a whole lot.

I walked away from it to fly other carriers. Particularly international flights. Best move I ever made.

Urban legend. Was never the case.

It's quite impossible for there to be a tie, since the second tiebreaker is time on the list (whichever list that happens to be). Since it's impossible tfor two transactions to have the same timestamp, this can never be a tie.

Agents love making this stuff up. I wonder if they have breaks where they see who told the biggest whopper to a customer.

If I VDB on a flight with a RPU applied and confirmed, do I get downgrade compensation when my flight is inevitably rebooked in Y? Does it double if I take two flights instead of a nonstop?

No. Hence, the V in VDB.

The criteria listed for the Airport Stand-By List only shows Status and Fare Class. It does not say Time: "This standby list will clear after check-in is closed, and is based on Premier status and fare class." That is why I wonder. Then, if it is Time, is it the time you check in (or get moved to the Standby List from the Reservation Wiatlist if you have not checked in) or the time you originally waitlisted?

The Reservation Waitlist does say "All travelers on waitlisted Global Premier Upgrades, Regional Premier Upgrades and MileagePlus Upgrade Awards: Sorted by Premier status of the redeeming account, then fare class and then time of request".

I will make that decision when time comes. For now, focus on United. It is too close to not go for it.

The gate list tiebreaker is your sequence number, which is based on time of checkin.