Flying SFO-IAD-ZRH-BOM with the ZRH-BOM leg on Swiss Air with my wife in December and the back on all UA metal BOM-EWR-SFO in January. Q class on the way there and W on the way back. A few newbie questions:

1. I don't have any GPUs but have some RPUs - if I apply the RPUs now on the domestic legs can I pull the RPUs if I convince a friend with GPUs left over to trade, etc or is it a done deal once I apply the RPU?

2. Does the fact that I am flying on Swiss Air for the last leg impact my GPU clearing chances? (I know I won't get upgrade on the ZRH-BOM leg)

3. My wife is non-elite and we are on separate PNRs. Will she clear on an RPU/GPU based on my account status or her own if they are coming from my account?

Thanks in advance!

if they are waitlisted and don't clear yes.

If they clear it gets a little more complex. The "rule book" says you have to downgrade back to economy (and your fare class needs to be still available) and then apply the new upgrade method. The previous cleared space may or may not still be available.
I suspect some clever agent could preserve the upgrade and make the swap but I would not count on that happening.

no

yours / the sponsor's status

Sorry this thread's a bit unmanageable. I do almost exclusively international, so I'm an RPU newbie. So here's my situation:

I have a domestic trip, one long seg and one short. Both are R0, long is F3 and short is F0.

I care about the upgrade on the longer, and wouldn't really want to waste an RPU just for the shorter. But I figure the F0 means it's relatively unlikely to happen that way, so I put in for RPU upgrade.

I assume keeping the RPU in is my best shot at the longer u/g, all the way till boarding time; if it doesn't clear by boarding, i'm at risk for wasting the RPU if the second seg somehow opens, but wouldn't be able to do anything at that point.

Is this right? Is this the best strategy?

Inside T-24 inventory will fluctuate, and you may accidentally get that short leg UG you didn't really want, without getting the long leg.

I'd call in and "un-apply" it to the short leg, so it's only on the long one.

One warning: to "un-apply" a confirmed upgrade you generally need space available in your original booking class. This can be difficult if you purchased a deep-discount economy fare.

-FlyerBeek

not an issue if it has not cleared, which since the flight is R0/F0, it will not have

OP will still be in his/her economy fare class

however, the recommendation to "unapply" is astute, the best way to handle this one is to call in and ask the agent to apply the RPU only to the long segment. this can't be done online that i'm aware of, it requires agent intervention.

i used to do this often on LAX-EWR/JFK so that i didn't accidentally burn an RPU/miles on SMF/RNO-LAX.

if/when the long segment clears, you can call again and ask them to extend it to the short segment as well.

I thought coupon connection forum closed?

Thanks folks. Hoping for a McMuffin.

It has reopened with additional restrictions -- see the forum's T&Cs (a sticky)

Any advice for upgrading EWR-IAH-HNL-GUM-HKG-SGN and back on a K fare?

From my research it seems that EWR-IAH-HNL can be UGd with a RPU. HNL-GUM can't be upgraded with anything since it's a K fare, but I'm not sure about the GUM-HKG and HKG-SGN segments.

I have upgraded EWR-[SFO/LAX]-HNL...GUM-[HKG/MNL] with one RPU. The HNL-GUM cannot be upgraded with an RPU, only a GPU on a W fare. I do not think you will be able to use an RPU on IAH-HNL (see UA website - I believe any flights to HNL from further east than California require a GPU). So given your fare you would only be able to do the EWR-IAH and GUM-HKG and HKG-SGN on the RPU. (I have upgraded GUM-HKG and GUM-MNL on the same RPU. I have not done HKG-SGN so am guessing on that.) If you want to upgrade the whole way you should look to EWR-west coast-HNL as both of those legs would then be upgradeable on an RPU.

Not correct. Any US-Hawaii route is upgradeable with an RPU ("Regional Premier Upgrades can also be used on all flights between the continental U.S. and Hawaii").

Any idea on the GUM-HKG/HKG-SGN routes?

It's not listed on this page

Edit: NVM I found this thread: Longest route to use RPU

No RPUs on intra-Asia flights (this was a Feb. 1 change), so I believe HKG-SGN is out. Not sure about HKG-GUM.

That's good. 2 years ago I tried on EWR to HNL and it didn't work, as a 1K. Looking at the chart now I see that it has changed/simplified which is good.

I just used my RPUS for EWR-Sfo-HNL-GUM-HKG in April of this year, 1 in each direction and upgraded all but the GUM-HNL legs.