Wirelessly posted (iPhone 5: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 8_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/600.1.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/8.0 Mobile/12B466 Safari/600.1.4)

As long as IAD-MEL is not considered a direct flight (same flight number).

Thanks very much! It worked like a charm. But one note…I'm not sure if it is my system or what, but on my iMac UA.com kept coming back with the error message each time I tried to book the ticket. I switched to my iPad and on the same UA.com site finally got all the tickets purchased. Not sure if it's my iMac or a UA system issue.

Changing flights while waitlisted for GPU
 

Hi all:

I have a GPU on a two leg international flight (second leg upgraded, first waitlisted). The GPU was applied by a colleague, but I need to change to an earlier flight. It is Y fare. If I call and change flights, can they simply put me on the waitlist for the new flight, or will I have to contact my colleague (he is currently at a conference in Singapore and hard to contact) and have him reapply the GPU. Does this affect my already upgrade leg?

Thanks so much!!

Having experienced this twice, it can go both ways-

The upgrade instrument will go back to the sponsor's account and you will need to contact the sponsor and have them re-apply the upgrade* or the agent is (for whatever reason) able to do it transparently (and it all depends on which agent you get)

*or if you know the sponsor well enough for them to trust you with their MP account PIN, then you can do it as the agent can see the MP# from where the instrument came from but they will need the pin to access the account

But make sure that when you call to inquire, and if you don't have the MP account number PIN, that you ask the agent if it can be done BEFORE they make any changes as if they do change your flight(s) and then tell you that you then need the PIN, you'll have to run around and try and contact your sponsor (and trust me, that can be a pain if your sponsor is traveling ;))

Excellent. That was the answer I was expecting.
I was just wondering though...with a Y fare I can change my flight with no fee via "manage bookings" I assume (haven't done that in a while). Anybody tried doing that with a sponsored GPU? Did it stick to the new flight? Or is that something where I definitely should call first?
Thanks!

IME where the individual making the request is talking to a premier agent, they 90+% successful doing it without the sponsor involved. I suspect non-premier phone agents may be less successful. Have done this frequently over the past few years (in both modes -- as the sponsoree and as the sponsor -- however both have been 1Ks each time)

Trying to do this online is very likely to lose the GPU -- that appears to be the default hence the comments above concerning agents.

What is the current verdict on connection-time on a GPU when using it for international travel (where connections under 24 hours are not considered a stopover). I currently consider a trip that involves a ~22 hour connection in ORD with both domestic and international segments before and after that stop - will I still be able to upgrade all segments using one GPU? And if so, how can I do that? I am almost certain that trying this online will ask for two GPUs per traveler...put a dummy-reservation on hold that shows this part of the trip as two "boxes" whereas I get these flights all in one box if I connect to close sequenced flights with minimal connection times.

Greetings - Dirk

Can you use an RPU on a US to Mexico Route?
 

Can you use an RPU on a US to Mexico route? In particular, I'm looking at IAH-SJD.

Yes you can
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...e/default.aspx

Ok thanks.

I had looked at that website and it is not clear to me as they use the language within a region and Mexico and the US seem to be different regions.

Yes. If you can't use the RPU, it will say so on the screen.

I will be going EWR-SJD in a month ... no RPU for me ;) Already got cheap P fare.

Can you upgrade with GPU when you buy your flight with miles?
 

I am new to miles, points, etc.

Backstory: Last year, I was able to acquire a ton of miles and reach 1K with United. I switched jobs and will no longer be traveling. 2015 will be my last year with 1K status. I have the standard Global Premier Upgrades available.

This summer, I will be traveling to the Philippines. I bought the tickets using miles and would like to use my upgrades toward these flights. Is that possible? My flight is a mixture of United and Air China. Even on the United legs I could not submit an upgrade request.

I could not find any information with googling and United doesn't have a clear obvious choice. I don't want my upgrades to go to waste! This is my only planned travel for the year.

Welcome to FT! You cannot upgrade a mileage ticket using GPUs unless if you have Global Services. Only paid tickets for 1K. Maybe you can give it to friends or family for them to use?

Thank you! that is so disappointing to hear. Do they also not do complimentary upgrades?

I've tried to give away my upgrades (I'll still have extras after this trip...) but they always feel bashful about taking them.

On domestic flights UA does, not on International.