MrMillion

Greetings!

Apologies if this is not a new subject and has been answered before (in which case I would like to be directed to the thread). Here's my scenario/situation.

-I book a flight 12 days out and request an upgrade for a CR1. I am placed on waitlist and the CR1 is pulled.

-If the upgrade does not clear (I am currently #1 on the WL and that is never a good omen... ) the CR1 is returned to my account.

-We go to the complimentary upgrade window. If my upgrade clears, my CR1 is gone.

If I had never requested an upgrade I would still be on the WL and if it clears I am good without the CR1. To me, the sole purpose of using the CR1 is to avail myself of something that is only available for currency and not for something that is available for free. Why is the CR1 not returned as soon as the complimentary period is entered?

And, since that does not seem to be the case, is there a strategy to avoid this?

thaliajen

Can you explain what a CR1 is? Do you mean you used miles to UG to 1st? I've got 15 years of history with UA and CO before it, butI'm not quite sure if that is what you mean.

arctikjon

My assumption is by CR1 you mean an upgrade instrument (either a GPU or RPU?)

If so you are mostly correct.... if the upgrade doesnt clear the instrument will be returned to your account.

In theory you are correct that you would be on the upgrade wait list without the instrument and when the upgrade clears you the instrument will be consumed. However using the instrument places you above all other CPUS (regardless of flyer status) so a Platinums RPU will clear before a 1K CPU no matter your fare class. Often using the instrument is the only way you will clear the wait list.

If you feel like there are enough open seats that you would clear a CPU you can always call and have them pull the instrument out before it clears and take your chances with the CPU.

Instrument upgrades are not seen the same as cash upgrades - this is a subject of contention but for the sake of this thread lets just accept the reality for now. Generally speaking Instruments are good for increasing your upgrade chances on high elite flights where your status or fare puts you too far down to have any shot of clearing a CPU.

Baze

CR1 is the old UA terminology for the current RPU.

OP - What the RPU will do for you is put you above all the CPU's (except GS) if it doesn't clear beforehand. You have the option of pulling your RPU and going with the CPU but you will probably drop down in the list

WineCountryUA

you were unlucky and go two incompetent agents -- if you get this issue in the future, ask for a supervisor and make this a training moment.

if done right should take no more than a day or two


Generally Friday afternoon is a poor opportunity for CPU but the R availability suggests the flight might be a CPU opportunity.

Never, ever had an issue with this, very puzzling -- as said earlier, if you get this issue in the future, ask for a supervisor and make this a training moment.

kenziid3

I just used 2 RPU's on a HKG-HNL RT K fare to upgrade to F/BF on all 4 segments. Is this something new on this route.

I thought there were no more rpu's inter Asia and certainly not on Gum-HNL.

jjmoore

Trying to upgrade a couple friends on a HNL-DEN flight in December, and things are not looking good. A bunch of seats just disappeared, and now inventory in F is only 6 vs. about 13 a week or two ago.

One thing that is a bit surprising to me is the fare difference between refundable economy (M class) and first class (A class)... only $100. $1,250 vs. $1,150 ... with that little disparity in price between instant upgrade and first class... more people are probably buying straight up... this is something I have seen more of in the last couple years... cheaper tickets in the F cabin = more purchased seats, less PN/R inventory. Not good for instrument use.

I have had a few instances this year where the price difference between my purchased fare (usually in E or M) is only $100 difference between A or Z in first, and I will pay out of pocket for it after booking if the flight is 3+ hours. Many times that I have done this, space in PN/R has never opened up, and I would likely have failed on an upgrade bid with an instrument.

Are many people out there ending up in situations where they have expiring instruments?

cfischer

yup.

Sterndogg

So far that seems to be the trend...applied 4 RPUs for 2 transcon R/T's one next week and one the following booked over 3 months out with all flights showing F9 A9 JN9 C9 D9 Z9 etc. and nothing has cleared with all flights showing F sold out or only F1 available.

TomMM

No, My last remaining GPU cleared a couple of weeks ago and my RPUs were gone months ago..

Silver Fox

Yes. Not had any GPU/RPU clear this year. Have two more flights where it can possibly clear (LHR-SFO-LHR) but that route is notorious - I think R=0 and RN=0 is hard coded.

jjmoore

The only way I have been getting rid of my instruments during the last 2 years is to give them away to friends, family, colleagues... otherwise, they would expire. I have a lot of DEN-EWR, DEN-SFO .... very tough routes to upgrade in any way on, whether it be instant upgrade fares or RPU/GPU. The only luck I have had is to get a good deal to buy up to F.

The only instrument upgrade that has cleared for me this year was AUS-DEN ... the only reason I would even waste one on a route like this is because my better half had an award ticket booked up there.

Considering I fly mostly on Monday and Friday, with some Sunday travel too... and on high business travel routes... I am out of luck for inventory in R, especially in the last minute booking scenarios.

metermaid33

I applied an RPU to EWR to SFO. I was waitlisted and it never cleared. First is now full. I just SDC to an earlier flight. What happened to my RPU? Does it transfer to my new flight? (First is also full on that flight). Or do I need to call in and try to get the RPU redeposited in my account?

Flying Machine

In my experience RPU's when they do not clear will be redeposited back to your accouunt in a few days. Be alert and check that they are redeposited as sometime they are not and you will need MP to assist manually.

If you change flights as you did with SDC, the RPU does not follow your new itineary. You will need to apply a new one. If you only had 1 left from the flight that you changed from calling maybe able to assist. But SOP says to apply a new one and wait for the unused to be redeposited..

qwicker

Hi Folks,
I've searched around and was not able to find an exact answer to my question so I figured I would ask.

I have a flight today from SFO to EWR that has a weight-listed RPU. Currently with this RPU I am #3 on the list with only 1 seat open so I'm pretty confident I'm not getting it.

If I SDC to another flight I know the RPU will be lost and I will be added to the list as a regular CPU. My question is, can I call up and have an agent reapply that RPU to help me move up in the queue?