Jun 28, 2019, 10:46 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
It appears at times, UA will release upgrade space, now labeled as PZ, but the upgrade waitlist is not processed until a later time. During this period of time, a new upgrade request will clear, ignoring the waitlist. This could be a new request or someone calling to request their waitlisted request to be clear (sometimes called -- "jumping the queue"). So as a defensive move, some may try to call to get their waitlisted request cleared if this situation occurs. Over the years agents, at times, have been reluctant or agreeable to doing this. More recently there are reports of agents needing supervisor approval to do this (this may be UA's attempt to prevent "queue jumping").
Another strategy in this situation is to remove a waitlisted request and then reapply. This does risk losing one's place on the waitlist if unsuccessful
At times, the waitlist process seems to be delayed for an extended period of time, it is speculated that this is a situation where the waitlist processing is "stuck" -- this may be due to a ticket out-of-sync issue with the passenger on top of the waitlist or other causes. A good agent will notice this if you call about clearing and fix the situation.
Releated thread
Difference of"Upgrade Requested","Segment has been Waitlisted","R/PZ class requested"
Changes to UA's Fare Classes (19-20 October 2018)
Archive thread: Upgrade still waitlisted even though R (now PZ) class is available {Archive}
Another strategy in this situation is to remove a waitlisted request and then reapply. This does risk losing one's place on the waitlist if unsuccessful
At times, the waitlist process seems to be delayed for an extended period of time, it is speculated that this is a situation where the waitlist processing is "stuck" -- this may be due to a ticket out-of-sync issue with the passenger on top of the waitlist or other causes. A good agent will notice this if you call about clearing and fix the situation.
Releated thread
Difference of"Upgrade Requested","Segment has been Waitlisted","R/PZ class requested"
Changes to UA's Fare Classes (19-20 October 2018)
Archive thread: Upgrade still waitlisted even though R (now PZ) class is available {Archive}
Upgrade still waitlisted even though PZ (previously R) class is available
Jan 23, 2019, 6:07 am
#316
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,892
Hmm. Currently #1 on the dep management wait-list and listed for PZ with an RPU on a flight in about 4 hrs which is now PZ1(and booked 19/20). Don't know I'm actually #1 on the pre departure invisible list, of course.
Just on a lark asked UA via Twitter when if ever they think that'll clear. Not much else I can do while in the air!
Just on a lark asked UA via Twitter when if ever they think that'll clear. Not much else I can do while in the air!
Feb 14, 2019, 8:17 am
#317
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA 1K MM; Bonvoy Titanium; most other FF programs...
Posts: 654
Happened to me...
Not sure if I should feel bad, but I’m a 1K and have been stalking a particular flight hoping for confirmed upgrade space at booking, and finally saw PN space open up yesterday, which gave me hope. Loads have been light (less than 50% of 77W Polaris cabin booked @ 14 days prior to departure), so with PN open I finally bought the ticket and applied my GPU, hoping PZ would open up soon.
After I booked ticket via phone agent, she said there were 7 ppl on the upgrade list, which made me wish I had bought a v fare instead of w to increase my chances, or at least be higher up on the waitlist.
Well, this morning I check and see that PZ=1 so immediately called the 1K line and spoke to an agent. She was at first reluctant to do anything saying I was “on the list”, but I asked her to un-apply and then re-apply the GPU to hopefully trigger the upgrade, but she was worried I would lose my place in the upgrade line if she did that.
She called another dept and got it pushed through... I am happy as it’s a super long flight, but do feel a little bad I make have skipped over ppl in the queue.
But just a cautionary tale to continue checking your reservation and inventory if you’re waitlisted!
(Also, super excited to have snagged one of my favorite seats in the cabin, AND get to check out the new LA Polaris lounge at departure. Now let's just hope they have the PJs restocked but the time of my flight!)
After I booked ticket via phone agent, she said there were 7 ppl on the upgrade list, which made me wish I had bought a v fare instead of w to increase my chances, or at least be higher up on the waitlist.
Well, this morning I check and see that PZ=1 so immediately called the 1K line and spoke to an agent. She was at first reluctant to do anything saying I was “on the list”, but I asked her to un-apply and then re-apply the GPU to hopefully trigger the upgrade, but she was worried I would lose my place in the upgrade line if she did that.
She called another dept and got it pushed through... I am happy as it’s a super long flight, but do feel a little bad I make have skipped over ppl in the queue.
But just a cautionary tale to continue checking your reservation and inventory if you’re waitlisted!
(Also, super excited to have snagged one of my favorite seats in the cabin, AND get to check out the new LA Polaris lounge at departure. Now let's just hope they have the PJs restocked but the time of my flight!)
Last edited by FoxFlyer; Feb 14, 2019 at 8:42 am
Feb 14, 2019, 2:32 pm
#318
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,215
Not sure if I should feel bad, but I’m a 1K and have been stalking a particular flight hoping for confirmed upgrade space at booking, and finally saw PN space open up yesterday, which gave me hope. Loads have been light (less than 50% of 77W Polaris cabin booked @ 14 days prior to departure), so with PN open I finally bought the ticket and applied my GPU, hoping PZ would open up soon.
After I booked ticket via phone agent, she said there were 7 ppl on the upgrade list, which made me wish I had bought a v fare instead of w to increase my chances, or at least be higher up on the waitlist.
Well, this morning I check and see that PZ=1 so immediately called the 1K line and spoke to an agent. She was at first reluctant to do anything saying I was “on the list”, but I asked her to un-apply and then re-apply the GPU to hopefully trigger the upgrade, but she was worried I would lose my place in the upgrade line if she did that.
She called another dept and got it pushed through... I am happy as it’s a super long flight, but do feel a little bad I make have skipped over ppl in the queue...
After I booked ticket via phone agent, she said there were 7 ppl on the upgrade list, which made me wish I had bought a v fare instead of w to increase my chances, or at least be higher up on the waitlist.
Well, this morning I check and see that PZ=1 so immediately called the 1K line and spoke to an agent. She was at first reluctant to do anything saying I was “on the list”, but I asked her to un-apply and then re-apply the GPU to hopefully trigger the upgrade, but she was worried I would lose my place in the upgrade line if she did that.
She called another dept and got it pushed through... I am happy as it’s a super long flight, but do feel a little bad I make have skipped over ppl in the queue...
IMO that CS agent and the person in the other department should be fired. They can see you are not #1 on the upgrade list but push through the upgrade for you. Clear violation that it is supposed to go to the first person on the upgrade list.
As I stated, you did nothing wrong in asking, but when it was pointed out to them they should have assigned the seat to the first person on the list.
Feb 14, 2019, 2:38 pm
#319
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,337
Congratulations to you, and you did nothing wrong in asking and using the system.
IMO that CS agent and the person in the other department should be fired. They can see you are not #1 on the upgrade list but push through the upgrade for you. Clear violation that it is supposed to go to the first person on the upgrade list.
As I stated, you did nothing wrong in asking, but when it was pointed out to them they should have assigned the seat to the first person on the list.
IMO that CS agent and the person in the other department should be fired. They can see you are not #1 on the upgrade list but push through the upgrade for you. Clear violation that it is supposed to go to the first person on the upgrade list.
As I stated, you did nothing wrong in asking, but when it was pointed out to them they should have assigned the seat to the first person on the list.
-RM
Feb 14, 2019, 3:11 pm
#320
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,370
They can see you are not #1 on the upgrade list but push through the upgrade for you. Clear violation that it is supposed to go to the first person on the upgrade list.
Feb 14, 2019, 3:17 pm
#321
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: LAX
Programs: UA 1K MM; Bonvoy Titanium; most other FF programs...
Posts: 654
So there are several ways this could have been done and still had the GPU clear... so I don't think anyone should get fired over it. And to the additional comment above, there is no telling where I was on the upgrade list, so I could easily have been #1 , and they pushed it through.
ADDING DATA PT: Checked again this morning (7/16) and PZ=1, so feeling less bad about the situation. Either everyone has cleared off waitlist or I.T. is not processing them as space becomes avail.
Last edited by FoxFlyer; Feb 16, 2019 at 8:54 am
Feb 17, 2019, 12:05 pm
#322
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,172
While some posters might be upset at what the OP did, frankly if they didn't do it, some random new buyer could have shown up, applied their GPU and cleared immediately while the OP and the other 6 waitlisted customers are sitting there like idiots.
This is a major system flaw and it needs to be fixed asap - as in faster than years or never.
Feb 17, 2019, 1:05 pm
#323
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,004
It's not fair, but it is what it is...
Feb 17, 2019, 1:27 pm
#324
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,215
I had a notification yesterday (on an RPU) which is how the system is supposed to work. I have had a couple of GPUs work the same way this year as it is very rare I book with PZ available. I appreciate that is against FT advice but I travel on off days (usually).
I am actually watching to see if they fix this flaw (or that at least my GPUs are successful this year which for me is the same thing as I have better things to do than babysit every reservation with a GPU which is what I did last year) as for the additional $6k they will want for me to make 1K the GPUs need to work, otherwise I may as well as spend that on TODs for upgrades in 2020. I had an unexpired GPU from last year and it is still waiting to be used successfully.
Feb 17, 2019, 4:14 pm
#325
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Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Aren't you guys tired of this debate yet? It's been going on since UA adopted Shares back in 2012.
There's no point talking about "should" in this context - the list doesn't process dynamically, and there's no reason to believe UA's going to fix it.
Until then, you can either light a candle or curse the darkness.
There's no point talking about "should" in this context - the list doesn't process dynamically, and there's no reason to believe UA's going to fix it.
Until then, you can either light a candle or curse the darkness.
Feb 17, 2019, 6:55 pm
#326
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,215
Aren't you guys tired of this debate yet? It's been going on since UA adopted Shares back in 2012.
There's no point talking about "should" in this context - the list doesn't process dynamically, and there's no reason to believe UA's going to fix it.
Until then, you can either light a candle or curse the darkness.
There's no point talking about "should" in this context - the list doesn't process dynamically, and there's no reason to believe UA's going to fix it.
Until then, you can either light a candle or curse the darkness.
Feb 17, 2019, 8:01 pm
#327
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,172
I am actually hoping that United has/will undertake VOC (Voice Of Customer) and that frequent flyers are frustrated by this and will walk away. I think/hope the loss of visibility of PZ was the start of fixing the problem, but maybe it was just an IT glitch and United has no intention of changing it, as you note it has been this way since 2012. I have chosen OALs before when R/PZ was not available and J was significantly less expensive on the competition for similar flights. Others seem happy to play the R/PZ game. I am happy to highlight the frustration but United is forcing my hand as my travel plans should not occupy me on a daily basis. @Kacee i may be contributing in a new forum in 2020 if/when I choose to fly OALs as they make my flying life essier.
Then came Smisek - the snotty, sniveling wall flower at these annual gatherings who treated us with disdain and disgust, and then closed the door the moment he took over as CEO. Under Oscar "Denada" and his Smisek-ish sidekick Kirby, the relationship remains closed, transparency is deliberately down, hostility is up, and instead of Smisek, we have Kirby who holds customers in utter contempt and disgust, as he was trained by Baldanza and Parker.
So, here is a product flaw that could be corrected with a little cash and technical elbow grease, but as a customer inconvenience, it thus remains a low priority and my assumption is anything that further frustrates customers and denies them access to benefits like upgrades, gives Kirby the giggles and is highly unlikely to be fixed, which is a rather unfortunate state of affairs.
Apr 3, 2019, 4:08 pm
#328
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Morris County, NJ
Programs: UA 1K/*G, Avis Pres, Marriott Plat
Posts: 2,305
WE ARE the voice of the customer - and back in our PMCO days, we were taken seriously, asked for our input, exposed flaws that were subsequently fixed, and helped create or modify product decisions based on our input. Every year we had a gathering with CO management to celebrate our great mutual relationship. The Flyertalk community was seen as collection of passionate, knowledgable customers, open to communication and input - all CO had to do give us an "Insider" (Scott, who was an amazing resource) and throw us an annual "do".
Then came Smisek - the snotty, sniveling wall flower at these annual gatherings who treated us with disdain and disgust, and then closed the door the moment he took over as CEO.
Then came Smisek - the snotty, sniveling wall flower at these annual gatherings who treated us with disdain and disgust, and then closed the door the moment he took over as CEO.
Apr 4, 2019, 2:28 pm
#329
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: WAS-ish
Programs: UA 1K-MM + UC, Marriott Plat, National Exec
Posts: 1,341
So... I thought I'd post a weird datapoint for this thread. I had more or less the opposite experience to the title of this thread. I'd been watching a particular pair of dates (in June) like a hawk for about 3 weeks, waiting to see whether PZ opened up on either EWR-AMS or IAD-AMS. I finally gave up, and booked xxx-IAD-AMS-IAD-xxx and waitlisted the GPU, because it was PN9 and that's usually a good sign.
Literally 20 minutes after I booked, I got an email saying that my waitlisted upgrade on AMS-IAD had cleared.
6 hours later, I got an email saying that the outbound (IAD-AMS) had cleared too.
This is great, but also weird. Not only had I been watching for PZ space for the past 3 weeks, but I'd also been watching the seatmap, and the number of free J seats stayed constant for that entire time. Generally, if PZ opens up just long enough to clear somebody's upgrade, a seat disappears.
Oh, and when I checked availability right after I cleared, it was PZ0.
So I'm inclined to conclude that after 3 weeks of no PZ availability, exactly one seat on both of my flights opened up almost immediately after I booked. I'm not complaining, but... huh? Did I get really lucky, or does UA love me more than I think?
(BTW, I'm a bog-standard 1K. Not GS. And not special in any way, AFAIK).
Literally 20 minutes after I booked, I got an email saying that my waitlisted upgrade on AMS-IAD had cleared.
6 hours later, I got an email saying that the outbound (IAD-AMS) had cleared too.
This is great, but also weird. Not only had I been watching for PZ space for the past 3 weeks, but I'd also been watching the seatmap, and the number of free J seats stayed constant for that entire time. Generally, if PZ opens up just long enough to clear somebody's upgrade, a seat disappears.
Oh, and when I checked availability right after I cleared, it was PZ0.
So I'm inclined to conclude that after 3 weeks of no PZ availability, exactly one seat on both of my flights opened up almost immediately after I booked. I'm not complaining, but... huh? Did I get really lucky, or does UA love me more than I think?
(BTW, I'm a bog-standard 1K. Not GS. And not special in any way, AFAIK).
Apr 4, 2019, 2:36 pm
#330
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,370