TOD or Just Buy up Question
 

On 10/1 I am flying E- to LIH via SFO. I do not have any UA status, but would like to buy-up to F. Currently when I check my reservation the only option available is miles + $. Does anyone have any insight as to when I may have the option to buy up or get a TOD. Thanks everyone.

it depends on a number of factors -- there is no guarantee it will happen.

The flight is showing F5, so 80% of F is gone. Depending on the length of the upgradeable, some could potential be available at check-in.

If you really want that upgrade for a special occasion choose the miles and $ option now. In general TOD's to Hawaii are not that common. The CPU's will process starting Wednesday or Thursday, I suspect that the seats currently available for miles and $ will be gone at that point.

Unfortunately, that is part of the problem. I don't have the miles 27K per person + 125 per person. Can agents do anything for a buy not necessarily TOD? Buying 54K miles + 250 charge yields $2280 + cost of the ticket already. I could buy an FC tickets for cheaper. Well thank you all for your help, guess it is a lost cause. I will wait and see if buy up comes available.

Just did another check and there is immediate upgrade space R4 on UA351 Oct 1, 2012. R3 on SFO-LIH UA 361 Oct 1, 2012 {had the direction backwards} But is F5 out of 24F. So Miles + $$$ would clear on application. Also means mostly likely there is no one else waitlisted for a mileage upgrade. Surprised there is no buy-up offer in this situation.

You could try calling up and seeing what the difference is to buy up to F, they should be able to waive the change fee. Not a cheap option but better than buying the miles.

Checking on the website once or twice a day right up until departure is probably a good idea.

I will keep checking a few times a day and give the agents a call. Thank you guys for your help and reply's. I really appreciate it.

Without knowing the OP's base fare and what the cheapest F fare is on the route I'm not all that surprised. Until the day of departure the cash-only upgrade price should be based on the difference in fare between the original purchase and the currently available best price which will confirm into biz, be it M-up, P fare, F fare or something else. If the fare differential is too high they don't always show it.

The discounted offers don't show up until day of departure AFAIK.

That's my experience as well. Before day of departure, they only show fare difference in the buy-up options, but in the cases where they are having first class sales or are selling *-up fares these differences can also be within TOD range, especially starting from higher economy fares. These can be reasonable deals to earn extra pqm and/or lock in that first class seat.

when R>0, I've seen this on about any fare but it may make sense to not to show if the offer is too outrageous.

alluded to that in post #2.

:confused:
If it is just a fare difference then the R bucket has no relevance on the availability of the upgrade.

Paying to upgrade on the day
 

Hi all,

Am about to book in Y from LHR to EZE via EWR. The first leg is with Lufthansa (operated by United) and the second leg is United. How would this work with pay on the day upgrades to J? Would Lufthansa's policy apply (if they have one) and, if so, would I have to have to sort out something separate for the EWR-EZE leg?

Also, anyone care to hazard a guess at whether I'm even likely to have the option available for these sorts of flights?

Apologies if this has been asked before - normally fly with US and unfamiliar with how LH/UA would apply here. Thanks!

United's policies would apply, since they are the operating carrier.

As for whether or not upgrades are available, there is no way to tell. Since you won't be able to upgrade until the day of flight, it's possible that even a flight with upgrade capacity may not have upgrades for sale.