RobUAIntl

I'm very confused about how award upgrades work. Used to be GS and that was so easy....

Last week my daughter (a GM on United) went to Boston on an award ticket from my account. Taxes were purchased on my Chase United card. Outbound both the 1K line and at check-in they said she was not eligible for any upgrade. But at T-4 days on the return, one segment cleared and we got an "elite complementary upgrade notification".

In 4 days, I go to DC on award ticket with taxes purchased on my chase card. There is one R-class seat left. I called and was first told that my ticket wasn't upgradable under any circumstances. When asked about credit card upgrades, they said check at the airport....

The description on the web site simply says that credit card holders award tickets are eligible for CPU's. 1K CPU's are eligible to be cleared at 96 hours. I just have no idea how to get on the CPU list. But somehow it happened automatically for my daughter last week.

Any suggestions?

WineCountryUA

The process has been hit & miss -- hence this thread. It should be automatic (based on the ticket's MP account) but if it isn't, the success of getting the GA to add you is low (they are just too busy to figure out how to do it). It does feel (from the posting levels) it is happening better now than before.

ToneDaBass

Should an award CPU be eligible for a IAH-PTY flight, which would be eligible if it were a revenue ticket? United phone agents are telling me it's not eligible for an award CPU, even though there is nothing on ua.com saying that it is not.

sbm12

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.755 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Yes, IAH-PTY is eligible. Just like every other CPU-eligible flight.

ToneDaBass

This is what I thought. Yet despite an hour on the phone with an agent and a manager they constantly told me it was not eligible.

m3m3m3

I've tried three times today with 1K desk.. every time I've been told that you get on the list at the gate the day of.

One agent was honest enough to say, it was because they wanted to upgrade all the revenue passengers before any award travel...

I take it no one recently has had luck with an agent to put them on the list prior to check-in?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

My most recent was November to get an agent to put me on list. 1K desk supervisor managed it. It appeared as if some 1Ks got upgraded, so I called. She saw I wasn't on the list for the automatic upgrade sweeps, so she put me on and I cleared the outbound that night and the return a couple of days later @ 96 hours out. Award tickets, if the system is working right (and that's a big "if"), are cleared at your elite level after revenue pax at that level. If 1K, you should get upgraded after all revenue 1K and before ANY Platinum. The bigger mess up appears that if you do not clear ahead of T-24, you don't appear on the airport list.

flykodo

Thinking of swapping the United Select out for a MileagePlus Explorer so I can get the free upgrades to Central/South America & Carribean. In my experience alot of these flights, so long as you have some status you get upgraded. Any thoughts on it?

I'm surprised UA is supposed to clear you at elite level.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Some South American destinations are not eligible for complimentary upgrades (Brazil and Argentina). Lima used to be, now it's not.

As for upgrades on award tickets, here's the wording (and it's worked for me) - "Complimentary Premier Upgrades on award tickets will be sorted as indicated in the "Upgrade Confirmation Priority" section above, and prioritized after the lowest paid fare class within each Premier level. This benefit does not apply to companions traveling on award tickets."

gokhawksgo

I booked the following award in saver economy, and have already traveled the first 2 segments:

PIT-LGA//JFK-FRA-FCO
GVA-MAD-IAD-PIT
PIT-LAX (upcoming in 2 months)

There is saver availability in F on the upcoming PIT-LAX trip, so I called to inquire about upgrading but was told that was not an option since I have already started my trip.

I thought you could make changes even after you started the trip? And if I can, anyone know how many miles it would be to upgrade? I'm aware there is a copay involved, but unsure of the miles since the itinerary includes international segments.

Thanks in advance!

euslaner

So this post peaked my interest. My wife and I booked a mixed award from IAD to SGN, mostly in F. The first of our three flights back home (SGN-HKG) on 8/21 (ugh, UA 116 at 5 a.m. ) is in Y. So based on this thread, I just called UA and asked about upgrading. The response: Yes, you can. It will cost you 87,500 miles each (for a 2 hour 45 minute flight). The whole award travel cost 140,000 miles each. Good grief!

So I asked if I could check back and the agent suggested calling every day. She must have no other life.

WineCountryUA

Did you specify save award or did the agent quote a standard award? If the latter, then the extra mileage is not surprising.

euslaner

I told her it was a saver award and asked about upgrading. Not worth it. We are in F from HKG to ORD and ORD to IAD. For a couple of hours, we can sit in Y. If we can get a free upgrade, that's fine. Otherwise, not worth paying for.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I'm not exactly clear as to what you have in hand. Are you waitlisted for a seat in First already as part of the original award ticketing? If not, award ticket upgrades clear as part of the normal CPU process (if it's working right). Today is a little early to be angling for an CPU-type upgrade for a flight August 31.

airarchtx

You should be able to upgrade of space is available. It usually starts around 17,500 and can go up to 35,000. Did this for my wife on the last leg of her trip during to NYC. United has no qualms. They will take miles anyway they can get them...