Apr 8, 2015, 3:27 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
One of the more confusing aspects of cash upgrades is "does this upgrade get premium cabin mileage bonus and is the fee included in PQD?"
The best assumption is no bonus and fee is not included in PQD but there are some cases where there will be a premium cabin bonus and amount will count toward PQD.
There are multiple cash upgrade paths and different ones are offered at different times (and can be quite hard to separate).
The key is what is the new fare basis after the upgrade. Note R, RN, P, PN, ZN, ON, A and others have been reported.
The following are generally not eligible for PQD or bonus:
However the offer, in "My Reservations" via the cash method tab "Buy Up to First" under "View {Upgrade} Options" is likely to be eligible for PQDs & PQM bonus.
**** Due to UA changes in May 2018, this statement may not be relieable ****
**** This now appears to be an Upgrade Fee (no PQDs) and may book into Upgrade fare class (no extra PQMs) or into a mileage earning bonus fare class (PQMs earning). Unclear if that is a way to tell which will happen ****
Generally these will be reflected on the receipt as
Notice the words "generally" and "likely" -- those are weasel words to protect the wiki author because of the lack of transparency in this system 
For instance, some time of checkin paid upgrades that book into P, will earn PQM bonus but not earn PQDs.
Checking the actual fare basis during booking when you are given access (or using the Saudi site) is key in understanding the outcome.
UA Insider commented on this a while back, but there has been no improvement in the confusion / clarity in the meantime.
The best assumption is no bonus and fee is not included in PQD but there are some cases where there will be a premium cabin bonus and amount will count toward PQD.
There are multiple cash upgrade paths and different ones are offered at different times (and can be quite hard to separate).
The key is what is the new fare basis after the upgrade. Note R, RN, P, PN, ZN, ON, A and others have been reported.
- Many of the upgrade offers results in R/PN/ZN fare class (and post as Zx) -- so like a regular upgrade the mileage posting is based on the original fare class. The upgrade fee does not earn PQDs.
- Others bump the fare basis to a -UP fare which reports as a P/Z/A fare class, these are now earning PQMs at the up-fared fare class and the up-fare costs earns PQDs.
- And others book into a true P/Z/A fare basis and will earn the PQM bonus and the up-fare cost will earn PQDs.
The following are generally not eligible for PQD or bonus:
- Pop-up upgrade immediately following purchase on united.com
- Last minute upgrade at check-in
Additional Charges:
Date/CreditCard XXXX was charged xxx USD for the Merchandising / EDD
xxx USD for: Premium Cabin Upgrade
Date/CreditCard XXXX was charged xxx USD for the Merchandising / EDD
xxx USD for: Premium Cabin Upgrade
**** Due to UA changes in May 2018, this statement may not be relieable ****
**** This now appears to be an Upgrade Fee (no PQDs) and may book into Upgrade fare class (no extra PQMs) or into a mileage earning bonus fare class (PQMs earning). Unclear if that is a way to tell which will happen ****
Generally these will be reflected on the receipt as
Add Collect: An additional amount for the difference in fare was charged to {card} on {date}. $yyy USD per ticket for an additional total of $yyy USD was collected.
For instance, some time of checkin paid upgrades that book into P, will earn PQM bonus but not earn PQDs.
Checking the actual fare basis during booking when you are given access (or using the Saudi site) is key in understanding the outcome.
UA Insider commented on this a while back, but there has been no improvement in the confusion / clarity in the meantime.
Hi Everyone,
I’ve done a little bit of research on this, and I wanted to share some background on the scenario vandrei shared.
At a high level, and as a some of you have noticed more recently in the thread, the buy-up offer we sometimes present immediately upon booking an economy ticket is indeed distinct from the one presented when viewing a reservation in My Account at some point after the flight has been ticketed and confirmed. For example, the offer at booking enables customers to the flexibility to confirm an upgraded seat on a segment-by-segment basis, whereas the one in My Reservations is based on the line of flight.
Additionally, from a functional perspective, the offer immediately upon booking does not change the underlying fare basis for the original purchased fare (even though the visible fare class is reflective of the buy-up inventory), whereas the one in My Reservations results in a complete re-issue of the existing ticket. It is this aspect of the functionality which drives mileage accrual, which is based on the original purchased fare for the offer immediately after booking, but based on the new fare class for the offer in My Reservations. These policies are disclosed in each offer’s respective (and indeed, different) terms and conditions.
Longer-term, the vision is indeed to align mileage accrual policies between the two types of offers. In the meantime, the tradeoff between the two offers continues to be one of additional miles vs. the flexibility to confirm on a segment-by-segment basis.
Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines
I’ve done a little bit of research on this, and I wanted to share some background on the scenario vandrei shared.
At a high level, and as a some of you have noticed more recently in the thread, the buy-up offer we sometimes present immediately upon booking an economy ticket is indeed distinct from the one presented when viewing a reservation in My Account at some point after the flight has been ticketed and confirmed. For example, the offer at booking enables customers to the flexibility to confirm an upgraded seat on a segment-by-segment basis, whereas the one in My Reservations is based on the line of flight.
Additionally, from a functional perspective, the offer immediately upon booking does not change the underlying fare basis for the original purchased fare (even though the visible fare class is reflective of the buy-up inventory), whereas the one in My Reservations results in a complete re-issue of the existing ticket. It is this aspect of the functionality which drives mileage accrual, which is based on the original purchased fare for the offer immediately after booking, but based on the new fare class for the offer in My Reservations. These policies are disclosed in each offer’s respective (and indeed, different) terms and conditions.
Longer-term, the vision is indeed to align mileage accrual policies between the two types of offers. In the meantime, the tradeoff between the two offers continues to be one of additional miles vs. the flexibility to confirm on a segment-by-segment basis.
Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager - Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines
Some Paid Upgrades Count Towards PQD & mileage bonus and some DON'T!
Mar 31, 2018, 9:28 pm
#436
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Where previously the "Purchase Upgrade" process would up-fare to the lowest available first class bucket (P/Z/etc) and earn PQM/RDM based on that new fare, it reads like this might now book into R? Sounds like the only option currently is to call in...?
Apr 1, 2018, 1:10 am
#437
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Apr 1, 2018, 2:19 am
#438
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There's no question that there's a new process in place. I booked an itinerary about 27 hours ago, so I'm no longer within the free cancellation period. It's a two-segment, one-way itinerary, and now when I click on "Upgrade Flight," I get a new option -- I see checkboxes and individual, $XX9 type prices for each leg. The prices appear to be the same offers I got at booking and the same I'd expect to get during check-in. So, I expect that these would not count as PQDs / RDMs, and PQMs are probably hit or miss like they are during check-in.
Apr 1, 2018, 6:14 am
#439
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Is that the post-purchase, pre-ticketing offer, or post-ticketing?
If pre-ticketing, I'm glad to see they've updated the language, because it was misleading previously.
A post-ticketing (but pre check-in) buy-up should still work as an upfare, meaning accruals based on new ticket price. If that's changed, it would be a significant change in how buy-ups work.
If pre-ticketing, I'm glad to see they've updated the language, because it was misleading previously.
A post-ticketing (but pre check-in) buy-up should still work as an upfare, meaning accruals based on new ticket price. If that's changed, it would be a significant change in how buy-ups work.
It really will be incovenient for those of us who buy our company tickets in economy class & then up-fare to get to FC. Now we have to call in instead of doing it ourselves online.
The cynic in me thinks this is on purpose. Imagine all the casual travelers that decide to "upgrade" online. They won't notice the T&C like FT'rs do. Think of all the RDM & PQD that UA will not have to shell out due to the new web process. I just hope this doesn't become a new "policy" and GG BUYUP goes away. That would suck
Last edited by FlyngSvyr; Apr 1, 2018 at 6:23 am
Apr 1, 2018, 8:37 am
#440
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They are absolutely aware of the consequences of characterizing the payment as a fee rather than part of the fare. I believe that's preferable for UA from a tax perspective.
Apr 1, 2018, 10:10 am
#441
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Quick question for those who have done this frequently: should my $134 buy up from E to A have netted me extra PQDs? For the time being, it didn't...
There appears to have been some form of re-ticketing, though the receipt for my reservation still shows the old price, with a note in the additional charges section that says: "Sat., Mar. 17, 2018/Visa XXXX was charged 134.32 USD for the / EDD 016XXXXXXXXXX 134.32 USD for: Change Fee"
Obviously, this wasn't a change fee, so I'm a bit confused by the note, but as this was my first buy up, I'm not sure whether this is normal or not.
There appears to have been some form of re-ticketing, though the receipt for my reservation still shows the old price, with a note in the additional charges section that says: "Sat., Mar. 17, 2018/Visa XXXX was charged 134.32 USD for the / EDD 016XXXXXXXXXX 134.32 USD for: Change Fee"
Obviously, this wasn't a change fee, so I'm a bit confused by the note, but as this was my first buy up, I'm not sure whether this is normal or not.
Apr 1, 2018, 11:05 am
#442
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There appears to have been some form of re-ticketing, though the receipt for my reservation still shows the old price, with a note in the additional charges section that says: "Sat., Mar. 17, 2018/Visa XXXX was charged 134.32 USD for the / EDD 016XXXXXXXXXX 134.32 USD for: Change Fee"
First-class fares purchased via the GG BUYUP process -- and a fare difference from the current first-class price, not one of these $XX9 prices -- should act exactly the same as if you had purchased the first-class fare originally, including PQDs and PQMs.
Apr 1, 2018, 3:24 pm
#443
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If you're suggesting that UA may not have to pay/charge the 7.5% Federal Excise Tax on airfare, that's interesting, although (a) they should list every fare as a penny with a variable "booking charge" based on inventory and destination, and (b) I can't imagine that Congress will take kindly to it if they notice.
Apr 1, 2018, 6:43 pm
#444
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I believe that's true regarding the excise tax. Claiming that the entire ticket is a booking charge is something that is not going to stand up in court, but NK already does something similar where a piece of the fare is a "booking charge" (exempt from ad valorem tax) which can only be avoided by going to the airport ticket counter to buy the ticket. I think the existence of a fee-exempt channel to fly is part of the validity behind the tax scheme.
Anyway. I've gotten a bit off-topic, so I'll cut it short, but I appreciate your insight.
Apr 1, 2018, 9:39 pm
#445
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I had this happen to me twice in a row in December (except the other direction - the agents coded a change fee as an add/collect), which resulted in AMEX not reimbursing the change fee.
I suspect there's been some kind of system change recently which is causing agents to miscode when reticketing.
It's getting difficult to tell just from the price, because the fare differential on the differential fares often looks very similar to an upgrade fee these days - $89, $99, $109, etc.
Apr 1, 2018, 10:41 pm
#446
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Last week, I purchased ONT-DEN-IAD//IAD-LAX (4/19-4/22) and I was greeted with an upgrade offer of $119 for ONT-DEN and $159 for DEN-IAD when looking to upgrade through the Upgrade Reservation link. Knowing that my upgrade probability will be quite high on the ONT-DEN, I was happy to pay the $159 for DEN-IAD. However, the system kept on erring out, so I tried it again...then again...then again. Finally, I had a moment of brilliance (shocking, I know) and gave the 1K desk a call. Come to find out that I had charged myself 4 times and that she was going to refund 3 of those purchases and have the upgrade processed. It was a polite surprise when she asked what seats I wanted on ONT-DEN as apparently the $159 fee covered both segments.
What was an even better surprise was that I was re-booked into P.
And the original booking class was T
What was an even better surprise was that I was re-booked into P.
And the original booking class was T
Apr 2, 2018, 11:35 pm
#447
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I now have a reservation active in Y again, and can confirm that the "Manage Reservations" buyup now looks to be some sort of fee. It started as the route fare differential ($199 for SFO/MSP) and has not changed even though inventory shifted and the difference to truly buy up is now higher. Looks like the TOD pricing is permanently available now - will be interesting to see how this affects inventory.
Apr 9, 2018, 9:25 pm
#448
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Apr 10, 2018, 12:58 am
#449
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Apr 10, 2018, 7:54 am
#450
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Checking fares, I actually could have GG BUYUP'ed this segment for $10 less. Though not having to call UA is probably worth about $10 to me, and given that it booked into P, I'm pretty sure the upgrade will transfer if I SDC (despite what the fine print says), which is the main reason an upfare is IMO preferable to the online buy-up (at least on these cheap ones where PQD are not consequential).