Some Paid Upgrades Count Towards PQD & mileage bonus and some DON'T!
 

In Jan. 2013, I booked tickets for two trips this month, one to SFO and a second to SLC. I believe that the original tickets were in L class.

Immediately after booking each of the tickets, I was presented with a cash buy-up offers to first class. According to the offers, I would earn additional MileagePlus miles based on the new fare class (in this case, both tickets were booked into P class, which should earn 150% PQM/RDM and 1.5 PQS).

I ended up taking both offers because I felt that the price was reasonable and, frankly, flying across the country (or almost all the way, in the case of SLC) in domestic first class is still way ahead of flying in economy.

Note that you can get similar cash buy-up offers by opening up a future reservation in your United.com account and clicking "Upgrade Your Flight," if available. Clicking on "What's the difference?" yields the following screenshot, taken from one of my future reservations:

http://i42.tinypic.com/nexc01.jpg

Also note that these were NOT TOD/OLCI upgrade offers (which will book into ZL class for a L class ticket) or mile-based upgrades. The offers changed the underlying fare basis on both tickets from L to P, as reflected on the itinerary and receipt pages that I received by e-mail and can still view on my United.com account. The Premier Desk agent whom I called (see further below) confirmed that both tickets were P class tickets.

[United Hub also has a chart illustrating the difference between buy ups and mile-based upgrades.]

Anyways, this month, I went on both trips and had a lot of fun.

However...

When I got home, I found out that both flights were credited to my MileagePlus account as if they were booked in L class.

:confused:

I called both the MileagePlus Service Center and the Premier Desk.

The MileagePlus Service Center pointed me to this Web page that, under "Exceptions," states:
and this Web page that, under FAQs, states
On that basis, the MileagePlus Service Center refused to credit my account with additional PQM/RDM/PQS.

When I called the Premier Desk, the agent, who was far more helpful, confirmed that both of my tickets were P class tickets...but, when I mentioned the cash buy-up offer, she said that United's policy was that the tickets would only credit into the original L class because they were obtained through a cash buy-up offer. Other P class tickets (at higher prices) would credit into P class.

The agent seemed a bit confused and very cautious. The agent also mentioned that there were other Premier members calling, unhappy that they were not receiving the additional advertised PQM/RDM/PQS for cash buy-ups. The agent in fact told me that if I had not mentioned the cash buy-ups, she would have thought both tickets were P class tickets.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I feel that I have been deceived (bait and switch), and I am looking for next steps.

Moderators, if you feel this should be merged into another thread, please do so. Thanks.

Call back and mention that your P-class tickets credited incorrectly, as L, and that you want the bonus miles for P. Don't get into the buy-up, etc.

I agree that the text you were shown at time of purchasing was misleading.

Frankly, an outright lie. It's seems that they were trying to cheat you deliberately and without shame.

How else could anyone interpret these words:

"Bonus award miles and Premier Qualifying earnings based on the new fare."

There was a link, it said: "See Chart"

The only way I could be convinced that this was not an outright lie is if the "See Chart" contained clearly visible text that described the exceptions you were subsequently pointed to.

But, even then, why say: "Bonus award miles and Premier Qualifying earnings based on the new fare?"

Who, and under what circumstances, would get what was promised by that statement? It sounds like - nobody, ever. Never.

Did you click on the link to the chart? Do you recall what it said?

Even the exception text that they sent to you doesn't hold water:

"Paid upgrades are considered a special offer. Mileage accrual will be based on the original purchased fare."

Because, how do you know when you have a paid upgrade or when you were simply buying up to the P fare?

As we all know very well, some of these offers are TODs/HODs when they allow you to get into F without paying the prevailing fare.

But, *everyone* has the option to "buy up" into F, at all times. For those not getting a special offer, it's just the fare difference from current fare to prevailing F fare. And, to the user, both options look identical. Only someone with intensive knowledge could hope to determine when it's an upgrade, when it's a special offer, or when it's just paying the normal fare difference.

That is not an "upgrade" - that is a change of fare.

This is sleazy beyond anything I've seen thus far.

This may fall into DOT jurisdiction and I'm sure it falls under FTC jurisdiction.

Kudos to you for capturing the screen shots. One cannot do *anything* with this airline anymore without documenting every last pixel.

The chart took me to this page on United's Web site. Per that page, P class earns 150%.

My itinerary and receipt for both itineraries shows me in P class on both tickets.

Interesting ...

I haven't seen that text before as I always assumed buy-ups aren't eligible for bonus RDMs/PQMs (however fare changes to a higher class are). Maybe this a change that wasn't relayed to the agents (as it seems like we have to do a lot of the relaying)?

I will try again tomorrow.

At this point, I'm tired after getting sent in circles for two hours.

According to United's Web site, cash buy ups are eligible for bonus PQMs/RDMs/PQS.

I don't remember the specific threads on FT, but I remember reading that cash buy ups change the actual fare class, whereas OLCI/TOD offers or mile-based offers book into (Z-whatever the original class was).

Also, this was an actual fare class change. The Premier Desk agent confirmed that the tickets were in P class.

Try calling MP again (don't mention buy-up ... say it was a fare change). Agents see many things differently so you might got a few bad ones.

Hmm, I had the same problem. I bought up to P EWR-EZE and only got credit for my original K fare.

No issue here. Bought-up to P fare, got 150% EQM.

Hang up and call again. This time, don't mention the buy-up.

Same thing happened to me. Talked to a GS MP agent who had things sorted out in 7 min.

What was the fare basis you upgraded into? If it was still an economy fare with some premier or other upgrade upgrade than you do only get the economy miles. The bonus miles are based on the fare code not the booking code. The booking code is what shows on your reservation page and is usually 1 or 2 letters. The fare code is usually 3 or more letters (and sometimes some numbers). It's really confusing but fare codes and booking codes are at best loosely related and sometimes not related at all. When it comes to bonus miles, the fare code is what matters.

There are several ways that the buy-ups work (I focus on domestic travel here).

• Sometimes they book into an actual first class fare basis (typically F, J, FUA or JUA[1]) and these usually show a booking code of F and obviously get the bouns.
• Sometimes they book into an instant upgrade economy fare basis. In this case the fare basis will be something like V2UP14N3 or Q2UP7Y3 and the booking code will be P or A. In this case you should also get the booking bouns since UA considers those fare basises "revenue" first class despite them being actually economy fares[2].
• Other times, if you are elite, they book into an economy fare basis (not a _UP fare) of Y, B (or M if you're 1K+) and they apply the instant upgrade for elites. In this case your fare basis remains Y, B, M based and only your booking code changes. These usually book into PN but sometimes also P. The mileage credits are based on FARE BASIS not booking code.

Unfortunately your screen shots don't show anything but what I described above (particularly that your miles are based on your new FARE not booking code). UA's on-line process is really bad in that unless you click on the right terms and conditions link on the payment page there is no way to know what fare basis you're booking into. (Remember fare basis is usually a several letter code like MA0GY, KA21GN, YUA with the first letter usually matching with the booking code). The highlighted section in your post could actually be read to be alerting you of this fact (that you may not get a bonus) but it's not worded very well.

It sounds like your routing was IAD to SLC via SFO back in Jan 2013. I couldn't find historical fare information on EF but looking at future fares the lowest published fare is S (in UA's hierarchy L is below S) which is about $250 for the OW and full F fares are about $2500. It sounds like you ended up someplace in the middle and it's hard to figure out where. I also think that UA may be bending the "1K only" M elite upgrades for other elites so who knows.

If you want to settle it...call UA and ask them to tell you what your "fare basis" was for those coupons of the ticket. If they only give you one letter they aren't looking at the right thing (unless they say its Y, J or F). If your fare basis is M, B or Y something (or Y by itself) than UA is right and you only get the economy points (so only a bonus if you were ticketed as B or Y). If it is Y___ or B____ than you are owed a bonus for full-fare economy and if it's F, J or anything with a __UP___ in it than you are owed the first class bonus. I wouldn't mention the buy-up just say, if it is indeed a basis you should have gotten bonus miles on, that you didn't see the bonus credited and ask them to sort it out. I think others are right that mentioning the buy-up can short-circuit some agents directly to the NO answer without even listening to the rest of the issue.

In my experience, the system UA uses to determine if you're eligible for a bonus is usually pretty good. I fly often on fares that are eligible for bonus including some upgrades via this process and haven't had a miss (in either direction) since summer 2012.


Notes:
[1] Don't give me crap about J being business...UA uses it to sell discount seats in domestic first...check it out.

[2] Basically they are a premium over the associated economy fare. For example BOS-SFO a QA7GN fare is $396OW and the paired instant upgrade Q2UP7Y3 is $1797OW. For reference the economy fare filed range from $164-1994OW and the actual first class fares are $2341-3342 so the QUP fare is quite a discount.

happened to me last year, i got into the buy-up option discussion because they were able to see the original fare code. i walked the first two MP agents through to the "upgrade reservation" pop-up window and both claimed that they would screencap and send (wherever) since that was something they both "had never seen before" and contrary to their manual. to try and force an issue resolution i argued it was a material misrepresentation to display the pop-up window if the language "just pay the fare difference" suggests buying up to the lowest next-class-up fare and "...earnings based on new fare" but they both said it would have to be reviewed by corporate.

i called back a third time and the MP agent was much more agreeable; she understood the exact problem, said it was a common problem, her fix was a little odd though - she had to delete my original flight and then create a new flight record in order to get the system to credit me properly.

I did a buy up on one leg of a R/T in March. Orignal booking class was T, buy up was P. When posted, the Activity line item showed T and no bonus. I submitted a missing mile credit on the web site and explained the situation (buy up to P but flight posted as T) and provided 3 screen shots - one of the receipt from the website circling the Flight/Class (ie UA419 P), one of the activity posting from the web site circling the leg in question and one of the Premier Earnings on United Chart from United.com showing Z,P earn 150%. I received a very prompt reply (same day), explaining they will fix it and it will show up in 48-72 hours and it did. Oh and they corrected the other 3 people on my reservation.

No clue. I can call the Premier Desk tomorrow and ask the agent to look up the fare basis on both tickets.

The segments in question are showing up as P class. That's all I was shown when making the reservation - and UA's Web site actually indicated that I would receive 150% PQM.

In the future, if I go for a cash buy up, how do I figure out the fare code before accepting or declining?

I am starting to wonder if that second part is what happened.

My actual routing is IAD-SFO-IAD from April 19-21, followed by IAD-IAH-SLC-IAD on April 22-today. The segments upgraded using cash buy-up offers were IAD-SFO and SLC-IAD.

I will call back in the morning, ask for the fare basis on both segments that were upgraded, and then bring it back here. At the very minimum, I want to at least figure out exactly how these cash buy-ups work - they are very confusing, from what you're telling me, and UA's Web site doesn't help much at all - for my future reference.

That's what I originally did.

The reply I received: "Miles are earned according to the booking code that you purchased originally, even if you upgrade your seat to a different booking class or cabin. Your booking code is usually noted on your ticket by a letter following the flight number."

look up your eticket # on saudi airlines website. it will show you the fare basis.