vaderizer

Yup, I'm aware of that. Though companions can fly on confirmed discounted revenue tickets in which they do earn miles from.

Yet, I still fly enough confirmed revenue flights to earn 1K for 2015 even with buddy pass privileges/access.

Ixian

Fun 1k story for you that's relevent to middle seats: On my Pacific flight before last (SEA-HKG) I didn't bother with GPU's because W fares were stupid-high and I wouldn't have gotten it anyway (turned out to be true on SFO-NRT last week). My wife was going with me, so I did something I have read about but not done before - bought the middle seat. W fares may have been stupid but deep discount economy was cheap as can be, which tells you a lot about the United strategy right there - find the ones who fly the most, and gouge them, everyone else they have to compete for.

On the way out we actually had a few empty middle seats - not many, but enough to make me wonder if I just wasted money. On the way back though, they boarded everyone, then started shoving all the standbys in. Completely full flight. Where do they all come from, I wonder? Who flies NRT-SFO at the last minute, when there are no weather or other airline delays/cancellations?

Anyway they came to my seat with the manifest, looked at me, and I grinned. Then they told me sorry, they were putting someone in that seat. Wrong! I had to produce the boarding pass and debate it with the check in crew. Ended up being the only open seat on the flight. E+ on an 11 hour 777 flight still sucks but at least I had some elbow room.

They sure pack them in now. I've noticed this on flights to Europe too - it's changed a lot in just the last two years. I need to find an airline my company allows (it's a large company) that's better for International flights because even 1k gets you very little with UA these days.

vaderizer

Nice hack!

EWR>NRT
W class fare with wait listed upgrade costs $4200 for 2 people
L class fare at $3000 for 3 seats. Using status, I can score a whole 3 seater row in E+.

Hmm...

FTstudent

One downside, there's no guarantee the seats will be together. I read about a designation for two seats to be married, but not for 3. Eg pax too large for one seat or traveling with instrument.

azzurro

So sorry to hear about that turn of events. I can see how you would be frustrated and I feel for you (and everyone else who had to wait far more than normal). Seems there is a situation where CBP overrides the GE front of line privileges. It is interesting that they didn't have the dedicated GE line regardless of the kiosk malfunction as they usually have one, or have GE's go through the crew line.

I don't believe in claiming DYKWIA (supposed) privileges while on board or at the gate, but when it comes to 120 mins in line at CBP, I may just well have had a quiet talk with the CBP agent about that privilege listed in print on their site. No, I would not have waived my card high and paraded to the front of the line, nor would I have worried if anyone else in line wanted to be angry with me for having this conversation. I took the time to be prepared with GE access, was prepared with a hand completed declaration form and am aware of their stated rules, so I would have politely and quietly asked them to honor them. If the other 100 GE's in line were not aware of how to handle the situation, that is not something I can teach them at that point in time. Who knows if the agent would have acquiesced, but it never hurts to ask politely, especially when the rule/guidance is in print.

And I will now carry this info in my carry-on in the event that I need to present it to a CBP officer who claims not to be familiar with this rule:

Do Global Entry benefits allow head-of-the-line privilege at U.S. airports where Global Entry kiosks are not available?

The head of the line privilege is only available at U.S. airports that have Global Entry kiosks. The head-of-the-line privilege is reserved for program members if the kiosks are out of service, if a member gets referred to a CBP officer, and at the exit points.


As for being happy about paying quadruple prices for snacks - if I don't have time to stock up at the airport, and I dislike the F meal enough to want to purchase something from Y, then yes I am happy it is available to me regardless of the price. (Given the price of F and the quality of meal served, all F passengers are already overpaying for it, unless they value the larger seat at that price, without ancillary benefits.) Price gauging is everywhere - what about paying $8+ for a beer at a bar or $14 for a mixed drink at a resort pool, or buy better wine at United Club when you can buy them for much less at a supermarket? If it means I get to hang with friends and catch up, then yes I am happy to buy overpriced drinks, just as much as I am happy to buy food on board if I dislike the quality of the free offering or just want to pick my battles with kids who dislike shrimp salads, lol. ...trying to find the positive in almost any situation.

rushnrockt

I am a Platinum, 3251 miles away from 1K status. I can get there with a flight to Vancouver (I am in PHX) and back in one day for ~500. Got a couple friends in similar situations and they are going for it, however, I have a wrinkle that starting January I will be based in Munich, primarily traveling inside EU, with 2-3 trips back to US. So limited ability to use GPU and even more so on RPU. Any benefit I am missing that I should care about being based in MUC? Thanks for advice.

EDIT: Hmm, okay, didn't see this

Tor Viking

rushnrockt: I live in Norway and do my fair share of flying on Lufthansa within Europe.
For some strange reason I have been upgraded many times once I became 1K.
I have no idea why. Even on cheapo S class tickets.
Beats me, but I feel that LH recognizes United's 1K.

I'd go for it! ^

ZZYZXROAD

Is this a guarantee? I was wondering of this scenario for sometime. I would certainly buy the empty seat next to me on long haul E+ if I knew this was a 100% lock.

aacharya

If not, it's a hell of an IDB and a DOT complaint.

Ixian

There is if you call the 1k line and have them set your "extra passenger" up right in the system. You can't do it online yourself, but I have an "ExtraSeat<lastname> traveller in my profile after I called and walked them through it, so I can book all three together.

I suppose it's still possible to not have them guarantee seating together for all three, but when we're talking the middle seat in a row of three as long as they are free when you pick them it's hard to see why they'd be split. This is one area where I would definitely assert status and use the 1k/Premier line to help.

And yes, 3 of the regular discount. fares are cheaper than 2 W fares a lot of the time - in my case, much cheaper on that flight - and while it's no flat bed experience as everyone who's simply lucked in to a free middle seat knows it's a lot better than the alternative. Such as, for example, paying for a W fare, getting GPU standby anyway, not getting cleared, and then getting stuck in a full row anyway having paid much more for the privilege.

Nothing is guaranteed on United, but look at the situation:

They may not 100% guarantee all 3 can stay together, but they can't take the seat either - it's paid space, it belongs somewhere on the plane. If you make sure you book the "extra" seat as the middle one it's not like they are going to try to put it in a free aisle or window - middle seats are always last to be filled.

So there's nowhere else for it to go but another middle seat and if one of those is open they can just stick the standby passenger there The only trouble I had was making sure the gate staff understood that I actually bought the seat. Once they got that straight I had no problem keeping them from sticking someone in it

JohnMacWW

I have, at least for another year, but just barely . Just got PQM100,000-100,362 for a trip today that, I might have skipped if were not for wanting to have 1K another year.

But I really made that decision earlier in the year and today was completion of that decision. This year I flew airlines other than my primary one more than I ever have.

For 2015, I am not sure what I am going to do. The new milage earning program is going to cut my award miles and I am thinking hard about just making platinum or gold on UA and using DL some this coming year.
One particular reason I am devaluing 1K status is that it is hard to use the GPU's (I have 2 unused ones right now). In 2014, miles have been a more valuable feature of my airline loyalty than my status. But this coming year I will earn less miles. So, as I look at 2015, I am thinking it may be time to quit being a loyal customer of one particular airline and start selecting flights more based on convenience and just paying for perks.

Venezuela-Miami

Thank you for the tip Ixian, I didn't knew that was possible!

So the way to buy an extra seat without a pax is to call an ask for that options? (extra seat, passenger to large for 1 seat, or passenger flying with instrument)

Or is possible to get in online?

Garten

SFO-JFK on B6 and SFO-WAS on UA can be found for under $600. SFO-PHL on US can also be under $600 each way, but only as part of a round trip.

WineCountryUA

Closing this old thread and created http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...th-2015-a.html

WineCountryUA
UA coMderator