Old Jul 3, 2022, 3:33 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Print Wikipost

Upgrade Shenanigans? [Consolidated]

Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:04 pm
  #211  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 14,921
Originally Posted by fumje
… I don't think it's mom's fault that the upgrade didn't happen.
I agree 100%

Unfortunately, though, sometimes a passenger has to guide UA to doing their job. And knowing how to go about it is key.
SPN Lifer and chavala like this.
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:05 pm
  #212  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike...
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,339
Sounds to me like the agent never checked to see that your mther was actually on the upgrade list.
SPN Lifer and physioprof like this.
Xyzzy is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:06 pm
  #213  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,068
Originally Posted by BZRORG
You are 100% right, my mother is not the best with instructions, and I am not sure what exactly was said; however, I gave her what i thought would be the salient points prior to going into the meeting:
1. Instructions on monitoring the upgrade wait list, at the time of check in she was #13 with 18 seats available. I mentioned that things were looking good barring any unforeseen circumstances
2. That I had used my pluspoints and had already paid the premium departure tax for her, so there should be no extra fees involved
3. The upgrade would likely only happen at the gate, so dont meander around the airport
4. If you see seats still available in polaris (not by the seat map but where it shows capacity/booked/checked in and boarding starts/about to start let the gate agent know you are on the upgrade list and see if you should board with your group or hold back.
This is where she was told she could upgrade for the $copay + miles and she said no thanks. Was the delivery flawless from her part? I am 100% sure it was not, but with the above it should have been enough to prompt the GA.

After I got out of my meeting and saw a message that they didnt upgrade her i immediately called her to ask her to call for the purser and or gate agent. This transpired while the door was still open, and i had her word for word explain to the purser what the situation was and had her show him the upgrade waitlist and ask for the GA. He then went back and forth with the gate agent and eventually came back and relayed the message from the GA that her ticket was not eligible for an upgarade, and there were 4 1ks that were not upgraded, and maybe this works for domestic flights but not for international and basically tough luck. It really shouldn't be this hard!

Ive sent an email to 1k voice - lets see what they have to say. I will keep you all updated if anyone cares once i receive an reply.
Yes, this establishes that the GA assumed that the passenger had no PPs applied & was asking for a CPU.
Xyzzy likes this.
physioprof is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:22 pm
  #214  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: 1K
Posts: 92
Originally Posted by physioprof
Yes, this establishes that the GA assumed that the passenger had no PPs applied & was asking for a CPU.
Actually that's incorrect, as I mentioned I coached her word for word on what she was saying to the purser (and was on the phone as they were talking and listening to the conversation and i kept reiterating these were pluspoints from her son's 1k account) to make sure there was no ambiguity on what was being asked.

Now if the GA didnt understand/ played deaf / etc i dont know.
SPN Lifer likes this.

Last edited by BZRORG; Oct 12, 2023 at 12:23 pm Reason: typo
BZRORG is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:32 pm
  #215  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 14,921
Originally Posted by BZRORG
Actually that's incorrect, as I mentioned I coached her word for word on what she was saying to the purser (and was on the phone as they were talking and listening to the conversation and i kept reiterating these were pluspoints from her son's 1k account) to make sure there was no ambiguity on what was being asked.

Now if the GA didnt understand/ played deaf / etc i dont know.
the gate agents handle upgrades - not flight crew. Upgrades are not their job, and a lot of them really don’t know how upgrades even work. They are not even supposed to upgrade people on their own - they’re supposed to defer to the GA. Explaining to a purser they had PlusPoints applied was useless. The sole mission once aboard is to get the GA involved, not argue with a FA about the upgrade process. If there were seats available and she was assured of upgrade, she should have approached gate agent directly before boarding. The purser has a variety of primary concerns while boarding. Upgrades is not one of her/his.

It sounds like there was some miscommunication at gate.

Last edited by IAH-OIL-TRASH; Oct 12, 2023 at 12:38 pm
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:36 pm
  #216  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,068
Originally Posted by IAH-OIL-TRASH
the gate agents handle upgrades - not flight crew. If there were seats available and she was assured of upgrade, she should have approached gate agent directly before boarding. The purser has a variety of primary concerns while boarding. Upgrades is not one of her/his.

It sounds like there was some miscommunication at gate.
There was clearly miscommunication at the gate, as the gate agent never got past their assumption that the OPs elderly mother had no PPs applied.
SPN Lifer and IAH-OIL-TRASH like this.
physioprof is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 12:39 pm
  #217  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,068
Originally Posted by BZRORG
Actually that's incorrect, as I mentioned I coached her word for word on what she was saying to the purser (and was on the phone as they were talking and listening to the conversation and i kept reiterating these were pluspoints from her son's 1k account) to make sure there was no ambiguity on what was being asked.

Now if the GA didnt understand/ played deaf / etc i dont know.
The gate agent originally assumed that your mother had no PPs applied to her reservation, as otherwise she would not have offered cash+miles upgrade. How and why the gate agent continued to hold on to this assumption through the discussion with the purser is certainly in question, but it is apparent that hold on to it they did.
SPN Lifer, Xyzzy, BZRORG and 1 others like this.
physioprof is offline  
Old Oct 12, 2023, 7:00 pm
  #218  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,176
Originally Posted by physioprof
What alternative explanation than the assumption they don't have PPs applied is there for telling someone with PPs applied what the cash+miles upgrade offer is?
It could have been a simple miscommunication. It could have been something that she said that made it sound like she was asking about getting onto the upgrade list rather than clearing upgrades.

There's no evidence that the agent had any sort of malicious reason in mind. To ascribe one is unfair.
SPN Lifer and vicontt like this.
jsloan is offline  
Old Oct 14, 2023, 9:07 am
  #219  
 
Join Date: Oct 2023
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy LTP
Posts: 103
Seems like a difference between actual shenanigans and just not being very good at the job. Especially if the plane went out with 5 seats empty. Now, if you see that there were actually people in those seats despite the map showing 5 empty, that is a different game.
jsloan, SPN Lifer and lincolnjkc like this.
AnkSFO is offline  
Old Oct 16, 2023, 10:38 am
  #220  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,068
Originally Posted by jsloan
It could have been a simple miscommunication. It could have been something that she said that made it sound like she was asking about getting onto the upgrade list rather than clearing upgrades.

There's no evidence that the agent had any sort of malicious reason in mind. To ascribe one is unfair.
I'm not sure it's useful to keep discussing this, but nowhere did I ascribe malicious intent to the gate agent.
physioprof is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2023, 10:33 am
  #221  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,327
Not sure what happened here. Recently took a DCA-IAH-xxx flight.

First, I was super annoyed United refuses to clear down to J2 on DCA-IAH. They never do in my experience. I was #2 on the list at the 24 hour mark up until the 1h mark and the flight moved from J1 to J2 to J4. At J4 it should have cleared #1 and #2. Anyway...

At T-1h somebody jumps the queue and is #1 (likely a rebook but who knows). Flight is 16/15/13 (cap/booked/checked in). I'm now #3.

At T-40m when boarding starts #2 is cleared into the unbooked seat. She takes it. I take my economy seat.

At T-30m on the mark when the other two failed to check-in #1 and #2 (now me) get cleared. However, based on the upgrade list I got the upgrade before #1 did. I still don't know #1s status as he sat a few rows behind me.

The only other time I've seen #1 skipped over the upgrade list is when they are waitlisted for "P" (e.g. bought first on another flight and are standing by on an earlier one). But it doesn't explain why they would have been skipped definitely once and possibly twice. This was a revenue pax, not NRSA.

-RM
RobOnLI is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2023, 7:39 pm
  #222  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,176
Originally Posted by RobOnLI
However, based on the upgrade list I got the upgrade before #1 did. I still don't know #1s status as he sat a few rows behind me.
Huh? The cleared list is in alphabetical order.

I think the answer to your question, unfortunately, is that there are two separate upgrade lists, because I’ve seen different orders on the app and on the website.
jsloan is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2023, 7:51 pm
  #223  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,347
Originally Posted by jsloan
Huh? The cleared list is in alphabetical order.

I think the answer to your question, unfortunately, is that there are two separate upgrade lists, because I’ve seen different orders on the app and on the website.
What alphabet?!

chavala and ExplorerWannabe like this.
fumje is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2023, 8:02 pm
  #224  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,176
Originally Posted by fumje
What alphabet?!
LOL, UA’s alphabet, apparently.

At one point — fairly recently, I thought — they were alphabetical. Now, I don’t know what, if any, order they’re in.
jsloan is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2023, 8:14 pm
  #225  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,347
Originally Posted by jsloan
LOL, UA’s alphabet, apparently.

At one point — fairly recently, I thought — they were alphabetical. Now, I don’t know what, if any, order they’re in.
I admit I was slightly playing dumb with that picture 😝 , but basically I don't think there's a simple rule for the order. I have a complicated overall theory that I can share, but from what I have seen, after an initial sweep (edit: which I think is alphabetical — English/Roman alphabet), it is possible to suss out when an upgrade happened relative to another based on how it sorts at the top (or sometimes bottom 😵 ) of the list.
jsloan and SPN Lifer like this.
fumje is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.