weiwunokenan

I was on a flight from SFO to SAN in March. The captain's wife and children came with the captain to the gate. After the captain talked to GA, they were placed at the top of standby list. The GA also asked the captain whether he wanted his family to sit in F but the captain denied. The GA then continued clearing the upgrade waitlist. Although not upgraded, the captain's family were all placed at the top of upgrade waitlist.

So I assume there might be little bit possibility that those two passengers are captain's or first officer' family members? I won't call this as a shenanigan however.

stanj

A few years ago, I was first on the upgrade list and my wife second. After we boarded, GA came on board and upgraded another passenger (someone it appeared he knew). I checked the upgrade list on the app, and it showed that the person listed third was upgraded. I didn't make a stink as it was a fairly short flight, but later called CS and complained. They looked into it and confirmed that we got passed over for the upgrade and offered us miles or cert. So in our case, the GA did pull some sort of shenanigan.

JeredF

Ditto earlier posters. We were distressed passengers on short notice (in F) and rebooked; call center could not book us into F since it was an hour before our new flight. The gate agent saw we were on paid J tickets and added us to the "standby" list (which may be the same as the top of the upgrade list). There are lots of reasons you might not clear an upgrade.... and lots of reasons you might clear it after boarding too!

Often1

OP's notion that only GS could have grabbed last minute seats is simply wrong. Anybody on a refundable/changeable F fare could simply change to the flight by walking up to the gate and asking. Anybody connecting on an F/J international fare would also book into domestic F and if those folks either misconnected or arrived early enough to the gate, the seats are theirs.

Then there are F pax in IRROPS. They are not on the UG list at all. They are not looking for an UG. Rather they are entitled to be seated in their ticketed cabin in a seat becomes available.

Once past those people, the GA moves to the UG list.

Contrary to popular belief, every key stroke is logged. If a GA is senior enough and that the authority to change the list, he must document it and the fact that he changed it is subject to review. Not something people do just because they want to favor some passenger.

janicerobertson

Interesting upgrade situation on a flight last Saturday from ORD to GCM. 3 of us (2 1Ks and 1 gold) were put on the upgrade list as soon as we checked in. Prior to departure, there were a total of 7 individuals, and we were #1 , #2 and #3 . There also was a single standby who was #8 . We checked in at the United Club prior to departure and were told there were 4 seats left, but 2 passengers booked had not yet checked in. When we got to the gate some 5 minutes later and asked at the desk (the empty seats and upgrade list) were still showing on the app, only now there were only 2 seats left. The Gate Attendant stated when we inquired that this was an INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT and thus there were NO CPU's and no upgrade list. I showed her the list on my phone and it immediately disappeared. She stated again this was INTERNATIONAL and no CPU's. I then noticed that the standby person now had a seat assignment -- 2A, one of the 2 seats that were shown as free. The flight left with one empty seat in business, the other seat that was shown as free.
I have no idea what happened but I do know that flights do the Caribbean are upgradable with a CPU and we were on the list to begin with and our reservations were designated as "CPU-eligible." On the return, 2 were upgraded from GCM to IAH, and all 3 were upgraded from IAH to ORD. 1K voice, when queried about this, had a very lackluster response that basically stated "sorry you were not upgraded. Please see the United website for priority of processing upgrades."

jsloan

No CPUs is obviously wrong, but would at least be an understandable mistake. No upgrade list is ridiculous -- many non-CPU international flights have extensive upgrade lists, populated by people on instruments.

I would definitely write back and try to find someone who will read your complaint more closely. Keep it short and to the point: "On flight XYZ, the gate agent removed a number of passengers, including myself, from the upgrade list, and proceeded to clear a standby into one of two remaining seats, leaving the other empty."

justsawaufo

Cash upgrade or upgrade shenanigans? Mrs. Justsawaufo is #1 on the list with 1K RPU.


2:14PM, #6 on the upgrade list



2:52PM - Upgrade cleared for SHA, M. (I'm fairly confident SHA,M. was also in the Standby list - now only SHA,S. is in the standby list)

nomad420

Looks "fishy" to say the least. When this has happened to me I have asked the GAs what happened and they usually have been helpful. Sometimes it ends up being a cash buy up. Let us know IF you find out what happened.

threeoh

Could it be that SHA/M is GS? They cleared the standby list into economy and then applied an RPU/GPU and so jumped above the 1K RPU?

For this to be true then 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the original list would have to have been GS with no instrument (but above SHA/M with tiebreakers) or 1K with instrument (but below MOR/I with tiebreakers), which doesn't seem totally unreasonable for a hub-hub flight.

justsawaufo

nomad420

I didn't initially catch that, he was on both standby and upgrade?? If so you are correct those are NRSA's. I just saw the upgrade list above and thought it might be a last minute TOD.

bluedemon211

I could be wrong, but if an F passenger is displaced from another flight (IRROPS) and was trying to get out on your wife's flight, they could be on both lists, no?

jsloan

Yes.

It simply is not true that a passenger on both lists must be non-rev.

nomad420

I fly with UA employees and/or family and indeed when flying as NRSA they are on both lists. But yes, you are correct, they are not the only type of pax that could be on both lists. Getting back to the originally question when I have experienced this in the past (not actually uncommon) I have usually been told it was a cash buy up fwiw.

clubord