Darlox

I think this has to be an insane statement, but I have just finished my second call, where a second agent "agreed to disagree with me" that flight 1244 EWR-SJU on 27-Dec-2013 is a 737-900 with 3 classes aboard.

Long story short:
I tried to book a ticket to SJU, departing in December. Around the holidays, many of the cheapest fares are actually P fares, at the moment, rather than any E buckets.

My first leg was sold as a P fare. The second leg, UA1244 EWR-SJU, was sold as a Y fare, displaying the "Instant Upgrade Fare" icon. Notably, at the moment, PN=0, but JN=9 on that flight.

After purchase, the instant upgrade option was gone. The only upgrade options were cash or waitlist for miles. So I called in to see what was up.

Two different agents have now told me that even though I'm 1K, and even though the website is showing JN9, I'm not eligible for an instant upgrade on this flight, unless I use a GPU or RPU, because it is a "3-class Latin America flight".

The flight display and seat map are showing a 737-900. It certainly looks like a 2-class airplane. I HUACA'd, and now the second agent, after putting me on hold for 3 minutes, came back with the exact same answer as the first.

So, ironically, I've cancelled and booked on US, whose 1st cabin was for sale $50 cheaper, albeit with a little worse timing, but... the heck??

PTahCha

Sounds like 2 untrained agents. Repeat HUACA until you find a competent agent.

Darlox

No... these days, UA gets 2 strikes and then I book elsewhere. Repeat often enough and maybe they'll notice? (doubtful)

_Manta_

Yeah its funny - whenever I try to get into the UC with an F ticket to SJU, the agents ALWAYS seem to know it is a domestic flight.

transportprof

I'm pretty sure that Puerto Rico's delegate to the US Congress flies back and forth from SJU regularly. It was part of the USA, last time I checked

But it sounds like the FALN has won the struggle for Puerto Rican liberation, at least in UA's tariff.

What is the third class on 739 flights to Latin America, anyway; E-

JerseyCityS

SJU has for many years been considered international and it does allow lounge access. I dont' know why it is, but it is.

astroflyer

So wait, no one has commented on the fact that UA does not have any 3-class 737's. Something is very, very wrong here. I'm not even sure they fly 3-class planes to anywhere south of the border except for Sao Paolo, and even then, not all of them.

Kacee

How many times can you say, "bad agent, HUACA"?

PV_Premier

this is an open and shut case and OP should refer agents to upgrades overview page at UA.com

better yet i like OPs strategy of 2 strikes and UA is out. book it on AA or B6.

kenn0223

Yes, UA has a very narrow view of what constitutes the United States and apparently territories such as PR, CNMI, & Guam don't make the cut.

star_world

Which is done deliberately to provide more benefits to customers traveling to / from those locations, particularly lounge access. There isn't a downside from a customer perspective.

J_Fleish

last year in December I flew yyz-iah-aua, and aua-iad-yyz on the return both flights on the AUA leg were 737-800 and the pilot and crew annouced that its serving passengers in 3 class Business, Economy Plus and Economy maybe thats why it showing 3 class 737-900 could United be counting E+ as their own class?

star_world

No - as the posts above stated, this was just a case of agents not knowing what they were talking about.

Darlox

I was curious enough about this one, and fascinated by the assertion that there could be a 3-class 739, that I actually called them back late last night, to see if a shift change would yield better results.

It did. But the explanation below is a sterling example of how UA's insanely complicated policies, practices, exceptions and carve-outs lead to confusion and website bugs that even their own personnel can't navigate!

So, ready for a plunge into madness??

1) They sell this route as "United Business" even though it's a domestic F product, which means that the fare buckets are lettered accordingly. F isn't F/A, it's J/C/D/Z/P. Apparently F still shows up in their system (even though it's F0), hence leading agents to superficially believe that it's a 3-class aircraft.

2) Married segment availability is a b***h. PN=6 and JN=9 on this flight FOR CERTAIN DESTINATIONS. Book from PIT or certain other origins, and you get put into 1st-class in the P bucket. Book from CLE or EWR, and PN=0/JN=0, so you get dumped into Y, and the instant-upgrade does not process. (And apparently also cannot be forced by agents.) Last-seat availability my a$$...

3) I _should_ have known this part, but Premier Instant Upgrade fares don't apply if you have a companion on your PNR. It treats that as a companion upgrade, and won't even look at it until T-24. Even though the website advertises it as an instant upgrade, it will never clear if you have 2pax on the res.

So, to summarize, if I flew PIT-SJU w/ my wife, we'd book into P and have confirmed 1st seats. If I flew CLE-SJU with my wife, we'd have to split the PNRs, neither of us would get an instant upgrade because of the PN0/JN0 current status on married segments, and then _maybe_ I'd get upgraded later on, but with the split PNRs, my wife would definitely not.

Got it?

I cancelled and just booked a flight in confirmed 1st with US, that was $50 cheaper to boot!

goodeats21

Which is really sad as the OP is 1K. It used to be a much better quality of agents on the old 1K line. The "premiere" line is a big downgrade.


Thanks for the reporting on the outcome.