chinatraderjmr

ALL airlines have the same ridiculous fare structures......its not a UA problem. Ive also noticed true First class F & A fares go way down lately

Typically my DXB-LAX F tickets on EK run $10,000 R/T (UA charges $1-2K more on the dates I've flown (not that Id pay for UA but I do look)

What gets me crazy is I have a one way DXB-IAH coming up (continuing the trip from IAH to S. America, S Africa and back to DXB so the one way makes more sense... The one way F on EK is $8,400 on a non stop 380 while UA has the nerve to charge $9,400 for an old 777 to IAD and god knows what narrow body on to IAH. (I ended up paying $4100 as I need to be in CMB next week, EK has a $4,100 fare CMB-DXB-IAH with a stop over in DXB (for a month in my case) - So ho would I feel spending upwards of $10K in A class sitting across from a guy who paid $4K in F class (wearing more miles at the same time)

The whole system is a laugh on all airlines.

limey1K

Dec 1
DEN-MCI-DEN
Fare Class: U $539

UG offered during purchase: $89 each way. Declined

Clicked the 'Upgrade' button immediately after reservation showed up in my reservations: New offer $265 (2 seats avail) and $218 (5 seats avail). Hit the 'Back' button

Immediately, then re-clicked the 'Upgrade" button to see if I got a different offer: No upgrades available for either leg now. "Online upgrade not available."

I wonder if my final offer was punitive because I kept checking and not accepting anything?

chinatraderjmr

After the merger I noticed quite a few buy ups at check in from R to ON (so a double upgrade, Y-R using an instrument and R-F using $$. however, I'm told by people I work with they have not seen that on TATL flights to/from BAH/KWI/DXB in a while. I want to fly my GF and her parents from DXB-IAD and found R9 on the east date they want but would love to pay the $800-$1000 to put them in F (if 3 seats are open) Does anyone know if UA still offers cash upgrades from R to ON at check in or did that stop (as I've heard)

FlyerBeek

At OLCI I've received GlobalFirst offers for my itineraries upgraded into R as recent as last month. YMMV.

-FlyerBeek

ElliottMB

BOS-LAX
Original bucket: Q
Offer: $249
UFC/PFC: UFC
Offered at: OLCI
Accepted? Yep. P.S. configuration plus traveling with a companion. We both had waitlisted upgrades with miles at T-24 and cabin was quickly filling up.

firehawk

Hi all.
I don't travel much internally within the US but only from UK to the US.
I wondered how this works internally in the US:

is it easy and cheaper to upgrade at the airport from say Eco to business/first from IAH to SEA?

right now, if I book online it costs me around $1100 for business which IMHO is too much. This was for next week (6th dec) and coming back the following day.

thoughts on getting the best price?

bmwe92fan

If there is space available in the first class cabin you will typiclaly be presented with an offer to upgrade upon check-in. This is one of those times when the less status you have with UA the better as travelers with less or no status get lower offers to buy up to first class. That would be my recommendation for the best price.

hookthem

The UFC (Upgrade for Cash) that occurs at check-in online or at the airport is quite frequently the cheapest way to sit at the front of the plane. However, this is very much subject to availability and the price depends on the route, elite status, fare class, and other factors. Please see the following thread for more information regarding people's experiences on various routes:

2014 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)

firehawk

thanks!

CMRrocks

One option is to purchase economy ticket, decline to purchase economy plus, and see if upgrade to business/first is offered immediately after confirming purchase. If not, and if you want more legroom (and that's about all that is offered in e+), then you can log back into united.com, look up your itinerary, and purchase economy plus through the view/change seats option.

Often1

C won't be available on IAH-SEA. It will be either F or Y.

Bear in mind that unlike BA, UA provides unlimited upgrades on domestic segments to its elites. Thus, the opportunity to UG may be severely limited. Yours is also a route heavy on energy industry business travelers and thus, paid F is pretty heavy.

You may find an offer of an F seat as part of your booking, after booking, at OLCI and even at a kiosk at IAH. All depends on loads and UA's predictive software.

thebob6

Yes,

As other mentioned it is a crap shoot. Flight time will also play into it as a factor as it will dictate how many business flyers are on the plane.

olouie

United likes to sell those upgrades right out from under its elites so st least that won't impact much.

mduell

LOL, in theory. But they'll gladly take a bit of cash ($250?) from a non-elite for the seat instead.

Boghopper

To the contrary, codbaua now routinely holds back f seat upgrades and tries to sell them and only grants the elite upgrades at the last minute. So the chance of buying an upgrade is very good almost aa the time. If seats are available you don't get an offer just re check on a couple of times.

While their algorithm for upgrades used to gauge whether the seats would be sold, I think they now gauge whether they will be able to sell tods.