Kacee

But since the standby list criteria are (1) premier status, (2) fare class, and (3) check-in time, then hard to understand why OP's colleague cleared while OP did not.

CashN

If I have more lifetime miles and we are on the same booking class and I checked in first, how could he leapfrog me? We have the same admin that booked the flight at the same time...

The mention from that thread only states the two lists are by status and booking class.

WineCountryUA

Lifetime miles do not matter unless it changes status level.

There two lists -- the third factor on one is check in time (gate list - the visible list) and the third factor on the other is booking time (pre-gate list).

If the other person cleared on off the pre-gate list, was booked first but checked in second, it would explain the situation.

mgcsinc

Colleague cleared an EUA upgrade. EUA tie-breaker is time of booking.

Lifetime miles are irrelevant.

What do you mean by "at the same time"?

Please see the wikipost in that thread. It has all the answers.

Kacee

I was assuming based on facts as described that colleague cleared at the gate. But that's an assumption.

CashN

Jesus, so if he was booked 45 seconds before me it trumps the check in time? I guess I'm going to tell the admin to book me first going forward.

He did have the tsa pre check and beat me through the gate by a few minutes. Amazing how little I get pre check anymore, I guess I can't blame united for that...

WineCountryUA

You can clear off the pre-gate / EUA list as late as hour or so prior to departure, based on previous order skipping reports. So it can feel almost like clearing at gate, cleared while just arriving at the airport (this happen once to me and I was #3) or while in travel to the airport (happened more than once).

as said there are two lists, one active until a hour or so before travel (booking time matters) and one that principal is used at the gate (check in time matters).

What you tell the Admin is up to what you did last Admin's day

mgcsinc

You think check-in time is a better tiebreaker? I don't. Not sure why 45 seconds is any less "before" than any other time lapse. You can't tie - that's why it's a tiebreaker.

As for PreCheck, get Global Entry and that problem is solved.

38,000feet

There's another crucial point in favor of the OP in response to the earlier debate with IAH-OIL on what's typical. Let's say that half of all the capacity out of SFO is on flights with easy upgrades and half is on flights where the going is tough. The half that is tough is much more likely to be typical for elites out of SFO because it is much more likely to be elite heavy, no? Many people in the First cabin get there via elite-only channels such as Y/B/M-ups, instruments, and CPUs. I struggle to think of a route where upgrades are tough, but elite loads are light. By this same logic, the SFO experience as a whole is more likely to be typical for a 1K than the MCO experience (for example). On average, I suspect that things are even worse than we are acknowledging. Hawaii-SFO is a red herring WRT elite exposure, IAD-SFO is the norm.

flyingnosh

I travel to SFO sometimes, via EWR. I used my RPUs for those trips this year, and I'm 3 for 4.

Other than SFO, I travel mostly on routes that have somewhat less traffic in summer months. Until mid-June, I traveled mostly on 738s and 739s, and my CPU rate was 94%, >30 segments. I now see 737s and 320s, and my CPU rate is 0% (0 for 4).

golfingboy

It is not when you or the admin clicks the purchase button, it is the time of when UA's system tickets you. If you want to be sure you are first, then have the admin hold off booking your colleague's flight until your booking has been ticketed (can take anywhere from a few seconds up to an hour).

CashN

I think lifetime miles would be a much better tie breaker than booking date. Still amazed that they can track to the minute on booking date in their mess of an upgrade system.

I hear global entry doesn't guarentee pre check either? I went to do it once but got stuck in traffic heading to LAX and missed my appointment by a few minutes. I wish you could make an appointment at smaller airports.

Boo_Radley

Tracking ticketing time down to much higher resolution than the minute is both trivial for a database and necessary for whole bunch of other tasks. As for precheck, that's correct. Absolutely nothing guarantees precheck.

In the event that we're still talking about the original thread anywhere, I'm about 15% this year on upgrades, including an impressive 0% on my standard Monday morning to Thursday afternoon ORD-SFO RT on mid-tier fares. There are some situations where if the entire F cabin no-showed, I still wouldn't make it. Like everyone says, it all depends on route and time. In my case, I doubt if AA would be any better.

bldr1k

My upgrade percentage out of DEN is about 35% and that includes a lot of M and B fares and using 10 RPUs.

If I subtract all of that out, my CPU upgrade % is around 20%.

mgcsinc

Booking time is tracked by ticket number. Mega super duper easy to do.

The self-reported PreCheck success rate for those of us with GE is 98-100%. I think 100% is the mode. It is essentially guaranteed.