Wait listed for an upgrade, but flight status says no customers waiting to upgrade
 

Hello experts,
First of all, sorry if I don't use the correct terms or don't understand UA's rules; I am a newbie in the upgrade game.

I am trying to figure out what is happening with my upgrade request on flight 889 SFO-PEK on Monday Sep 1. I have a V class ticket, and used 30K miles and $500 to request an upgrade. My wife, on a separate reservation, did the same, and her upgrade was confirmed earlier today. Neither one of us has elite status.

Looking at my reservation online, it says "Upgrade Requested". So I guess that means I am wait-listed. I then check the flight status on my iPad, and it says "No customers currently waiting to upgrade". But I am waiting to upgrade, aren't I?

Am I confused about my status, or do I need to clear UA to clear this up?

Thanks,
Reza

Are you checked in for the flight?

You will not show on the list until checked in

No, I am not checked in. Can't check in for another 12 hours. I guess the wife's upgrade somehow cleared and mine didn't. Flight status shows 51 of 52 seats have been booked. So it doesn't look good for me. Hope she'll send back some peanuts to coach :-)

Thanks,
Reza

If you can, check in at the 24hour mark as checkin time is a tiebreaker on upgrades

by about T-12 you should have a clue on how far down the list your sitting

Also be aware its not uncommon for 4-8 C pax to missconnect etc and not show up
So... there is still some possibility for you

If 1/2 cleared then you have a decent chance of the 2nd one clearing as well assuming everything else is the same. Take into account that F has 3 seats open as well which may have a ripple effect and open up 3 more C seats.

The list you can see online is the upgrade standby list, not the upgrade waitlist. Two completely separately lists.

Well, either I don't understand UA's business practices, or they totally bungled my upgrade. I checked in this morning the first minute it opened up. I then checked the Standby and Upgrade lists, saw two names on it, but not mine. There is one business seat left and 3 first class.

I called UA this afternoon. The first agent spent some time on it, and then said "oh, I see something got messed up. Let me connect you to site services." The site services lady said that they just deleted my name from the waiting list. She said "oh, the system sometimes just does that." When I started to complain, she hung up on me!

I called again, and was transferred to a supervisor. She explained that the system had decided that I wouldn't get upgraded, so it dropped me from the waiting list! This makes little sense since my wife got upgraded, and we made upgrade requests at the same time two months ago, and there were a lot of seats that were upgraded over the past couple of days. So just dropping me makes no sense.

I asked the supervisor to at least put me back on the wait list. She said she did, but I don't see my name on it. This really sucks. I will go to the airport early tomorrow to talk to the flight manager at the airport. Does UA have flight managers? Who do I talk to at the airport?

Thanks,
Reza

If I recall, the waitlist is by status, booking class, waitlist request time. So you would think that you would be upgraded with your wife at the same time. If I recall, Award upgrades come out of R inventory so maybe R only went up to 1 so your wife got upgraded but not you and it hasnt gotten > 0 since then. Someone could have jumped the queue as well if R>0 at some point before a sweep.

Don't know about your name getting removed from the waitlist. I'd try to get some details on that. One time, they had a glitch (on a CPU) and I never got added to a queue where I would have cleared. After a few calls and emails I was able to prove it and they compensated me.

At the airport:
1) there is no "flight manager"
2) Noone can help you at the check-in counters
3) The gate agent is unlikely to be able to help you
4) Customer service counter (post-security) might help, but it's a long shot
5) Your best shot at an airport solution is with an agent at a United Club, but you'll have to be a member, have a Chase pass, or buy entry.
6) Seriously, your best chance is call again and try to resolve prior to going to airport.

Obviously, if you intend to try to do something at the airport, you're gonna have to get there pretty far in advance of departure, because once the gate agent starts doling out the remaining seats (if any), it'll be too late. You need to get your name on the waitlist now, not at he airport.

Does your reservation still say upgrade requested?

I just looked at 889. It shows no one upgraded or on waitlist other than 2 probable non-revs on all 3 lists (flight standby, BF waitlist, GF waitlist). The wife should show in upgraded column. Maybe a bigger problem w flight status than just you. Just as you can't see your wife's name in upgraded column (is that correct?), maybe you can't see yours in the waitlisted column. When you call, confirm both your wife's upgrade and your presence on the upgrade list the agent can see. Currently shows 2 available BF seats.

Good luck!

This is only true for domestic flights

Jeff

?????????????

I have upgraded internationally and have shown up on upgraded list. Are you saying only non-revs show up on upgrade list internationally? Totally contrary to my experience.

Thanks for the check-in advice, IAH-OIL-TRASH and LordTentacle. I had checked in at 11:25 today, but the check-in didn't complete, I think because of China visa requirements that need to get checked at the airport. In any case, as IAH-OIL-TRASH recommended, I called again, and this time, the agent offered to check me in so that I could see my name on the waiting list. It took her 20 minutes.

She told me to check the web site in 10 minutes. It's an hour later, and I still don't show up on the web site

I suspect this isn't doing me much good besides letting me see my name on the list. More people must be on the list but haven't checked-in and don't show up. When I go to the airport tomorrow, I may find myself way back on the list. We shall see!

Thanks for the advice,
Reza

Yup. Didn't think of that. Duh on me.

I just checked my reservation on the UA web site, and it say "Upgrade Confirmed", except that it is for flight 889 on Thursday. This would be very funny if it weren't so sad

I'd better deal with all this at the airport tomorrow

Reza

that is not true. You only show as upgraded on BE/GF intl routes if your upgrade clears after you check in. When e.g. W --> R clears than you don't ever show on the list.