Kacee

No, I would not call that a "good" chance. It's possible but it's probably more likely the upgrade never clears.

zagat4

Any strategies? Do they sometimes offer you an upgrade when you do online check-in 24 hours in advance?

iluv2fly

Absolutely. Very common.

oskidunker

Never had it happen out of sfo. I dont even try anymore.

ani90

Yes they do and reasonable probability you will clear the upgrade on this route. However, unlikely you will still have a solo middle seat. I personally would happily take any C seat but whether it is worth the copay depends on the situation and your willingness to pay.

SFOrunner

United flight attendant mentioned that there are 21 GS on UA 2400, BOS-SFO. Granted it's a Thursday night PS flight, but that certainly explains why it's damn near impossible to clear an RPU or GPU on those routes.

CIT85

Wow this flight went to all economy fares zeroed out since this morning and all E- and E+ seats grey out. It's still J8 JN8 C7 D7.

I wonder what happened? Did tons of XXX-EWR-CDG passengers reroute XXX-IAD-CDG because of weather in Northeast?

It seems that most flight from East Coast to Europe are very full.

findark

I'm willing to bet many of the GS are in Y too - there is a bloodbath of a fare war on the route and premium cabin fares are dirt cheap right now.

SFOrunner

Wow, no joke. One-way Z fares for $669, P fares for $569. Only a $250 difference from Economy to First in some cases.

findark

And a $399 P fare if you travel on a Saturday. B6 shot first with $399 every day but only DL has matched so far. The base there is actually a $549 14-day P fare and a $649 3-day Z fare (if you see higher it's the Q schedule applicable to many days in summer).

SFOrunner

Now might be the time to stock up on PQM's...PQD's are another beast.

joe_miami

Some of these P fares have been so good, my PQM is outpacing my PQD by more than 2 to 1. At my current pace, I'll hit Plat PQM before hitting Gold PQD. The CC waiver will likely be my only hope, unless I splurge on a long trip to Asia or Europe in F.

danpeake

Anyone care to speculate on the chances of my upgrade (miles + copay) clearing on my upcoming SFO to AKL flight (UA 917)? It's for 22 March, which happens to be the last day of this seasonal route for what it's worth. The current fare classes are:

• J9
• JN9
• C9
• D9
• Z9
• ZN9
• P9
• PN0
• R0
• RN0
• IN0
• I0
• Y9
• YN9
• B9
• M9
• E9
• U9
• H9
• HN9
• Q9
• V9
• W9
• S9
• T9
• L9
• K0
• G0
• N9
• XN0
• X0

Thanks.

optimom

1K flying SFO-PEK Sunday March 18, on V fare with GPU applied at purchase Jan 6.
Currently Business is 36/40 booked, so upgrade chances not looking good to me.
Fare classes are: F6, FN6, A6, ON6, O0, J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z7, ZN7, P0, PN0

With First at 2/8, is it likely that some Business passengers will upgrade, opening up some Business seats?
Also have read that at T-24, place on upgrade list is determined by time of check-in. But on previous flight to China, was unable to check in online, had to do it at airport. Anything to do about that?

jsloan

Assuming those numbers are accurate, it looks like they're willing to oversell business by at least 5. In the recent past, UA has actually opened up R space in this scenario, allowing a passenger to upgrade into the full cabin with the knowledge that someone else will be bumped to First. However, there is no specific policy on this, and it's entirely possible that the flight will go out with you in Y and empty seats (or non-revs) in F.

Time of check-in is the last tiebreaker (after status and fare class), and is only relevant at the gate. If you'd care to visit the airport the day before travel, you should be able to do the document check there, although the agents may look at you sort of funny. I wouldn't say anything about the upgrade list -- they're unlikely to know how it works anyway. If you feel compelled to give an explanation, just say that you were in the area and wanted to stop by because you've got a tight schedule the next day and wanted to avoid any problems with documentation.