Jamester

I sure did Kacee - the AC flight (SFO-FRA-ZRH) passes through Toronto (and like a 6-7 hour layover) - and saw another SFO-FRA-ZRH on UA/LH (tickets sold by LH) and ZRH-SFO on LX - all Biz for $3409+tax. Sounds like I'm still better off - found my fare on united.com (so at least getting the 11x bonus miles). If anyone can speak for the LHR-SFO upgrade chance above, that would be awesome. Happy Friday & thanks again!

Kacee

NYE is generally a good day for upgrades. But five months out it's really impossible to make a meaningful prediction on any specific flight. So it would certainly be my preference to purchase confirmed business class for $200 more. The fares quoted above can be purchased on the UA website via link from googleflights.

united 1k flyer

already posted but wondering if odds have improved still J9 ,going old-sfo 2 people gpu supported upgrade (also wondering do gpus have higher priority than rpus)we have no status and its the 6:45 am flight

jsloan

GPUs and RPUs have the same priority. The priority order is Global Services members, then all instruments, prioritized by status.

The flight is J9 C3 D0, and there appear to be ten unassigned seats in the cabin. Your odds aren't getting better; if anything, they're getting worse, although they were minuscule to begin with. If you really have no status (despite your username), it probably wouldn't even matter if they stopped selling tickets, because you probably wouldn't be in the top ten of the upgrade list.

I know it's not the answer you were hoping for, but they really will sell those seats, either to people flying ORD-SFO, or to people flying CDG-ORD-SFO or ORD-SFO-SIN or whatnot. If they have any left over, they will sell them at check-in.

ETA: Your odds might be better on the 777 the night before -- but unfortunately, I don't think that's going to matter. That flight is nearly full in economy, so the chance that you will have the opportunity to change to it is very small -- and they will already have upgraded some passengers by that point anyway.

smiles33

Deleted. Friend said he's use his GPUs for us so my question is moot.

Kacee

As GS, your friend can book awards in ways mere mortals cannot.

I can't advise you on the relationship question, but I personally would never risk 16 hours in Y on a UA 789.

smiles33

Oh, thanks for the quick reply. I just deleted my post because he wrote to me that he has several "Global upgrades" to use and is going to call Global Services for us. So I'll just wait and see what he can come up with!

Kacee

GS can upgrade award tix. You'll still need PN inventory.

gusd

I used miles+copay for ICN-SFO, it was PZ9, IN6. After I upgraded, it is now PZ9, IN5. Coincidence that IN became 5, and PZ was actually >9?

jsloan

No coincidence that IN became 5 -- taking an upgrade seat often reduces award availability, as does the reverse. And, yes, they were probably willing to open more than 9 PZ seats on that flight.

nomad420

This probably been asked and answered but is a pax flying on an GS award ticket (not with GS pax) cpu eligible? Now on the return the pax is flying with me and I understand we are then both cpu eligible.

Dpetryszyn

UA gold status on R fare. MUA reward. Thoughts?

optimom

Flying EWR-MAD on Oct 3 (Thursday)
1K, V fare, GPU waitlisted
Current equipment is 777-200, with 2 cabins, 28 Polaris seats. Assume upgrade is very unlikely (8 seats already booked on seat map).
1K Desk says TATL equipment gradually being re-configured, likely will be 3 cabins by Oct (44 Polaris, 21 Premium plus). It’s a red-eye, so upgrade would be very welcome.

Any idea of the timeline for refitting planes on this route?
With expanded Polaris, PP seating, should I consider upgrading to Q fare class to improve priority for upgrade?

Kacee

That's bad information. EWR-MAD is currently a 77G route. Those aircraft are not being reconfigured. I did read somewhere though that the 77Gs will be replaced on this route with 764 or 763 after the summer season is over. That will make the upgrade odds slightly less awful (but still not very good). It's also good news if you get stuck in Y, as the 763/64 are the most comfortable Y cabins in the UA fleet.
I would not ever recommend an upfare within the same cabin in the *hope* of increasing upgrade odds - that's the epitome of good money after bad.

Jamester

Hi all - let me know what you think of this one..

Post Thanksgiving Saturday - SFO-SYD UA 863. Current standing: J9 JN9 C9 D9 Z0 ZN0 P0 PN0 PZ0 IN0 I0 Y9 YN9 B9 M9 E9 U9 H9 HN9 Q9 V9 W9 S9 T9 L9 K9 G9 N9 XN9 X9. 46 (out of 48) C seats unassigned, 787 Dreamliner.

Friday after - SYD-SFO UA 870. Current standing: J9 JN9 C9 D9 Z0 ZN0 P0 PN0 PZ0 IN0 I0 Y9 YN9 B9 M9 E9 U9 H9 HN9 Q9 V9 W9 S9 T9 L0 K0 G0 N9 XN0 X0. Also 46 (out of 48) C seats unassigned, 787 Dreamliner.

Alas, as you can tell, no Premium Economy on these Dreamliners.

1K Million Miler flying solo, hoping to use GPUs. Q fare already selected. Haven't done a SYD run in many many years so I forget what it's like. I know this is still almost 4 months out, just trying to gauge if it's worth trying.

Thx as always!