dunno. I’m on the PM IAD-TPA flight today (Tuesday). It showed 9 open seats yesterday… I didn’t get my 1K upgrade.

There is a thread about them removing the 1K check-ins. It is gone from EWR which is sad because that’s an airport that needs the 1K check-in badly.

Did United fly 9 empty seats up front instead of upgrading people?

the flight is later today. It showed 9 open seats a little before T24. I figured they’d clear the 1K’s at around t24 but I never got upgraded. I’m still #3

Buy-ups are sucking up lots of seats these days inside the CPU windows. They are often cheap. FCM is the top priority.

Required FT check-box on logging in...


I understand that seat charts do not reflect passenger loads on any airline or plane.

I agree. I checked in and gave me the $149 buy up. I may have purchased it if traveling alone but my gf wouldn’t have approved the money spent on both of us… so it’s seat 8 A and 8C for us… with booze at the UC prior to the flight.

FCM = first class monetization

I clear very few CPUs out of EWR. I don't even think about it anymore.

I've also applied PP well within 24 hours a few times this year (so sort of monetization) and gone from 6+ back on the list to F without ever showing as upgraded.

And several times done SDC onto flights with PZ after clearing CPU on a different flight, also snagging seats out from under the waitlist.

What I've been surprised by is the number of flights showing PZ2 (or more) within a few hours, sometimes within an hour, of departure while still having long upgrade lists. And even on a couple of occasions, when I was still waitlisted with PP (canceling and reapplying the upgrade request cleared them).

I had to wait until T-36 h for ORF-IAD although there were five seats available on E75 (W fare class). I was No. 1 on the visible list.
IAD-SFO was upgraded with Pluspoints (W fare class) when PZ became available at T-2 h.
I got SFO-DEN via same-day change to a different flight with PN space available (Y fare class).
I got DEN-ORF (S fare class) at gate before boarding began.

I'm just a mere silver, but I'm near the bottom of a 30-passenger upgrade list for an early afternoon Wednesday STL-DEN flight. Who the bleep is flying at that time?! I got lucky and move Baby Swede and I up to 7D and 7E at check-in. We're having lunch before we board, and I've pretty much quit day drinking, so booze would be lost on me.

DEN-YEG on a Thursday night, cleared as Silver (with one F seat going out empty). Prior buy-up offer for weeks was $129 I believe. Buddy a few days later failed to clear same flight as 1K using PP.

I cleared my first CPU of the year as a Gold with a Wed later afternoon BTV - ORD flight. 737 with 16 seats, 7 seats empty at T-24 check in, cleared a few minutes later.

ORD - LAX, I was 15 of 30, which is pretty standard (1/2 way down the UG list).

LAX - SBA 11pm Wed flight, also had 7 empty seats at T-24, didn't clear and I wound up at #2.

Long day!

Those days comport with my experience almost four decades ago as a UA Reservations Sales Representative for a couple of years.