saFlyTalk

From PEK to ORD, economy was oversold. I was only premier silver at the time, and booking class was K. I got an op-up. Talking to some on the flight in business class, the suggestion was certain trans-pac flights during specific times of the year have an especially heavy proportion of economy fliers (especially around certain holidays), making op-ups a little less far fetched.

All that being said, the chances are still very, very slim. But unlike some, I won't say the chance are zero, because I am one of the lucky few who have gotten one.

Kacee

Actually Y9 doesn't mean anything with an empty business class section, as UA will gladly oversell Y at full fare and bump pax to J.

But in this case the flight is also X9. I concur the odds of a free upgrade are zero.

Rajt93

Thanks for the advice. Like I said, I knew this wasn't likely. So unless Y/X are overbooked, this doesn't happen?

Off topic, but wouldn't United stand to gain from upgrading people here? No seat revenue lost because I'm already on the plane and the better seat was already empty/unsold. Sure, they might lose a small amount from serving me drinks/food, but my guess is most people would try to fly an airline that gave them a free upgrade for a trans-pacific flight again in the future. Just kinda curious why that logic wouldn't be used.

edcho

Pretty much

To protect J / F. If everyone knew they could score a free op-up on an empty J / F flight, then no one would be incentivized to buy J / F on the flight.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Enjoy your *G *A lounge access and free E+ seat!

EmailKid

This indeed seals the no u/g deal.

iluv2fly

I'll take the under on this.

ezakipocky

Here is the info.

My girlfriend and I booked a United economy round trip from LAX to NRT with k-class fare. I also booked through a travel agency, which causes trouble.

By the time my flight was ticketed, there was no available economy seat already. I thought it was a good chance for me to get a update. I will explain my reason later. I am a United silver member. When I talked to premier member customer service the day before departure, I was told I could get a Complimentary upgrade for economy plus seats at least. He asked me if I want him to do this for me. I declined as I wanted to upgrade to business class. Economy plus seats actually don't attract me that much.

When we got to LAX next day, there are only one and half hours left to depart, thanks of expert drivers who caused accidents in the high way. We were shocked as we were assigned seats with 15B and 32C. 15B is an exit seat. But 32C is totally a normal economy seat and located at the end of the aircraft. I asked the gate agent if I could upgrade to business class or at least sit with my girlfriend. The gate agent declined me because she said our ticket were booked from a travel agency. Even I am willing to pay a copay, she cannot upgrade for me because of fare class. Is it true?
I already had a bad flight experience. I don't know things would be different when I go back to Los Angeles.

The reason why I thought I could get a update for business class is because of a trip I made three years ago. I booked a round trip. The route is ORD-NRT-PVG. I also booked through a travel agency. The flights are ticketed by United but operated by ANA. When I was waiting at the gate, the gate agent summoned me. Surprisingly, he gave me another boarding pass and I was upgrade to business class for entire itinerary. The door agent told me the economy class was overbooked so I was upgraded. By the way, at that year I was a United silver member as well. Can anyone tell me the reason I got upgrade? Is it because of silver status or just plain luck?

First time here, please let me know if you need me to clarify anything.

sannmann

Sounds like you got an operational upgrade three years ago! Congrats! I got one of those once on a TPAC flight as a Premier Gold. It was an unexpected delight. You got the upgrade because Economy was oversold and they had to bump people up to Business in order to get the flight out on time.

BTW, Economy Plus is not considered an upgrade. The term "upgrade" means from one cabin up to the next cabin. Economy Plus is Economy class but with additional legroom.

I think your situation on your most recent flight illustrates why it's important to get to the airport three hours before your flight if traveling internationally. Having done that, you may have been able to change the seat assignments. Otherwise, it may be a good idea to pay for seat assignments in advance if you need to or expect to sit with your companions. Sorry things didn't go so smoothly for you.

ezakipocky

Definitely will go to airport early next time! Thanks for clarifying these terms!

JVPhoto

You should have taken the Economy Plus seats at 24hour check-in as your Silver status allows. Did the agent you talk to on the phone offer you the seats together then?

I would say you had a 1-5% chance of one of you getting a free (op-up) upgrade to Business. You taking the E+ seats would not have affected that %.

ezakipocky

Do you mean I could choose a economy plus seat, if it is available, when I check-in for free? I tried to choose that seat yesterday and there was a fee applied.

Yes, the agent asked me if I want to take that plus seat. He can do that for me. By the way, if I have a companion, will my chance to get a upgrade get lower? Thanks

sannmann

As a Silver, you and a +1 get Economy Plus free at check-in.

cfischer

Agents can do a lot of things. What they are supposed to do is a different story.
You chance of 0% for an upgrade is not getting any worse with a companion.

emcampbe

Im not sure where you get this percentage from. I would guess it is far less.

My thoughts on op-ups: the chances are so low, it's not worth even considering as a possibility. In almost any case. My guess is most 1Ks wouldn't get op-ups 1% of the time, much less a silver, like the OP. The closest I've come was one on an ORD-YYZ flight, back before UA did UDU.

To the OP: you should have taken the agent up on the E+ seats. As a silver, you get this as a benefit at 24 hours before departure. Even if you don't think it is much better, if it's any better, I don't see why you wouldn't take it. Plus, you probably wouldn't have had to sit so far apart. Getting seats earlier usually allows you to find seats together, not so much at the last minute.

As for your inability to pay for an upgrade, my guess is you could have been on a bulk fare sold by your TA, which as I recall, don't allow for upgrades. That rule would have likely been thrown out had they needed to op-up people of economy was oversold, but as I said above, is very rare - airlines these days are pretty good at predicting no shows, etc. plus if they did that, they would upgrade any GS, 1K, plats, and golds on the flights before you. What you got on ANA a few years ago was out of luck. Airlines would much prefer to sell seats that cost thousands of dollars rather then give them away.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but expecting to be upgraded at the last minute probably set you up for this. UA often sells out their front cabins of has them go out full, with 1Ks sometimes complaining they can't use their GPUs. If you really wanted to pay for an upgrade, and were eligible, you can usually find an offer with miles+copay or cash online in your reservation. But even these often wait list as well, and in the end, may or may not clear by departure time.