Jul 24, 2016, 4:23 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Operational Upgrades - Op-ups -- are upgrades that occur when there is a need by the airline to move passenger to the higher cabin: could be due to overbooking of the lower cabin, could be a weight and balance issue, could be a broken seat, ....... whatever the reason, it is an airline driven reason, not a customer request.
If the issue still exists after all upgrades have cleared, then the common approach is for passengers to be selected based on status or status/fare but the GA has discretion and may make a selection for other reasons.
Overbooking is the most common reason, as there is no available / allowed seat for all the passengers in the cabin. If the cabin has available seats, there will be no op-ups except for some special corner cases (such as weight & balance).
Asking for an upgrade because of a special occasion or you are dressed especially professional, or you have a suave manner does not work, those often repeated "upgrade secret hints" will just get you a chuckle or a "go away" look.
pmUA FT classic thread on Op-ups - Operational upgrades from a gate agent's perspective
Related threads:
2014 Thread - Are Discretionary Complimentary (Operational) Upgrade Common on UA?
Chances of Operational Upgrade on International Flights (Honeymoon)? ..
Consolidated United Operational Upgrade (OP-UPs) Experiences
If the issue still exists after all upgrades have cleared, then the common approach is for passengers to be selected based on status or status/fare but the GA has discretion and may make a selection for other reasons.
Overbooking is the most common reason, as there is no available / allowed seat for all the passengers in the cabin. If the cabin has available seats, there will be no op-ups except for some special corner cases (such as weight & balance).
Asking for an upgrade because of a special occasion or you are dressed especially professional, or you have a suave manner does not work, those often repeated "upgrade secret hints" will just get you a chuckle or a "go away" look.
pmUA FT classic thread on Op-ups - Operational upgrades from a gate agent's perspective
Related threads:
2014 Thread - Are Discretionary Complimentary (Operational) Upgrade Common on UA?
Chances of Operational Upgrade on International Flights (Honeymoon)? ..
Consolidated United Operational Upgrade (OP-UPs) Experiences
Consolidated - Chance of Operational Upgrade (Op-Up) on my flight?
Jul 24, 2016, 4:29 pm
#110
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Jul 24, 2016, 5:38 pm
#111
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Some have speculated about the 60 minutes check-in cutoff (in the case of international).
As a data point, they do process some op-up's well before the 60 minute cutoff. In my case, ~85-90 minutes prior to departure. I'm sure in many other cases they wait to get as much data about number of customers likely to actually show, before processing operational upgrades.
Jul 24, 2016, 9:51 pm
#113
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Jul 25, 2016, 8:50 am
#114
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Excited to receive my first op-up! LHR-EWR, and on a saver award. I don't know if it makes a difference, but at the time I booked, there were only middle seats available, so I didn't bother selecting anything. When I checked in, I was given an aisle E+ seat in the center (my preference), and just now got a passbook notification that my seat was changed to BF. Also, earlier in the day the flight status indicated economy was full and BF had 11 seats "blocked".
Jul 25, 2016, 10:48 am
#115
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Aug 25, 2016, 5:24 am
#116
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Last week, I was upgraded on Asiana on a flight from Seoul to Harbin, China due to my Star Alliance Gold status. I never heard of that before, but I am not complaining.
Aug 29, 2016, 5:53 pm
#117
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Flying EWR-BRU tomorrow, 27/40 BF booked (I'm in this bucket, upgraded using miles + copy), 0/8 GF booked - no one on the waiting list yet either (so no NRSAs)...seems like there is space in Y+ (only) as well. Think there is any chance they decide to surprise and delight a Platinum (and future 1K in ~1 month) tomorrow?! 
Aug 29, 2016, 5:56 pm
#118
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Flying EWR-BRU tomorrow, 27/40 BF booked (I'm in this bucket, upgraded using miles + copy), 0/8 GF booked - no one on the waiting list yet either (so no NRSAs)...seems like there is space in Y+ (only) as well. Think there is any chance they decide to surprise and delight a Platinum (and future 1K in ~1 month) tomorrow?!
Aug 29, 2016, 6:11 pm
#119
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Aug 29, 2016, 7:14 pm
#120
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