djmp

Looking for R/RN space on SFO-LHR-SFO second half of October. Nothing available around the dates I want (big surprise). If I waitlist, any experience saying there's a chance of clearing? Not a fan of the lottery here.

CO_Nonrev_elite

Unless you are GS and clearing from the PN bucket, United will basically do everything in their power to make sure they do not clear including selling the seats at as large of a discount as needed in order to get someone to pay more or less anything for it..

I have a UK trip on Monday that is waitlisted, has plenty of seats, and has been PN4 for weeks (meaning that GS flyers can upgrade at will), but 1K and below cannot. I even called UA to see if they could open 2 R seats for us seeing all the space and the fact that there is so much PN space. They said management has clamped down on them doing that now, and that more and more they are seeing the PN space not opening ever to R space.

We (2 x 1K) are stuck in middle seats.

Nice Work United...

skycrab

We clear ALL the time, including SFO-LHR once.
The easier route is LAX-LHR, so if you're willing to fly the 5:30pm UA934 flight, you stand a MUCH better chance.

FWIW, a flight I booked was R6, I0, IN0, ON0, O0 at booking, and is now R9, I9, IN9, ON3, and O2, so you while yes, UA would like to try and sell you a more expensive ticket, they will also offer upgrades and even saver awards if the cabin is less full than desired close to departure.

cfischer

yes, absolutely. Use SDC if needed.

transportbiz

Basically it's as rare as hens teeth to clear on that route. But, Smisek and company thank you for playing the W fare lotto.

LHR Wannabee

Up until last year, I could always get an upgrade to LHR from LAX as 1K that far out if I was willing to try connecting through Chicago, Houston, DC or last choice Newark. This year, it has been even harder to do on the outbound, but I have been able to pre-book the upgrade on the return. I have had success on the day of when travelling alone, but only when I originally did not purchase the lowest fare. I usually go up 1 or two classes for only a couple of hundred dollars more, but that puts me higher on the list. Also, if my travel allows me to buy a B class, even if I do not get the upgrade on the day of, I at least get the 50% PQM bonus as a consolation prize. I did get the LHR upgrade on the day of travel last year when I had a B class and was travelling alone. My thought process was that someone spending that much for economy would likely have the ability to buy a business tickets anyway. I thought this year's increased status requirements would mean more upgrade opportunities, but from other people's comments, it still gets tougher and tougher to score that upgrade.

augias84

SFO-LHR is about as hard as EWR-HKG or SFO-HKG. One of the hardest routes.
But many other routes to LHR, for example via Newark are not that difficult -- esp. the ones that are flown with 777 through EWR.
Day of the week makes a difference obviously.

Even if you don't clear on the transatlantic portion EWR-LHR, you're bound to clear on the portion from SFO to Newark, and that would then be a free confirmed upgrade (as you get your certificate back if the transatlantic flight doesn't clear). So you'd come out ahead.

Kacee

The HKG routes are no longer difficult at all if you have any flexibility. R is fairly regularly available ex SFO, ORD, and HKG.

The TATL routes ex-SFO are an order of magnitude more difficult.

SFO-EWR is no slam dunk on a GPU. Plenty of people can tell you about failed instrument upgrades on that route. And most of those flights are now on the miserable 739s.

LeviFlight

just swapped a flight to SFO-EWR-LHR for peak summer that was a throw away return to EU that I ended up using. Multiple EWR-LHR flights has R space on a Friday night. Direct, no.

lhrsfo

901 is slightly easier than 930 but it is not uncommon to see a waitlist of 15-20 with Business showing full.

WineCountryUA

what about mid-week -- such as Tues, Wed, Thur???

Assume LHR-SFO is the same?

Silver Fox

This year I am 0/8 on this route (LHR-SFO-LHR), and that included looking for R space on many days of the week just out of curiosity as my dates are usually fixed and biased towards Saturday flights. Perhaps it would have cleared on the day but my experience of this route this year is that it has become impossible as a 1K. I used to be near the top of the upgrade list, I have been as low as 18th on this route this year, highest was #2 and that did not clear.

Kacee

I suspect there's a ton of corporate GS traffic on these flights and they're filling BF with PN upgrades, so R never opens.

Silver Fox

I am certain of it. It has changed totally over the past couple of years though based on my experience. I just chuckle when I see the upgrade board as I stand there these days.

myperks

the last time i cleared this route was a year ago when R opens up 24 hours before