*G vs Premier Silver upgrade
 

Hi FT!

My family (2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant in lap) will fly from NYC-CUN in mid December. I have *G with Miles & More because I fly Swiss often. I have Premier Silver because of my Marriott status. No one else in my family has any status. I know little about UA but I did read this Premier Silver upgrades are only valid for the silver and 1 companion (and we are 3+infant).

Do I understand it correctly? If so I guess there is no benefit to using my Premier silver UA status, probably better to use my *G status right?

Thanks!

Begemot

What upgrades are you referring to? The move to Economy Plus at T-24 hours? This is good for you +1 companion at check-in.

Or an complimentary upgrade to next class of service? This will just be for you, but highly unlikely to clear for a Silver.

With Premier Silver the upgrade can be for the member and one companion, correct. If you want to go for the CPU you'll have to split two people off the reservation.

I'm not sure why you would use *G since the benefits are less than/equal to those from Premier Silver, with the exception of lounge access at EWR (which is negligible considering the UCs are mediocre and you would only be able to bring in 1 of the 3 other passengers - the infant counts).

With Premier Silver you get a chance at J (your flights seem like one of the times when Silver has a better chance), or at least E+ for two people. If you don't want to split up your family, then go for the program where the miles would matter more.

I think *G get boarding priority and more checked baggage as well. Small benefits but could be good.

lap children don't count as a guest for UA access -- but the two other ticketed passengers would still present a problem.

With the E+ access or cabin upgrade off the table, *G is likely better than UA Silver. (Mileage crediting is another factor that might change the balance. Hard to use status for flight but credit another program. And the mileage earning is a cases by case consideration.)

This is incorrect. CPU's are available to all premiers, as well as a companion traveling on the same reservation as the Premier.

You will need to split the record to eligible for CPU - you should probably study this thread here for more details on that:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...split-pnr.html

If you don't care about where the miles are credited, I'd go for UA Premier Silver.

*G and UA Silver are pretty much equivalent in most regards—you get most good stuff either way: a chance at E+, premium boarding and premium security lines. *G would get you into the crappy lounges at EWR, but would require splitting your family up at an inconvenient time. UA Silver gets you a chance at an upgrade to J, which for a CUN trip (a leisure destination) gives you a half-decent shot at getting you +1 upgraded (give it to the wife + kids: happy wife = happy life).

The only thing *G would give you compared to Premier Silver is extra checked luggage, at 2 pieces, 70lbs/piece

Several other considerations, all affecting cabin class and not the *G vs. UA Silver issue.

1. Make certain that you have purchased a lap child ticket for the infant (presuming that you intend the infant to be a lap child and not in its own seat with an FAA-certified carrier). While Mexico gets domestic UG privileges, paid infant tickets are still required. If you are upgraded, the infant ticket price will increase as well.

2. You did not specify the age of the non-infant child, but if the child is within unaccompanied minor age limits, that child may not be seated in another cabin without paying unaccompanied minor fees.

Thus, in order to make this work, either only one of you gets upgraded and the other sits in Y with the child and possibly lap infant or you will need 3 or 4 seats up front (depending on whether the infant is a lap infant). Because UA S would only permit one companion to be UG, you would have to purchase the other seat.

All of this a long way of saying that the likelihood of UA S upgrades are both slim and expensive.

Thanks everyone, it seems that in my situation probably neither idea will help much more than the other with upgrades and I'd prefer to earn on the *G so I'll go with that.


Often1: My other kid is 3 years old. While I'd be glad to leave him with my infant in economy I think my wife and the rest of the plane would disagree. :D