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What's the longest first class upgrade standby list / waitlist that you've ever seen?

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What's the longest first class upgrade standby list / waitlist that you've ever seen?

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Old Oct 26, 2016, 10:59 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by findark
Thursday evening hub to hub? Yeah, not at all surprised that a third to a half of the plane is Premiers. The 777s on domestic routes routinely reach 100.
BOS not a hub, but might as well be in terms of elite traffic.
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Old Oct 26, 2016, 11:13 pm
  #17  
 
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Unlimited upgrades are an expectation set that cannot be met.
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Old Oct 26, 2016, 11:36 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by nycflyer222
On a 737-9 tomorrow from ORD-BOS. Already 53 people on the UG standby list... Is that normal?
Absolutely, and even more bad news:

1. It is even worse with hub-to-hub routes that are elite-heavy.

2. Most people on that flights are either paid F or paid upgraded F.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 5:35 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by findark
Thursday evening hub to hub? Yeah, not at all surprised that a third to a half of the plane is Premiers. The 777s on domestic routes routinely reach 100.
Even before the merger, it was not uncommon to see an IAD-SFO flight on a A320 with so many elites that the GA's boarded the flight by rows.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:08 am
  #20  
 
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I had 108 on a recent IAH-DEN flight.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:35 am
  #21  
 
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Very normal for a Thursday night. It may end up in the 70's before the flight leaves.

UA has a lot of elites. Everyone makes the list, even Silvers and Golds who have a very low chance of upgrades. Not sure why people continue to be surprised that the upgrade list may contain half or more of any given flight to major airports. It's only noteworthy, IMO, if you're a 1K and and number 40 on that list (as an example).
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:35 am
  #22  
 
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Worst Elite Overload Ever...

A320, SFO-ORD... boarded by rows because 120 people on board were elites.

For reference, the plane has 150 seats.

Barratt
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 7:56 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by worldwidedreamer
Unlimited upgrades are an expectation set that cannot be met.
That really depends on your expectation.

I'm a Platinum and I clear my upgrades 80% of the time and when I miss I barely miss...

But I also fly off-peak hours like late Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, mid-day Thursday/Fridays.

I have a couple employees who are gold/silver and they get upgraded fairly regularly on certain routes as well. (They both fly out of DL hubs which helps I think as the elite travelers there are not United.)
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 8:04 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by bmoy210
A320, SFO-ORD... boarded by rows because 120 people on board were elites.

For reference, the plane has 150 seats.

Barratt
Wow! When was that? Don't often see A320 on SFO-ORD.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 8:06 am
  #25  
 
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As a Silver, I do occasionally get upgrades (I'm based in DEN), but never when traveling on business. My upgrades have always come when flying for personal travel, in off-peak times, and/or to non-business locations. When traveling on business, I'm usually somewhere around #45 on the upgrade list. When traveling for pleasure, the upgrade list is sometimes only 4-5 people.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 8:07 am
  #26  
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We talk about this at least once a year.....but not sure if the OP was asking where we all site on upgrade lists on average, what UG lists are on average etc.

Hence we are now talking about long lists (have a thread on it), no upgrade chances (have a thread per status on this).
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 8:17 am
  #27  
 
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As a Silver, in the bottom 10%.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 9:26 am
  #28  
 
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I saw 107 people on the UG list last week on a 777 from DEN to SFO. Insane. The week before (SFO to DEN, also on a 777 for some reason), I heard the GA say that there were 51 GS members flying.
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 9:40 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by mtftw
, I heard the GA say that there were 51 GS members flying.
?!
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Old Oct 27, 2016, 10:16 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by mtftw
I saw 107 people on the UG list last week on a 777 from DEN to SFO. Insane. The week before (SFO to DEN, also on a 777 for some reason), I heard the GA say that there were 51 GS members flying.
While I believe the SFO area probably carries a higher than normal amount of GS, 51 sounds like the GA mis-spoke. Or perhaps there was a big GS conference in DEN?

The most I've ever been aware of was around 15...solely based on the number I've seen board when GS was called. And that, of course, included a couple companions.
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