SEA1K4EVR

I am gifting a GPU to my boss who will be traveling tomorrow from LHR-PDX. I booked her ticket for her as always a few weeks ago..the only thing I could get her at the time that had an upgrade available was LHR-DUB-IAD-PDX, with only DUB-IAD available to upgrade (LHR-DUB on Aer Lingus code share). She is Gold on a V fare...I applied my GPU at booking.

There was no chance she was going to clear IAD-PDX tomorrow so I went looking for alternatives yesterday in preparation for an SDC. I found a great solution on all UA metal with 1 stop and ample R space all the way.. I'm not revealing the routing right now. But, it was outside 24 hours so I could not SDC for her. The LHR-US segment was R7..so no waitlist as of yesterday afternoon..and flight status said business was booked exactly 50% full. Economy wide open... X9...hardly anyone in E+ either..not many elites on the flight.

I went in as soon as I could to see what was available at T-24.. and while not a single additional seat was booked, all R space was zeroed out on the TATL flight. The connection to PDX still had R. We decided to risk the change.. I had to call because of the Aer Lingus segment..the change was made and I applied the GPU to the domestic segment...but of course I can't even waitlist it for the TATL segment..so I'm forced now to keep checking for R. Meanwhile the upgrade list keeps growing..there is still plenty of space.. but I can't even add her to the list myself. Ultimately I might have to give her my MP number and PIN so she can add herself at the airport... burn 2 GPU's and sort it all out later with customer service to get 1 back.

As of now, there are a few flights from LHR to the US tomorrow that have at least 9 open seats in business..not a single one has R space. UA Insider commented specifically here on FT on the issue with not being able to waitlist an upgrade inside 24 hours very shortly after the merger... and said it was something they were going to fix. Clearly they have either found it impossible to fix or it fell off the radar.

Here I'm trying to do something nice for someone else and I've got to keep looking every hour hoping they open up R space! I can't even set an alert in ExpertFlyer any more. It's so irritating.

lhrsfo

I have a lot of sympathy, but essentially your complaint boils down to frustration that, using superior knowledge, you can no longer jump the queue for an upgrade.

mherdeg

Yeah, it's kind of a crummy situation. I have an upcoming trip ex-LHR in W upgraded to R via GPU. I want to use same-day confirmed change to travel a bit later. But I've been looking at loads and it looks like basically every day within T-24, even when a flight is wide open in J, it is R0.

In other words UA is saying "hey, I bet you like same-day confirmed changes so much, you're willing to abandon a chance at an upgrade and fly in coach while we leave with empty J seats." Strange times.

SEA1K4EVR

Well in this case there shouldn't even be a queue!.. There was no person in queue yesterday, and even now they could clear every single person on the list and still have several biz class seats left to up-sell. With international upgrades they all require instruments so everyone is equal in that regard unlike the domestic CPU process where you're subject to waiting for automation. I'm not trying to jump any queues right now... A little common sense would be nice..

Duke777

Are you sure they aren't standbys on the upgrade list? If the name shows up on standby and upgrade list, it's probably a non-rev that will have the lowest priority.

QBK

I can't speak for the OP, but if I were making this complaint... I would be complaining that I couldn't even waitlist a GPU when doing a SDC. I am okay with playing the upgrade lottery. I'll pay my money and take my chances. Sure, I'd queue-jump if I could, but that's not my goal. If UA wants to zero out R at T-24, that's fine -- just let me do my SDC and waitlist. It's the fact that we can't waitlist within 24 hours that's frustrating.

SEA1K4EVR

That's exactly correct... in this case it's both things..but the no waitlisting is really ridiculous.

channa

Why is it ridiculous? If you use a company for services outside its core competency, you're going to run into glitches, system limitations, etc.

SEA1K4EVR

Yes actually I did later look into that.. and now that it's over I'll say what flights they were. This one definitely turned out differently than expected..

Yesterday I had her SDC'd to UA96 LHR-IAH at 11:40am, 2 class 767 booked 15 out of 30...and indeed every person on the upgrade list were also on the standby list (and confirmed way in advance)...which means they were employees. Flight wide open in economy. There was also UA4 at 1:40pm on a 788 that had 9 un booked business seats, and I was keeping an eye on that as a nice-to-have.

Timeline last night:

11pm PDT/7am GMT: T-4:40 - still no R space on any midday flight, however R had been opened on the early morning flights to IAD and ORD leaving in under 2 hours. I typed up a detailed email for her on what to to get herself waitlisted on her flight at the airport, including pulling another GPU if they couldn't figure out how to do it with the one I already used (gave her my PIN also).

1:45am PDT/9:45am GMT: T-1:55 I set my alarm and kept my Galaxy Tab by the bed.. went online..suddenly both of the Houston flights were sold out in business! I didn't bother to investigate at the time but I assumed there had been a cancellation or delay of something earlier. So I start my hunt and luckily UA935 LHR-LAX departing at 12:20pm had plenty of R space along with V. But of course United no longer flies to PDX from it's LAX focus city...no SFO connections available..so I found LAX-DEN-PDX with both V and R space available..called UA, flights changed, previously used GPU reapplied and upgrades confirmed on all segments. I called the boss who had just arrived at LHR...she was happy. She will arrive home tonight about 10 minutes later than she would have going through Houston.

Now today I found out that UA879 LHR-IAH scheduled at 9:30am didn't depart until 1:27pm because of a mechanical problem.. and that's why the other two Houston flights were full.

Look at the seat map for UA879:


Were there actually any passengers on that plane? Now that's the one I would have sent her on had I known! Flight status does not say cancelled.. but it sure looks empty.

mherdeg

For all we know, inventory might have been R0 (or inaccessible) all the way to departure on that wide-open UA879 LHR-IAH. It would have been pretty embarrassing to SDC onto a flight with 40+ open J seats and no confirmable or waitlistable upgrade.

WineCountryUA

Looks like it turned in a ferry flight, non-revenue -- perhaps to return the aircraft for repairs.

SEA1K4EVR

Yeah...that's what happened.. I had to call UA about something else last eve.. and I happened to inquire about that flight. They confirmed there were no revenue passengers aboard. Strange they just wouldn't mark it as cancelled.

johnden

I think you should have been more patient instead of trying to game the system. You chose to risk losing the TATL upgrade for a chance at an instant upgrade on the domestic leg, it is a gamble.

The entire gamble was predicated on the fact that UA would let you cut the upgrade line (R>0) on the TATL leg, despite knowing you couldn't waitlist inside of 24 hours.

Sounds like you traded a TATL upgrade for a domestic one on the gamble that UA would let you cheat the system. Whether it is reasonable to expect an airline to let you cut the line is another discussion. Many seem to feel that is a required courtesy, many do not.

SEA1K4EVR

Not one thing I did involved cheating.. I don't understand the comments. Also if R>0 on a TATL leg...there shouldn't be an upgrade line. If someone is using an instrument they can clear it.

johnden

I missed the R=7 part of your post, sorry about that. In your case it is likely there was no upgrade list, but it is difficult to know, all kinds of things happen on the day of travel.

The reason UA routinely zeros out R inventory is to prevent a behavior that is mostly used to cheat the system. By cheat I mean cutting an upgrade line by using clever social engineering to either hide the traveler's intentions from an agent or by seeking an agent that is indifferent. This has been well discussed. Some believe it isn't cheating because a low level airline employee lets them do it. Personally I'm not sure that translates well to other contexts, it is pretty easy to find an employee at a large corporation willing to bend the rules. There isn't a lot of consensus on the morality of the action in general, so I am not sure what difference it makes.

One unintended side effect is the inability to use GPUs/instruments on the day of flight or with a SDC. I also have lost an upgrade because of this policy.

There is a workaround for now, paying the change fee $2-300 USD, before T-24. This allows you to change flights and apply an instrument. Yes, it costs more, but it is still a good deal, esp if you can confirm instantly. The fare difference is usually much much greater.

I'm OK with this tradeoff. I've sat next to too many upgraded intl GMs humbly bragging about how they bought a ticket yesterday on the website and cleared a mileage upgrade (often promoted via email or in the UI), while dozens of long waitlisted elites were in Y, including a companion waitlisted with my GPU.