Jan 21, 2017, 10:27 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
UA will generally offer cash upgrades from any non-Basic Economy fare for UA operated flights, these can be offered:
- At the time of purchase
- Before travel in the itinerary view
- At check-in (computer, smartphone, airport)
- You can inquire with an agent anytime (including at the gate)
The price can vary, as it appears multiple processes are used -- occasionally yielding strangely high offers. Always cross-check on what the fare difference (up fare) might be and consider insteadBuy up to higher fare class w/o change fee? {GG BUYUP}
Awards tickets may be offered similar cash upgrade but generally only at check-in (Aug 2022 update, frequent reports of award ticket cash upgrade offers; at booking, after booking and check-in. Unclear under what conditions.
For Check-in offers, these can vary post initial check-in, so check back closer to departure.
Such upgrades will be eligible for all the benefits of a premium cabin ticket, UA makes no distinction on how a passenger premium cabin ticket was obtained.
Generally, fees for upgrades are non-refundable if you voluntarily cancel. If UA cancels or fails to provide the upgrade, the fees will be refunded. On voluntary changes, the agent may transfer to the changes flight but that is not standard policy.
True up-fares (ADD/COLLECT) are transferable if the appropriate inventory space is available.
Fees paid for upgrades now {2020) earn PQPs
Will the upgrade earn PQDs or bonus PQMs see the wiki of Some Paid Upgrades Count Towards PQD & mileage bonus and some DON"T!
On how pricing is structured, see A Comprehensive Look at Domestic First Class Monetization (FCM) on United
Previous Threads:
UA Upsell Offers to Business/First at Purchase and Day of Departure (TOD) [Archive]
2016 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2015 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2014 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2013 "Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU)" Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
- At the time of purchase
- Before travel in the itinerary view
- At check-in (computer, smartphone, airport)
- You can inquire with an agent anytime (including at the gate)
The price can vary, as it appears multiple processes are used -- occasionally yielding strangely high offers. Always cross-check on what the fare difference (up fare) might be and consider instead
Awards tickets may be offered similar cash upgrade but generally only at check-in (Aug 2022 update, frequent reports of award ticket cash upgrade offers; at booking, after booking and check-in. Unclear under what conditions.
For Check-in offers, these can vary post initial check-in, so check back closer to departure.
Such upgrades will be eligible for all the benefits of a premium cabin ticket, UA makes no distinction on how a passenger premium cabin ticket was obtained.
Generally, fees for upgrades are non-refundable if you voluntarily cancel. If UA cancels or fails to provide the upgrade, the fees will be refunded. On voluntary changes, the agent may transfer to the changes flight but that is not standard policy.
True up-fares (ADD/COLLECT) are transferable if the appropriate inventory space is available.
Fees paid for upgrades now {2020) earn PQPs
On how pricing is structured, see A Comprehensive Look at Domestic First Class Monetization (FCM) on United
Previous Threads:
UA Upsell Offers to Business/First at Purchase and Day of Departure (TOD) [Archive]
2016 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2015 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2014 Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU) Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
2013 "Upsell Offers to Business/First (UFC/PCU)" Questions/Discussion (Paid Upgrades)
UA Upsell Offers to Business/First/PP at Purchase to Day of Departure (TOD)
Apr 13, 2024, 9:36 pm
#781
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
I found the wiki to be a bit hard to follow since there are so many strike outs?
If I have to buy Economy for work, and I want to upgrade to F (or PE) and want to get miles and PQP, and be able to change flights. Do all the upgrade paths get that or do I need to call in and change the class- and are their ‘magic words’ I need to say to the agent to make sure that I’m getting everything.
If I have to buy Economy for work, and I want to upgrade to F (or PE) and want to get miles and PQP, and be able to change flights. Do all the upgrade paths get that or do I need to call in and change the class- and are their ‘magic words’ I need to say to the agent to make sure that I’m getting everything.
Only way to get miles is to up-fare. Change the ticket to the new fare.
Apr 15, 2024, 10:54 am
#782
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Programs: UA Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,189
Semi-hypothetical question from a buyup newbie: Let's say I've already purchased a coach fare on a UA flight for $600. Some time later I buyup to Premium Plus for another $349. Then day of flight I'm offered a buyup to Polaris for, let's say, $4000. Would I be dinged the full $4000 on top of the $349 PP upgrade already paid?
Or would the $349 be applied to the Polaris buyup, such that my additional cost for the Polaris buyup would be $3651? If so, would that happen at time of purchase, or would I pay the full $4000 and the $349 would be refunded sometime after the flight?
Or would the $349 be applied to the Polaris buyup, such that my additional cost for the Polaris buyup would be $3651? If so, would that happen at time of purchase, or would I pay the full $4000 and the $349 would be refunded sometime after the flight?
Apr 16, 2024, 9:33 am
#784
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
Assuming this is for an UA flight, partner award tickets may get an cash upgrade offer at checkin. Is the UA flight the first flight? So you would be checking-in with UA?
Apr 16, 2024, 11:49 pm
#785
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: KSRQ
Programs: Formerly UA, now whoever has the best routing or C/F price
Posts: 210
IME, this has held true over numerous transactions. I'll buy up to E+ or PP and then if the next-highest upgrade offer becomes more appealing, I'll jump on it and I've always been refunded for the initial (inferior) upgrade. UA handles it as two separate transactions, though. In other words, the poster in this scenario would pay the full $4,000 upgrade cost, but would then be issued a refund of $349 to whatever form of payment he/she used to pay the $349. The receipt for the refund of the initial upgrade usually comes through within minutes, but the refund tends to take several days to post to the card account.
However, the devil may be in the details. Most upgrades have their own fare bucket. In the case of PP, that bucket is called RN. That's where I would expect him/her to be. However, if the poster somehow got up-fared to O, A, or R buckets which would be equivalent to booking in PP in the first place, then no, there would be no refund for any subsequent upgrade. Poster needs to determine if he's in RN to make a more educated conclusion about whether a refund would be due for the initial upgrade. My example with E+ above works a little differently since it's an add-on, not an upgrade, but again my personal experience is that I have cash-upgraded to PP before and then to J and been refunded for the initial PP upgrade. YMMV.
Last edited by traumamed; Apr 17, 2024 at 12:10 am Reason: clarification
Apr 16, 2024, 11:58 pm
#786
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: KSRQ
Programs: Formerly UA, now whoever has the best routing or C/F price
Posts: 210
I found the wiki to be a bit hard to follow since there are so many strike outs?
If I have to buy Economy for work, and I want to upgrade to F (or PE) and want to get miles and PQP, and be able to change flights. Do all the upgrade paths get that or do I need to call in and change the class- and are their ‘magic words’ I need to say to the agent to make sure that I’m getting everything.
If I have to buy Economy for work, and I want to upgrade to F (or PE) and want to get miles and PQP, and be able to change flights. Do all the upgrade paths get that or do I need to call in and change the class- and are their ‘magic words’ I need to say to the agent to make sure that I’m getting everything.
"Please reference UA policy GG BUYUP."
This will allow you to legitimately up-fare (vs being put in an upgrade fare bucket) without incurring a change fee.
Apr 17, 2024, 4:33 am
#787
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: ATL
Programs: UA 3.6 MM, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 2,582
Thanks, as always, WineCountryUA, all flights are operated by UA and check-in is with UA. It's an SQ ticket using Kris Flyer miles. I have some SQ KF miles that are at risk of expiring and since they are killing the RTW ticket, i need a good use for them. Hoping I can PCU the X fare!
Apr 17, 2024, 11:45 am
#789
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New England
Programs: American Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,637
Admittedly my knowledge on this is dated a couple years, but I figured I would add to WineCountryUA's totally correct answer above that the magic words you're looking for with a phone agent are:
"Please reference UA policy GG BUYUP."
This will allow you to legitimately up-fare (vs being put in an upgrade fare bucket) without incurring a change fee.
"Please reference UA policy GG BUYUP."
This will allow you to legitimately up-fare (vs being put in an upgrade fare bucket) without incurring a change fee.
The GG BUYUP policy might be dead? It's crosssed out in the wiki. With the advent of Basic Economy, I would hope that they'd amended it to exclude BE tickets, if it even still exists.
Last edited by diburning; Apr 17, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Apr 17, 2024, 11:49 am
#790
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,364
Itineraries that originate in the US should have no change fees anyway. GG BUYUP presumably still applies but its necessity is severely curtailed.
Apr 17, 2024, 9:06 pm
#791
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,228
Ticket not eligible for upgrade 2 weeks before the flight
I have a PP flight EWR-LHR and checking upgrade prices to Polaris in app. Yesterday no price shown. Today I get “not eligible for upgrade”. I already did upgrade on LIS-IAD same ticket.
Is there a known problem with upgrades?
Is there a known problem with upgrades?
Yesterday, 4:38 am
#792
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Washington, D.C.
Programs: AA PLT (MM), UA 1K, Marriott Ti, IHG Diamond
Posts: 928
This has been happening to me latetly as well. IAD-CDG this summer, I already upgraded the outbound months ago and then all of a sudden last week I get "not eligible for upgrade" on the inbound which I had been checking the prices weekly.
Yesterday, 7:05 am
#793
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: NorCal - 1K 2MM
Posts: 2,089
When this happens to me, the ticket is out of synch/needs to be reissued, typically due to some change UA made. Of course there may also be other causes.
Yesterday, 7:30 am
#794
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: RDU
Posts: 5,228
One neat thing is we have a TAP flight and our seat numbers finally show up on United.com as well as the TAP website.
Last edited by zitsky; Yesterday at 7:47 am