What would be the target buy up rate per hour from Prem Plus to Polaris then, $50 an hour?

I have flight scheduled May 30, SFO-FRA-NCE, Premium Plus seats both ways.

I've applied 30 Plus Points, am 1K this year.

When I do Upgrade Cabin in Manage Trip page, it says no MUA or Buy-Up upgrades available.

In the United app on my iPhone, it says flight isn't upgradeable.

Where do you see these buy-up offers?

You should be able to see the buy-up offers on the seatmap. If you're in Premium Plus, the Businesss section should be open for you to select and when you select a Polaris seat you should see a price.

Ah thanks, I just tried it, selected a Polaris seat and it takes me to the Upgrade Cabin seat, where it says "No Upgrade Available" when I select Upgrade By: Money, Miles PlusPoints.

Does the fact that I applied for Plus Points upgrades back in January mean I can't get Buy Up offers unless I revoke the PlusPoints upgrade request?

EWR-LHR L fare - $856 for PP, $5001 for Polaris.

CDG-EWR T fare - $724 for PP, $1067 for Polaris.

Both legs in mid-September with PPs currently applied. Not biting :)

Yes, applying PPs will limit or altogether remove your buy-up offers. If you remove the PP request you can see the buy-up offers on the website or mobile app.

-RM

PVG-SFO: XN fare (35K miles) $8,611 to Premium Plus; $14,231 for Polaris
SFO-IAD: XN fare (part of PVG-ORF), $1000 to First Class (with only two seats for sale) on an redeye flight.
If I buy a new ticket (last minutes purchase at T-20 h) for PVG-ORF on the same set of flights with cash (not miles), PP costs $5,733, Polaris costs $15,278. The 35K miles paid to the original ticket have negative values for Premium Plus, but almost zero value for Polaris ($15,231 plus 35K miles vs. $15,278).
No biting. My wife said that "it is a good decision, but we need to upgrade our mattress when I get home." haha.

But then I'd lose my place in the queue right?

I applied the PP back in January, right after purchasing the ticket.

Time of request comes after 7-8 other factors -- only a very small chance it will lead to change once reapplied

Not necessarily. UA may not be selling upgrades. What's inventory on the flight?

These days I consistently get buy-up offers with PP applied domestically so long as there is discount inventory available. And my (much more limited) experience with international is same.

The problem may be lack of discount inventory, not the fact that you have PP applied.

For this 5/23/2023 UA872 TPE-SFO economy ticket, the cash upgrade costs are far higher than if I just upgrade (change) the ticket to a higher class

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a0e6ff955b.png
The cash upgrade offers $2,348 for PE, $2,448 for J


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b477d9a384.png
But if I just change the ticket, PE costs $646, J costs $1913. These fare differences are much cheaper than the cash upgrade offers.

Terrible, isn't it.

Clearly it is showing that UA is more than willing to offer up multiple ways to upfare your ticket. It clearly pays to do one's investigations to find the most cost effective path.

David

Nothing new, unfortunately. One always has to check both ways.

At least UA _could_ be consistent. Not likely given UA's consistently inconsistency.

Dvaid

In my experiences with international flights, yes. The upgrade offers disappear once I apply PPs. For domestic segments though, the cash upgrade offers usually remain visible.