WineCountryUA

The OP was specifically querying about the Change Flight option, have never seen the GG BUYUP provision handled in the Change Flight process.

You are referring to the Upgrade Flight process and agree it does not incurring a change fee --- just unclear if you are upfaring or paying an non-PQD, PQM earning upgrade fee. Some prefer the change flight method to ensuring they will received the PQD, PQM benefits. The opaqueness of that option has been an issue and it may have gotten worse.

FlyngSvyr

Ok. I did not notice that the OP was asking about the change flight screen/procedure.

Prior to recently (I just noticed it this weekend), the upgrade flight option treated it like upfaring. Now the system appears to be treating it like an upgrade fee (No PQM/PQD bonus). A big negative from where I am sitting. Now the only way to upfare (GG BUYUP) appears to be calling in. And from my experience this weekend, it is painful as the agents are hesitant to waive the change fee and have to loop in a supervisor which takes time on hold.

My fear is that they may roll this new policy out to the phone agents and GG BUYUP will go away.

Starman

So if the "Upgrade Reservation" choice on the desktop site is supposed to handle upfaring, shouldn't every flight with F9 offer an upfare if requested? I've got a single segment flight ticketed in Y, currently showing F9, and when I go to "Upgrade Reservation" and select the "Purchase Upgrade" tab, I get "online upgrade not available". I'm wondering if this is because I've already stuck an RPU on it and am waitlisted there?

CLG

joe_miami

Thanks for all of the replies.

In almost a year of flying United, I've only seen a cash upgrade offer in the "Upgrade Reservation" section one or two times. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I've probably had CPUs clear on a third of those flights and/or been able to do P-fare buy-ups without a change fee on another third.

lincolnjkc

The upgrade reservation cash offer can be hit or miss but putting an instrument or an upgrade with miles request on the PNR will kill the cash offer every time. I think its because SHARES sees the waitlisted segment in the front cabin at a $0 fare and can't figure out a way to upfare.

Many years ago (when I was a Gold) my then girlfriend (now wife) flew CLE-ORD-LHR for our dating anniversary. In retrospect I think an agent at checkin tried to "surprise and delight" us by listing us for the BusinesFirst cabin which caused all kinds of confusion when I asked about upgrading at the club --- who told me to call reservations. Reservations put me on hold like 3 times and then told me that the "system" was telling her that the upgrade cost would be $0 but she valued her job too much to confirm it since it "clearly had to be wrong" suggested I ask at the gate at ORD. At ORD the BF cabin was showing full so never bothered asked an agent, but onboard looking at the flight status I noticed KIN/L and MCP/R (coincidentally, our initials) were #1 and #2 on the BF standby list.

The only two ways I can see that happening are either the agent at checkin listing us without saying anything or the reservation agent really botching something when she was trying to figure out the upfare.

The other potential, but less likely in your case, issue is just because inventory is open doesn't mean there's a fare published for your routing that can be ticketed in the fare. Married segment logic can be "interesting"/have some interesting side effects.

Nick Hermann

Upcoming trip
Roc-ewr 739 $119 declined (got CPU at t-48)
Ewr-SFO 772HD Ranged from $429-$2899 Declined
SFO-ORD 772 HD $199- Accepted as Redeye
ORD-ROC $119 declined, waiting for CPU

threeoh

Or call the local (and this case toll-free) Panama number:

00-800-044-0001
(507)-265-0040

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...landsouth.aspx

joe_miami

I asked about this a while back but I don't believe anyone replied: Does calling those numbers connect the caller to the local office (if during business hours) or to UA's main phone line? I assume the local offices can handle the GG BUYUPs, but given that the main phone agents rarely know what I'm talking about, I'd imagine the local agents would have even less experience. Thanks.

Smiley90

Was offered both YVR-ORD and ORD-YVR upgrades for 199 per way. Didn't take the offer but evidently people did as both flights went from 8/6 F seats booked to fully booked after check in opened with only 3/1 upgrades clearing and countless others (including mine) not clearing. Sigh. Thanks for nothing

1kBill

For work travel, I am supposed to always book throughout corporate travel agency. Just like you, when I do follow the rules, I never see any upgrade availability prior to check-in.

(For the record, for international travel in premium cabins, I always use the agent. If I am looking to use upgrade certs, I find what I want and book online. For domestic, I always book online; I'm not paying agency fees to have them book flights that I spoon fed to them.)

global happy traveller

Return trip, all based on original K class per below....

TPE-SFO $3549.11 advance
TPE-SFO $1959 during OLCI
SFO-DEN $269 during OLCI

All declined

dilanesp

Me too. The only time I am allowed to upgrade a trip booked by my employer is at check-in if a TOD is available.

StuckinITH

Past week (April 2018),
ORD-AUS S Fare $359 upgrade offer at OLCI. Declined. 3 First Class seats disappeared 2 hours before the flight. I was #2 on upgrade list. Nobody upgraded at gate. Upgrade list was 14 long.
AUS-ORD Q fare $219 upgrade offer at OLCI. Declined. 2 First Class seats disappeared 2 hours before the flight. I was #1 on upgrade list. Nobody upgraded at gate. Upgrade list was 23 long.

At these prices, the upgrades would have resulted in the same price for First Class as if I had booked the ticket in First Class on my departure day from ORD. I did not check if the offers were better 2 hours before departure from each airport since I had a bulkhead row aisle in one direction and an exit row aisle in the other direction.

exerda

4/4 - FRA-IAD W fare (upgraded to J with GPU), on 2 separate itins (I had paid for C on the outbound on my ticket, and used GPUs both directions for my wife).

At OLCI offered an upgrade to GF for $1129 (declined). My wife (1K), on a less-expensive overall ticket but identical W fare on this leg, was offered OLCI upgrade to GF for $959 (declined). My only guess as to the discrepancy has to do with how we were rebooked after misconnecting the day before: the 1K agent was able to move mine over in R without issue, but had to force my wife's into PN. Still not sure why that would affect the price of an upgrade offer, but it's the only difference I can find.

GF appeared pretty empty on the seatmap and only 1 pax at that time on the list (a NRSA based on appearing on both GF and J lists). J went out almost full (2 empty seats that I saw, probably from misconnects as we'd checked in to within 2 with 4 on the upgrade list a couple of hours before the flight), unlike the prior day we'd been scheduled to fly--Tuesday's J cabin was only half full based on # booked and the fact there were several misconnects, too.