diburning

Just to confirm, we're referring to TOD as "Tens of Dollars", and not "Time of Departure" right? That was the original abbreviation which has since been muddled somewhat.

findark

I have long since interpreted it as "time of departure", or more specifically the offered generated by United which is online/kiosk (maybe an agent) only, available only at purchase and check-in, and which is independent of your current cost basis in the ticket.

diburning

There used to be two threads, one for "tens of dollars" and a general upsell thread. Once real TODs became rare, I think one year the two threads were combined. TOD is still listed as Tens of Dollars on the FT Glossary.

Anyhow, domestic offers are supposed to be distance based.

venomtrilogy

BOG-IAH red eye for later this week at $446 after being $2,000 at purchase.

This flight notes that it serves dinner. But it leaves at 1:15 a.m. That's going to annoy me when I'm just trying to get some sleep.

prometa

SFO-->ATL tomorrow. $1229 for an upgrade on a V fare. Was $479 earlier, then F went full, then two seats opened up. I wonder if going full and then F2 changed what fare classes were available.

Ericka

If planning to buy F for one leg, is it usually cheaper to purchase it as an add on at time of purchase than buying it outright?

jparrott

Watched someone get offered (and accept) $179 at the gate, 42 minutes before departure, for UA762 IAD-IAH. I was first on the list (F1 at that point), and of course never got an offer. Just another data point!

laxmillenial

These are offered at the gate? Is it because the passenger walked up to the agent? Because I don't see how the agents have time to go down a list and say "Hey Mr. Joe, come see me. I see you're in economy, would you like to sit in First for $179?"

threeoh

I think it's more Mr. Joe goes up to the podium and says "am I able to upgrade to First? How much would that cost?"

JMBResona

1/15

SFO-IAD $299 offered, accepted.
Apparently upsold to P

ExplorerWannabe

Never saw an upsell offer for my flight IAH-SYD on Jan 28 and I believe seat 8K was still vacant when we pushed away from the gate. The plane was lightly loaded -- lots of empty seats, even rows (I got hobo FC with seats 18A-C to myself) so there probably wasn't a GS or 1K trying to upgrade to the last seat in J.

jsloan

If you mean "one leg of a connection," then, almost certainly yes. Buying it outright would mean introducing a fare break at your connection city; buying the add-on from the pop-up menu post-purchase does not.

If you mean "the outbound of a round-trip" (or, of course, the return), then it's generally the same price, and you may as well go ahead and buy it up front. However, many people will price it both ways -- look at the first class price differential, then purchase the coach fare and check the upgrade price. If the outright purchase is cheaper, you can either call UA to get the cheaper price, or just cancel the economy trip and rebook in first. All UA tickets can be cancelled within 24 hours of purchase (assuming the flight hasn't departed by then .

jparrott

Ericka

FlyerTalker70

That being said, purchasing the buy up after purchase may not be the lowest price you'll pay especially when booking far enough in advance and certainly would represent what United would like to get rather than what they would actually offer. You can view these buy up offers by going to manage reservation on the UA website and clicking redeem upgrade to see what the current offer is. The buy up prices have a tendency of yo-yoing around as availability changes in the front cabin. It is also known that sometimes the upgrade offers given at check-in can significantly beat the buy-up options given prior to departure (i.e. BOS -> SFO in p.s. for $249). Sometimes you'll also earn extra milage if the ticket re-fares into P (i.e. double PQM) but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

In any event, your best bet is to set a an amount you're willing to pay for an upgrade before you go purchase your Y tickets and stick to that.

Hope that helps.

Safe Travels,

James