lakid

So I just got off the phone twice with GS reservations as I thought it was a mistake I also spoke to GS customer service and they confirmed as of 7/21 within 72Hrs NO SAVER COMPANION awards in same class of service if <3 for sale,(my itinerary is international I did not ask re domestic) so I guess not only using GPU/RPU within 72 Hrs that are gone mentioned upthread ,now companion is also gone, to me this is a very big deal as my flights are almost always last minute the GS CSR couldn't explain why there was no correspondence and promised someone from senior management will call me keep you guys posted

getagb

That benefit is the main reason I’m interested in GS this year… can anyone else verify if this is gone?

Plane-is-home

Remember the email that promised no cuts to the GS program?
Right; now the GS check in in FRA is gone too. In addition they cut down to one counter for all Polaris and 1K.
At least LH FC Lounge Access still works

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I'm heading to HKG early next month. Outbound trying AA in F from LAX to HKG and back via TPE on BR in C to SFO. Too many "no" from GS and e-mail that does not get answered w flight now flown. HUCA is getting old. Getting bored with GS. Time to fly.

manstein58

Sad show at FRA check in these days

JLiebo92

Looking to go to Europe and the Middle East with the family (4 people total). Has anyone had success with buying two premium fares and then subsequently having an agent open up 2 upgrades to Polaris when PN is not available either on a Y Revenue Ticket or XN/YN Award Ticket? Any one have any workarounds for this? Trying to get all 4 of us into Polaris as economically as possible.

DasKitty

Wife is GS and we've tried this before with our family, and the answer is uniformly a NO. Now, if we were both GS, that would be a different story, but as with the rules using GPU's on award tickets (the award tickets must be booked with the GS member's miles), it seems UA is - understandably - strict on this point.

What we tend to do is book one kid with my wife in biz using the companion saver biz benefit and then book the other 2 in economy with GPU's. Worst case you can switch halfway through the flight or something if the upgrades don't clear.

Remember that all the GS benefits only apply on UA metal, so you may want to stick to destinations that UA reaches.

Chukiechz

is there an update to this new policy? Is the 24 hour CPU gone?

meducate

I believe that this is now the policy, but that upgrades may be able to be cleared if there are more than 2 seats available in the business (or first) cabin.

DENflyer3

On Companion Upgrades. I just bought a J fare to London for next year. When I went to book the companion, the agent told me that I had to book them into W or higher to use a GPU, but that it was policy to open up PN for that use. I thought they would open up PN for any fare.

Am I not correct on that?

findark

They will "open PN for any fare" - but forced PN space is not useful for a fare which is ineligible for GPU. You can GPU an XN or W+ ticket, or miles+cash a lower fare class.

MSY-MSP

Well I have to say yesterday was a day that GS really came through. Had a horrible crew from hkg to sfo in Polaris. So bad that I am writing an email to the cs address. But that isn't where gs came through for me.

My flight from SFO to ORD was delayed such that I was scheduled to miss my ORD to RST connection. Which was the last flight of the day. I got a call from GS in SFO letting me know that they would rebook me to MSP if I wanted and then have a car take me down to RST. They also said they would keep me on the RST flight as well. I thought that was a nice gesture.

Landed in ORD 20 minutes after my RST flight was supposed to leave. Have a car waiting for me to go from C10 to F25. The driver had stayed on longer to make sure that I didn't have to run to the flight. Really great service.

Though the the best part was another gs on the flight tried to push me out of the way with a dykwia moment. He wanted a car to go from C10 to C18 and said he deserved over me. Litterally said "He doesn't look like a GS. Look how he is dressed". As I am dressed in a polo, pants and just have a backpack. The rep simply said to this guy. "I am sorry sir but you will have to walk 6 gates. This gentleman has a connection in 15 minutes from the F gates. This service is not guaranteed." The guy proceeds to say something about calling corporate over this. But the rep basically shook his head. Thought it was well handled.

jjmoore

If you are booked into J, C, D, Z, or P on an int'l flight, I believe the options for the companion booking are:

1) W or higher fare class + GPU confirmed immediately into PN by GS agent
2) GS agent will automatically open IN space for a saver business class award
3) If XN is available, you can book that and use a GPU into PN with GS agent
4) If T is available, GS agent can convert to XN, and then you can apply GPU - GS agent will then upgrade into PN

Not sure, but I believe that the rules have recently changed that require a certain # of seats in the upgrade cabin to be available in order to do the companion upgrade. It used to be possible even if only 1 seat remained. Could someone with more experience in this matter please quote my post?

IAH_1K

I have been able to call GS and get upgraded until 3hrs before a flight very regularly if there is space available. Usually am first on upgrade list and have never had any issues. Most recent one was on Monday. So yesterday I was flying out of IAH and saw first was not booked full around 18-19hrs before departure. Called GS. Was told that there was no seat available so I could not be upgraded and then asked me to hold - after coming back on the horn she said there need to be 3 seats available to upgrade. HUCA. Second GS agent tells me that there was a new policy that came out last week and they are not upgrading folks within the 24hr mark. HUCA. Third GS did a lot of typing and just said it's under airport control and she can't manually upgrade me.
Is this a new reduction in GS benefits?

villox

It's been reported a few times in this thread. It appears that the new policy requires at least 3 seats to be available (in other words, there must be 2 seats remaining after you are upgraded), for either T-72 if using an instrument or T-24 for a CPU.

Some agents have interpreted the new policy to mean no upgrades within 24 hours at all, but since we don't have access to the memo or policy we can't be sure. So if there are at least 3 seats and you can't get them to push, your best bet is to HUACA.