Feb 22, 2017, 12:57 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Active thread Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
Waitilisting for awards
Click for the current rules from United
Member experiences:
At the airport if you have not yet cleared:
Note: The correct priority term here may in fact be a code that is one of WAI, WBI, WCI, or WDI depending on status. The is per GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
Note: PR-1 status is given to those who "paid" the requisite miles for an upgraded seat (i.e. biz) when only the non-upgraded space (i.e. coach) was available. The PR-1 status is to clue the system (and agents) in so that it is clear that you have been "displaced." (NOTE: once you have obtained PR-1 status, should there be any change to your ticket, e.g., an involuntary reroute by UA due to missing a connection, the PR-1 status will most likely get dropped and you must have it reattached (esp. before any UGs are given to others).
Unfortunately at T-24, many GAs do not get this concept. Use the above to plead your case but be prepared to be unsatisfied. One method that can get you to a higher level of understanding is the UC. Their staff seem to not only have a better understanding of the issues, but they can contact the gate and exert some influence on the less informed GAs, AND they seem to have more of an interest in helping PAX. If you can get into the UC, it will be worth your while.
**Note: If you get the UG on the long haul, the higher level of award miles you are using (like with the GPU) are considered used up regardless of the short haul. You will not be charged the lower level # of miles (i.e. refunded the diff between the lower level and the higher level you paid in advance), rather the higher level award miles will be considered spent. That is the risk you take when you do Plan B.
Waitilisting for awards
Click for the current rules from United
From the above link:You may redeem miles for travel in United Global First, United First, United Business or United BusinessFirst, even if the space is not available. In these cases, United Economy in the same award type must be confirmed, and the front cabin will be waitlisted. If the courtesy waitlist does not clear, it will expire 24 hours before itinerary departure, and you will automatically be added to the airport upgrade standby list upon check-in. In these cases, you will be confirmed on a space-available basis by a United airport representative at the gate once the flight has closed for check-in. For United BusinessFirst and United Business travel awards, the difference in miles will be refunded when the United BusinessFirst or United Business class segment of the trip could not be confirmed. Waitlist requests may only be made over the phone with your local United Customer Contact Center.
- You must have a confirmed segment to wait list for different cabin and/or a different flight.
- Can only waitlist for UA/UX operated flight, cannot waitlist for partner flights. Can waitlist for UA/UX flights on a mixed itin.
- Maximum number of WL segments in a PNR is 2.
- When confirmed segment is on a partner, you can waitlist for UA operated alternative.A report of being refused waitlisting for Economy{mixed reports - need further confirmation/clarification}.
At the airport if you have not yet cleared:
Note: The correct priority term here may in fact be a code that is one of WAI, WBI, WCI, or WDI depending on status. The is per GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
The agent should give you “PR-1 status” which gives you top-priority status and moves you to the very top of the upgrade standby list, ahead of employees and everyone else trying to upgrade with miles+cash. If one agent won’t put you on the list as a displaced Business class passenger with PR-1 status then find another one who will. With this status the odds of you getting a business class are very high if there are still open seats (or if anybody no-shows).
If the agents in the airport are all clueless you should direct them to look
up “gg onestandby” in their system (they’ll know exactly what this is)
and look around lines 85-89 which spell out the details of the procedure for
this award.
If the agents in the airport are all clueless you should direct them to look
up “gg onestandby” in their system (they’ll know exactly what this is)
and look around lines 85-89 which spell out the details of the procedure for
this award.
Unfortunately at T-24, many GAs do not get this concept. Use the above to plead your case but be prepared to be unsatisfied. One method that can get you to a higher level of understanding is the UC. Their staff seem to not only have a better understanding of the issues, but they can contact the gate and exert some influence on the less informed GAs, AND they seem to have more of an interest in helping PAX. If you can get into the UC, it will be worth your while.
**Note: If you get the UG on the long haul, the higher level of award miles you are using (like with the GPU) are considered used up regardless of the short haul. You will not be charged the lower level # of miles (i.e. refunded the diff between the lower level and the higher level you paid in advance), rather the higher level award miles will be considered spent. That is the risk you take when you do Plan B.
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues [ARCHIVE]
Feb 20, 2017, 8:13 pm
#1531
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 43
You should be Priority 1 at T-24. BUT...
Many others have been jilted out of an upgrade due to poor agents' understandings at the gate. Read up (as in, read the above posts), be prepared! Bring as much documentation as you can regarding P1 status, etc. If you can, get to the UC at T-24 (whenever you can of course, sooner is better) and ask those agents to help. Even if everything is looking ok at the gate, ask them to verify PR1 status, #1 on waitlist, etc. PR1 means you are a displaced pax, you have paid for a higher level of service (with miles) and DESERVE priority over all others.
Good news is that SFO agents are quite well-versed in UA upgrades (well, many agents there are; at least you are not dealing w "UA" staff in FRA where it gets dicey arguing w them).
Many others have been jilted out of an upgrade due to poor agents' understandings at the gate. Read up (as in, read the above posts), be prepared! Bring as much documentation as you can regarding P1 status, etc. If you can, get to the UC at T-24 (whenever you can of course, sooner is better) and ask those agents to help. Even if everything is looking ok at the gate, ask them to verify PR1 status, #1 on waitlist, etc. PR1 means you are a displaced pax, you have paid for a higher level of service (with miles) and DESERVE priority over all others.
Good news is that SFO agents are quite well-versed in UA upgrades (well, many agents there are; at least you are not dealing w "UA" staff in FRA where it gets dicey arguing w them).
While it's traditionally been recommend to try to confirm PR1 status, that's not technically correct and I think often leads to unnecessary push back. According to United's internal procedures (as found in my post linked to above), waitlisted pax should technically be placed on standby after PR1 (displaced pax), but before PR2 (upgrade pax). So it's a kind of PR1.5, though I don't think anyone at United calls it that.
In practice, it seems you often get put at the bottom of the standby list unless you can get an agent who understands what's going on and who's willing to help you. My advice would be to confirm with the agent that you're on standby above everyone on the PR2 list. You can point to the rules if necessary ("gg onestandby" lines 54 and 55) which say "Standby code places customers on the standby list after PR1 and before PR2." If you can get an agent to help you do this, you're 95% of the way there, since you're far most likely to lose your seat to the PR2 list.
Feb 20, 2017, 10:08 pm
#1532
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 9
Thank you both!
One last question...
If I don't get cleared at all and need to request a refund. Can I call after I get back from my trip (2 weeks later) or is this something that I need to do ASAP? I am assuming that I may need to wait until they start boarding and that may not be enough time to have United refund my miles when I'm about to board.
One last question...
If I don't get cleared at all and need to request a refund. Can I call after I get back from my trip (2 weeks later) or is this something that I need to do ASAP? I am assuming that I may need to wait until they start boarding and that may not be enough time to have United refund my miles when I'm about to board.
Feb 20, 2017, 11:13 pm
#1533
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,414
I posted the latest info on this a few weeks back: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27753011-post1439.html. The wiki on this thread still needs to be updated.
If I don't get cleared at all and need to request a refund. Can I call after I get back from my trip (2 weeks later) or is this something that I need to do ASAP? I am assuming that I may need to wait until they start boarding and that may not be enough time to have United refund my miles when I'm about to board.
Feb 21, 2017, 11:30 am
#1534
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 519
Today I booked BOM-YYZ-IAD-MCI in mixed cabins and paid 80k points. I found BOM-YYZ availability in business in air canada but other two segments in UA economy. Is it possible to upgrade (for free) to business when its available?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 21, 2017 at 3:53 pm Reason: merged into exisiting thread
Feb 21, 2017, 3:53 pm
#1536
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
Yes, you can "waitlist" for premium cabin on UA operated flights if this is UA MP award. You need to call to do this. More in this thread's wiki.
Feb 21, 2017, 4:56 pm
#1537
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 43
I've had the experience of no change fee being requested, as well as the agent insisting that a change fee was due. In the latter case, I got it waived by arguing that the "change" to my itinerary was actually made back when I requested the waitlist. But now that it cleared, it should be just like when a waitlist clears for a cabin change, i.e. no change fee.
Does United normally consider an itinerary change that was previously requested and waitlisted subject to a change fee when you call in to confirm it?
Feb 21, 2017, 6:37 pm
#1539
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
Feb 22, 2017, 11:22 am
#1540
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: United GS, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 109
Interesting excuse
Had an interesting interaction with a 1k agent a few days ago. I had 2 upcoming international segments waitlisted for IN, but changed my reservation online to pickup an IN fare a day earlier on the return leg. This of course cleared out my IN waitlist for the outbound leg.
Routing all on UAL metal - this is before the AKL route hold in mid April (4 days in AKL, 3 days in SYD, return to US)
SAT > SFO > AKL > [Excursionist perk] SYD (ANZ) > SFO > IAH > SAT
I called the 1k desk and asked the agent, she got confused and put me on hold. When she came back on she said her supervisor told her that she couldn't do it because one of my segments was AKL -> SYD on ANZ, if it was UAL metal she could do it. I asked how it was waitlisted before, she said "they didn't do it right".
I HUCA the next morning, and got a very helpful 1k agent who worked with the appropriate person (not sure which desk she worked with) who manually added me to the waitlist and took the requisite miles out of my account to cover for it.
Lesson learned - keep trying.
Routing all on UAL metal - this is before the AKL route hold in mid April (4 days in AKL, 3 days in SYD, return to US)
SAT > SFO > AKL > [Excursionist perk] SYD (ANZ) > SFO > IAH > SAT
I called the 1k desk and asked the agent, she got confused and put me on hold. When she came back on she said her supervisor told her that she couldn't do it because one of my segments was AKL -> SYD on ANZ, if it was UAL metal she could do it. I asked how it was waitlisted before, she said "they didn't do it right".
I HUCA the next morning, and got a very helpful 1k agent who worked with the appropriate person (not sure which desk she worked with) who manually added me to the waitlist and took the requisite miles out of my account to cover for it.
Lesson learned - keep trying.
Feb 22, 2017, 1:08 pm
#1541
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,854
Have archived older posts in this thread, the active thread is http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ns-issues.html. Links placed in the Wikis for reference.
WineCountryUA
UA coModerator
WineCountryUA
UA coModerator
Feb 22, 2017, 3:50 pm
#1542
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: ASHBURN,VA,USA
Programs: UA 1K3MM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium , Hertz PC
Posts: 405
waitlisting polaris first and polaris business on same flight ...
Has anyone been successfull recently waitlisting First -AND- Business on the same flight (UA metal) as the wiki suggest 2 WL per PNR is allowed?
reading the united rules I am not seeing any such restriction on waitlisting ... (mind you the rules also dont say anything about max 2 WL per PNR ..._
When I call UA it seems that they can only add a 2nd waitlist if it is a different flight/segment ..( for example UA fight 989 IAD-FRA econ saver waitlisted for UA 989 business saver and UA 932 IAD FRA first saver )
Thanks !
Member experiences:
1 You must have a confirmed segment to wait list for different cabin and/or a different flight.
2 Can only waitlist for UA/UX operated flight, cannot waitlist for partner flights. Can waitlist for UA/UX flights on a mixed itin.
3 Maximum number of WL segments in a PNR is 2.
4 When confirmed segment is on a partner, you can waitlist for UA operated alternative.
1 You must have a confirmed segment to wait list for different cabin and/or a different flight.
2 Can only waitlist for UA/UX operated flight, cannot waitlist for partner flights. Can waitlist for UA/UX flights on a mixed itin.
3 Maximum number of WL segments in a PNR is 2.
4 When confirmed segment is on a partner, you can waitlist for UA operated alternative.
When I call UA it seems that they can only add a 2nd waitlist if it is a different flight/segment ..( for example UA fight 989 IAD-FRA econ saver waitlisted for UA 989 business saver and UA 932 IAD FRA first saver )
Thanks !
Feb 22, 2017, 4:33 pm
#1543
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,023
Not all rules are published for you to see. For example, you can't put a baby in an overhead compartment.
I'm not clear what you're trying to do. You have a coach ticket and you want to waitlist for Polaris Business and Polaris First? I'm pretty sure the answer is that UA's system cannot store two cabin waitlist requests on one flight.
Feb 22, 2017, 5:20 pm
#1544
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 519
Thanks.
Feb 22, 2017, 5:24 pm
#1545
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,023
If you get it, UA will notify you. There is no "priority waitlist", but there is a "prioritized" waitlist, which clears based on status, then fare class, then time of request.