nomad420

Ouch, I have seen many things happen as a sat on an RPU upgrade only to see it not clear but this is really irritating.

tcp1

CO policy? Ok, so that's not relevant - not in the slightest. What is the policy today from the current UA? I'm a regular DEN flier and I thought this was absolutely the norm; in fact, my understanding was upgrades at the gate cleared when they had no more buyers.

Has anyone actually gotten a response and a policy statement from 1kvoice other than platitudes and a few RDMs?

I have been #1 at DEN many many times with an open seat, and ended up staying in 21C with my Classic box.

WineCountryUA

UA Insider provided this statement, 5 years ago (-6 days), which even in practice was not implemented as stated but did clearly state cash offers will be made even if there are waitlisted elites.

Alternative link for those have trouble with the original link

physioprof

Seems like the more important question than whether they are offering these cash upgrades at the gate is for how much. If it's for an amount that is much less than the imputed value of a CPU or RPU, then it's a slap in the face to the elite on the upgrade list.

N104UA

So did you purchase the upgrade?

bocastephen

I remember that discussion, but my take-away from the discussion as a whole, and not from that specific post, was fare difference offers would be made regardless of Elite vs seats, and everyone should see an offer based on the difference between their ticketed fare and the lowest F-eligible fare available at the time of the offer (this process is still broken, so many years later).

I recall from one of these discussions with COInsider, that segment fee upgrades - meaning an upgrade cost calculated by some arbitrary hocus pocus recipe hidden in Shares - should not be offered when Elites>F Seats.

Of course the difference between the two is hard to tell as that $50 number could be either a fare difference or a segment fee, but it's hard to tell given how fares can be "suddenly" changed for a flight around check-in time.

What is obvious to me, is a GA doing a carnival barker routine for upgrades is using a segment fee and not a fare difference, thus if Elites>F seats, it should not be done. For years we had discussions that paralleled the far more transparent approach taken by Delta where people could put a deposit down on an upgrade, but it would only clear at the gate if enough F seats remained open after the Medallion list was cleared.

If the policy has changed, I think this is a good opportunity for the OP to confirm it via a discussion with 1KVoice.

tcp1

I'm not sure if it needs much more confirmation than real life - I fly DEN and IAD weekly; both offer TODs (well, usually $129/$159 P fare buy ups at T-24 and less - regardless of the fare purchased) consistently - even when half the plane is elites. The only difference is the GA is usually not involved.

My CPU and RPU clearance rate this year is roughly 1:10 what it was last year (I'd consistently clear on the red eyes eastbound - this year it's happened ONCE) - but I can almost always reliably buy up for $129 and get my useless instrument back.

WineCountryUA

Neither in the referenced post or other UA Insider post is such a caveat provided while acknowledgement of the "hocus pocus" approach is found -- and much contemporary evidence supported that and still does... the only difference nowadays there appears to be less of a negative elite differential. Given we are 5+ years in this action, it is hard to see an relevance or reliance in a predecessor organization's statement. If there every was any intent to follow such a policy, the time is long gone.

findark

In situations like this, I always have to wonder:

-Is F worth $159 extra to you?
-Were you unable to purchase F upfront or otherwise change your ticket at purchase?
-If not, it seems a little disingenuous to get angry about "kettles" buying "cheap" $159 TODs

Because you can purchase F outright for $159 more than Y on IAD/DEN. (An argument can be had whether $129 ~= $159 and whether the PQD/RDM difference matters).

bocastephen

Then we deserve full transparency with regards to the current policy and process.

tcp1

Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't. P fares aren't a constant thing IAD/DEN at booking in my experience at least, but they almost always are at check-in. And $129 is often worth it, but not at booking on UA.com when you get zero extra PQM/RDM.

Is P often available for $129/$159 at purchase date? Yes. Always? No. And sorry, when I book about 6 weeks out and attach an RPU to a flight with a completely empty front cabin, yeah, I'm a bit chuffed when it doesn't clear - but doesn't mean I won't upgrade for $129 when it looks like yet another instrument is going to end up useless.

We all know that the direct P/A/Z buy up often doesn't show up until the last minute. Heck, I had two 8-week RPU waitlisted flights last week showing $1700 buy ups until T-48 that dropped to $129 at T-24, after which F space dries up before T-22 at IAD/DEN.

chuck1

Happened the other evening at DEN flying to SEA. Numerous elites on upgrade list and 30 minutes prior to departure with boarding starting, gate agent is trying is announcing two seats for sale. I tweeted UA my complaint but no reply.

PushingTin

The thing is that the kettle goes from a E- seat to the front. For $129-159, that is pretty sweet, considering that E+ at time of booking might have cost them more. Bags, seat and meal and a s few drinks, you are getting pretty close to break even for a kettle.

What I'd like is a 'voucher' for the value of my status towards the F seat to level the playing field on TODs.

nomad420

I guess UA considers the "voucher" as being RPU/GPUs and we know what those are worth.....zero.

itsMoe

Update: I've gotten a response from United. This is insulting. They clearly didn't read my email. I have no idea where they get "checkin experience" from, since this is not what I asked about.

I've responded, once again re-stating my question.