CMShaffer07

My wife and I are flying MCI-ORD (and back) in two weeks. Right now when I log in to check our flight 27 of the 42 seats in Economy Plus are still open. Economy is also not quite full as 56 of 78 seats are occupied. I have a few questions about this upcoming trip of ours:


1) We don't have any status with United so I'm assuming any bump up to Economy Plus is not going to happen, even with enough seats for over half of the Economy passengers still open?


2) If there was a chance for a non status schmuck like me to get upgraded, how would I go about doing that? Is that something I would request at the gate? Can I request it online?


3) If non-status folks get selected for a bump, what is the criteria used to prioritize them? We've got T class tickets but we booked four months ago.


I think the best we can hope for is the third person in our row gets the bump and we can spread out, but a couple extra inches of legroom wouldn't be too bad either.

findark

The criteria for non-status pax getting free E+ or upgrades is in fact that opposite of what you're seeing. If there are more non-elite Economy tickets sold than there are E- seats, then people with no seat assignment may get assigned to E+ at check-in. Similarly, if the Economy cabin is oversold even after CPUing every elite on the plane* (and F is not full) they will bump non-status pax up to F. Not sure if they bother with an order or just do people with no seat assignment because it's easier.

If the flight is empty, UA is not going to move you up. As you mentioned, on a lightly booked flight just play for an empty middle. It makes Y much, much more bearable.


*Yes, this has actually happened.

tods27

E to E+ isn't actually an upgrade. If they fill the 78 E- seats and there are open E+ seats, they will put people in them at the gate regardless of status. If there are still E- seat open, the only way you'll get E+ is by paying. You can do that on the UA website. I have no idea how they determine who to put in E+ if E- is full, but I'm going to assume that it starts with the people who didn't have E- seat assignments yet. If you already have an E- seat assignment and have no status, there's approximately a 0% chance of being moved to E+

WineCountryUA

A couple of clairifications?

Can non-status get free E+ access? (note that is not called an upgrade)
Yes, but only if UA is overbooked in regular economy and generally only if you don't have a seat assignment.

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ll-happen.html

Generally UA will not provide free access to E+ just for asking. It just done when UA needs seats for booked passengers and regular E is full.

As far as an upgrade, from economy to a premium cabin, without status on a T fare. While one can never say never, the chances are essentially zero. First there are usually plenty of elites or those on higher fares, there will be few on the plane with a cheaper fare. Second, UA is very actively selling those upgrades at checkin, it is a significant revenue source and if they would provide them for free, that would negatively impact UA revenues.

So unless you wish to pay up, you will most likely be sitting where you booked.

CMShaffer07

Thanks for the insight. Sounds like with what is very likely to not be a full flight we'll be sticking where we're currently at. We booked early enough we got the first row of economy so at least we've got that on our side. No big deal missing out on 2" of legroom (unless we wanted to fork over $30 apiece to move up 2 rows) for a relatively short flight.

lpro1111

In 2003/04 my now wife, then girlfriend were coming back from Aruba to Newark. Neither of us had any status whatsoever. I asked the gate agent in Aruba if any upgrades were available and he winked and said he had 2 open seats and would give them to us. His stipulation was we needed to change our shoes. We were both wearing flip flops and I guess he wanted us to look a little more like we belonged in first. I will never forget that.

Seeing how hard an upgrade is to come by now as a 1K, its almost unimaginable. True story though.

iflyuaaa

i've worn flip flops in F 99.9% of the time. that seems absurd to change your shoes.

lpro1111

Agree but what was I going to do,argue?? We were glad to change in exchange for the upgrade

jr0ck

I was once upgraded as a courtesy on my birthday on a Continental Airlines flight with literally NO status whatsoever. But that was a different time Sigh, I miss the days of Continental. Best airline ever.

WineCountryUA

What may have happen 5, 10, 15 ... years ago is of little relevance to what could happen today. It is a different world for all the airlines, the past is the past.

EricH

2003 was before CPUs so it's possible that GAs had considerably more leeway to make upgrades. Today there are rules that must be obeyed.

Kacee

Yeah, before CPUs, it wasn't at all uncommon for the F cabin to go out with empty seats. I can recall occasionally being the only F passenger on lightly booked west coast flights.

kale73

On my first-ever (domestic) 787 flight, I used a mileage-upgrade to J to 'experience' the new lie-flat seats. It would have been an easy CPU. The J section was over half empty after all of the CPUs on the list had cleared. For whatever reason (Y oversold, standbys, etc.) J filled with late-boarding passengers just before the door closed. Many of them seemed quite surprised by the seats they had 'scored'.

764toHI

Sounds like NRSA passengers. These days I always have an expectation of a full F/J cabin on UA flights.

eng3

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...my-flight.html

I never quite understood how the priority works. My parents (silver and no status) have been upgraded from Y (on cheap or bulk tickets) to BF twice in a year.