Buy-up muck up: charged for offer but connecting flight upgraded seat gone.
 

Flying SMF-DEN-EWR later this week, and was offered an immediate buy-up on both legs for $210. No brainer, I'll take it thanks.

In the 3 minutes it took to complete the transaction, the SMF-DEN seat was gone (there was only 1 avail), but I was charged the full buy-up amount and reticketed in Y on that leg. Res now shows "CPU requested" and of course, since buy-up are non-refundable, I'm playing the waiting game.

Anyone had this happen before? I searched the buy-up thread but didn't see any experiences.

Did you get a screen shot of the offer to confirm that it was, indeed, both legs?

Seems like an edge case, and I would imagine that you could get the offer refunded if you called.

However, based on the price point and the fact that the ticket was reissued, sounds like this actually re-fared your ticket. In theory, you should be able to re-confirm F space on the SMF-DEN leg whenever your booking code is available.

2 weeks ago YYC-IAH-GIG.........buy up both segments for $425 US plus miles. J is about 50% open. In the past you always get confirmed and taken to seat selection ASAP and that is that.

I pick my J seats to IAH and am confirmed but cannot do so from IAH to GIG.......site says upgrade requested.......but they took my money and miles for everything........leaving me in what is now a very pricy E+ seat.

So I phone and am told I can downgrade at YYC on check in if I want and it will all get reversed (as opposed to no refunds) ..........otherwise it's the waiting game in IAH for the seat that really matters.

Sounds like you got bit by a bug in their system with this new upgrade policy change.

Never again will I buy up.Gonna get a vacuum or a toaster next time I have miles to burn (sarc).

This sounds like a different situation than the OP. It sounds like you did a Cash + Miles upgrade and it cleared the first leg but did not clear the second leg (while the OP took a pure cash buy-up offer after purchase). Per the terms of UA cash and miles upgrade, you are entitled to a full refund if the IAH - GIG portion never clears, even if you ride in F for the YYC - IAH leg. Basically if you do an MUA upgrade and it doesn't clear into Polaris for the international premium leg, it's not considered used even if you cleared on the connecting domestic leg.

It's actually one of the few consumer friendly policies UA has:

However, if your travel includes requested upgrades to United PolarisSM business class or United Polaris first class, and none of the international premium segments are upgraded, then your MileagePlus Upgrade Award will not be considered used, even if you are upgraded to United First® or United Business® on another segment. In these instances, we will fully redeposit your miles and co-pay. When applicable, these refunds will occur automatically seven to 10 days after travel.

If you don't clear IAH - GIG you'll eventually get your points and money back and have gotten a free F upgrade from YYC.

Link: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...rade-faqs.aspx

I don't know, that is why I posted it, because it never happened to me before.

Thanks for the heads up, I appreciate that, still gonna get me a fancy new kitchen appliance instead though, next time around. I'd rather just pay for J and don't sweat it anymore.

I had this happen to me once. Flying home BCN-IAD-PDX and went for a buy-up option and was definite that it was both legs. When I checked the new itinerary only the international portion was upgraded to J, and the IAD-PDX remained in economy. I didn't bother to complain because I was skipping that leg and flying IAD-PDX on a separate one way ticket the next day, which incidentally was already booked for domestic first.

I didn't. However, as findark notes below, United isn't disputing what they sold me, since it's clear that the first flight was rebooked into Y. They just... don't have the F seat to put me in!

You're exactly right. As a 1K on a now-Y fare, if a seat opens up, I should be able to confirm immediately, and 1K desk assured me that would happen. However, they won't issue a refund if the F space doesn't open up.

Since the muck-up happened when you purchased the ticket, why didn't you just cancel, get your refund, then book again?

Note that you should actually have a fare in whatever booking code your DEN-EWR booked into. A 1K upgrade from Y needs PN space, but you actually only need whatever that booking code is (probably P or Z?). This will take an agent and a bit of arguing though.

Would YYC-IAH in F not count as an "international premium segment"? If it IS an international premium segment, wouldn't the flyer NOT be entitled to a refund if he flies the first leg and fails to hit the upgrade for IAH-GIG, since the policy only allows for a refund if none of the international premium segments are upgraded?

I think the word "Polaris" was the difference here. The first segment is on a 737 or Airbus.

Glad I didn't find out thought........I had a Zopiclone pill with me just in case.

I was told the opposite for a miles+cash upgrade; if one segment clears (even if it's a short segment) you're screwed. No refund. Mine would have been JAX-IAH IAH-HNL. If I had included the JAX-IAH portion on my request and it had cleared (the IAH-HNL did not clear) I would have been charged the $425 cash and I think 40,000 miles for a crappy short-segment upgrade. And UA's attitude would have been too bad, too sad, you got an upgrade.

The distinction is whether the upgrade request includes a Polaris marketed segment. If so, then at least one Polaris segment must be confirmed for the upgrade to be considered used.

It was actually not at purchase, surprisingly! I was managing the reservation and got the offer.

Good point! To close the loop, on check-in, I actually ended up SDC my itinerary. I'm #1 on the upgrade list on the 1st leg w/the message "class change requested" - different from the usual "upgrade requested." (The 2nd leg confirmed into F.)

I'm going to call this one a lesson learned, and take a screen shot before I do any more buy-ups.