mduell

Actually finding cases where it's non-zero.

Artpen100

I use those I searches on EF, and find when one alerts me to I opening up, there has been PZ open up too (well, old R) as well, but as someone else noted, there could be PZ open up without I. So you really just have to keep checking on UA.com for PZ in expert mode to be sure. But the thing is I just don't have the time to check every day, so occasionally getting one of those I alerts (usually overnight) is a good prod to log on first thing and look.

findark

If there is I space, then there is PZ space also. However, the converse is very false: there is frequently PZ space but no I space. So this is not an efficient method for locating PZ space.

The only way is to search on ua.com with a lot of manual work.

WineCountryUA

While it has issues, the advance search mode " Upgrade type " will show some of the available options

narvik

Seat map display on united.com now shows "unavailable" for all seats in J when searching for fares trying to use a GPU.
I am pretty sure it used to show the up-to-date seat map before.
Is this new that it doesn't show the proper seat map?

With PZ=0 looking at the current seat map was my only indication whether it was even worth risking the W fare. I realize this isn't very accurate, but it's better than nothing.

This can be circumvented by going to https://www.cablepick.net/united, but it's a bit tedious.
(At 23 of 50 booked a few weeks out, I usually risk it for my particular itinerary, in this case.)

Current display on united.com when trying to use GPU:



Cablepick/united.com Flight Status image for same flight:

narvik

I am surprised this isn't bothering other folk on here. It is driving me NUTS!!!

cfischer

no and why does it matter? Seat map is no indication how much the flight is booked anyway ... so why bother?

narvik

The seatmap has been a good guide for me in the past, and contributes to my near 100% prediction-success of GPU clearance.
Removing the J seatmap by United during searches just seems so punitive, and just adds undue effort to the booking process.

WineCountryUA

So to make sure I understand this, you are using the advance search option "Upgrade Type - GPU" and on flights with PZ0, it shows the only bookable option which is economy, not the business cabin. Yes I think that is a change but I can see the logic behind UA do that. There were probably on a handful of people using it for the reason you were and it was likely confusing many more thinking they could select those business seats.

But if you take off that GPU the multi-cabin seatmaps do show, correct? So if you GPU option (a flaky option with many known flaws) and nothing hits, you can remove that option and see what you want?? extra step yes but still faster than cablepick approach.

As you might sense, I have never been a fan of the GPU search -- its flaws have been too numerous.

narvik

Aye, that is exactly the issue. It's definitely new, well, some months old now. I guess I see that logic, yes, despite it being unhelpful to me!

Very true. Might resort to this approach from now on. Cheers.


Well, what other options are there?
I have just about given up on pure PZ availability searches. At least 50% of my GPU usage is on flights where seatmap load in J is the crucial criteria in making the booking.

cfischer

good for you ... just that ... it is generally a poor guide. My flight on Tuesday shows 6 open seats but is J1 ... plenty of Y ... so no oversell.

narvik

Completely understand, and I am not saying that my "system" works universally. Luckily for my usual flights it's been an extremely reliable predictor though. As in the example I mentioned, a 777-200 (77Y) with 23 of 50 booked a few weeks out on EWR_PEK; I have no problem booking a W fare and wait-listing a GPU. Has not failed me.......YET....

Kacee

It actually tends to be a very accurate indicator on Polaris (long-haul) flights, except for ex-China, where for some reason pax tend not to pick seats in advance.
I'll also use the seat map to get a quick sense of how well the flight is sold. I will check the cablepick tool for confirmation. cablepick.net
As noted, it's only greyed if you're searching using the upgrade search tool. For regular searches, it's still there.
This is the main point here from my perspective. I don't trust the tool to give accurate results and don't use it.

narvik

What I neglected to mention earlier is that Cablepick's sourced 'Flight Status & Information' page also displays how many seats are booked:

======
United PolarisSM business Upgrade Standby List:
United PolarisSM business: 50 Booked: 45 Checked In: 0
======

On this flight the seatmap shows 11 seats empty, and flight status shows 45 of 50 booked. With some monitoring over the week before the flight, with these data-points, my prediction rate is almost 100% of whether the GPU will clear or not.
I say almost, because with flights such as in this example it is a tad difficult, and I may end up #1 on the upgrade list and fly in E+!

(Note: this is already a flight I changed the dates for. Originally confirmed in J with cleared GPU at booking. So far, ALL of my flights where the GPU ultimately did not clear were on flights where I had to ad hoc change dates shortly beforehand.)

iapetus

I can't believe that I'm only now finding out about this ...