Currently a UA Premier Platinum with a multi-city itinerary coming up in a few days. I was looking at the upgrade options and just had a question about one of the options (2 pictures below). With this option, it appears I'll be waitlisted for all three flights. Will I still be charged anything, cash and/or miles, if my MKE-DEN and/or DEN-LAX flight clear into UA First and then no upgrade clears for LAX-EWR? Or is the only stipulation of being charge anything is if I clear into Premium Economy (10k miles) or Polaris (17.5k + $225) on the LAX-EWR flight? I don't want to select this upgrade option and risk being charged any miles and/or cash if only the MKE-DEN segment clears. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks for your assistance!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a026960941.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ac6e6818c7.jpg

A slight indirect itin :D

You will be charge if any segment clears. Either the MKE-DEN or DEN-LAX clears and the LAX-EWR does not, you will be charges but no idea what you will be charged. I would hop the 10K but have not see this particular case.

As a follow-up on this, the single flight # is indeed causing issues.

I got an email yesterday saying, "Want to upgrade your trip to Los Angeles? Use your miles today!" and went to look... the itin already looked busted, with the 2 segments saying "CPU Requested" as if I'd never applied Plus Points, but also having 2 waitlisted PZ segments (so yes, it seemed aware of the upgrade). But the PHX-LAX segment, which was the one they emailed me about, was marked "Available" for a Plus Points upgrade (also a miles one), and I clicked to choose my seat. So far, so good.

But now, the itin shows the LAX-IAD segment twice, both "Waitlisted PZ," which seems wrong, and I can't pick a seat for it even in Y now. And it's got the dreaded "Call to get your ticket re-synced" error. Haven't had a chance to call yet, but I think the 1-stop, through flight # gremlin is definitely in play. I think picking the seat for PHX-LAX and confirming the upgrade for just that segment busted something for sure.

Two upgrade questions.

UA999 EWR -> BRU on a Monday
Currently booked in PE on an R fare. Yesterday I manually changed my computer time and saw 343/44 seats booked and I was number 3 on the upgrade list. I feel good about my odds.
J9
JN9
C8
D7
Z5
ZN5
P4
PN0
PZ0
IN0
I0
O5
ON5
A4
R2
RN0


UA135 ZRH -> EWR on a Saturday
I was offered a buy-up upgrade from PE to J for $674 and took it. Based on this I think I made the right call.

J7
JN7
C3
D0
Z0
ZN0
P0
PN0
PZ0
IN0
I0
O7
ON7
A6
R4
RN0

What are your questions? :)
My answers to your questions: 1) very likely to clear the upgrade and 2) a good move to take the buyup offer to Polaris.
Cheers.

Thanks! My questions were please confirm my prior assumptions :D

so i booked a NRT-SFO flight for 12/31 in Econ (U fare) $1900... should i bother re-booking in PE for $3500 to improve my chances to P? (lol also there was an immediate $300 upgrade to PE option, $6k+ for P)

i used PlusPoints and waitlisted for upgrades to Polaris and PE. but i guess it's still prob too far out from the flight to know my chances?

as of tonight 11/1
J9
JN9
C9
D9
Z9
ZN9
P9
PN0
PZ0
IN0
I0
O7
ON7
A4
R0
RN0
Y9
YN9
B9
M9
E9
U9
H9
HN9
Q9
V0
W0
S0
T0
L0
K0
G0
XN0
X0

Given the date of the flight, and secondarily the inventory currently, I would be optimistic. I would not buy up in any way.

I would take this in a heart beat. It greatly improves your Polaris upgrade chances and it provide a safety net if upgrade take not occur. While the chances look very good there is a lots of reason upgrades can go upside down.

If the chance for upgrade is very good, there is no way that I would exchange $300 for 10 PPs.

Cheap insurance getting guaranteed PremPlus on the chance, we have different risk profiles. Plus likely puts the nail on the coffin for the Polaris upgrade.

Well, the buyup money won't be refunded if OP changes flight before the trip. The upgrade from PremPlus to Polaris is not always a slam duck. See this post: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35713660-post1128.html

I recently failed as well but at least having the PP seat made the TATL "tolerable". In the reference post the buy-up to Polaris was $617, I would have pulled the trigger on that in a heart beat but alas I never saw anything near that number.

Yes, that is a factor, depends on your travel pattern.

Yes, but with the buyup you got PremPlus

My point was exactly this a "pretty good chance" is not a guarantee and the PremPlus buyup guarantees not cattle class economy. While some (much younger than I) are willing to rough it for 11+ hour flights in economy, I am not. And at $25 / hour upgrade, that is about as cheap as you are likely to get PremPlus.