Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This is an archive thread, the active thread is
[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight
Related thread - Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively
[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight
Related thread - Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively
[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight {Archive}
#4216
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,186
By calling and getting it pushed through, you may have jumped ahead of someone else on the list. However, because PZ was open, anybody could have applied a GPU (or even a miles + copay) upgrade, and jumped ahed of you, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
Enjoy your trip!
#4217
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 19
I haven't waitlisted yet since I'm currently on an economy award. Trying to be flexible before I buy the fare, but also thinking I should buy the W fare @ $630 and waitlist since the flight is 6 weeks out, the price will probably go up?
#4218
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
https://cablepick.net/united allows you to get the UA flight status page for any future flight.
#4219
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,580
#4220
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,359
It relies on UA's site allowing the flight parameters to be passed in the URL, so it's possible to make the links yourself, but I agree the site is nice convenience.
edit: beat to the punch! Thanks to WineCountryUA for the link.
#4221
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,300
If you have a specific flight in mind and want to upgrade, the better strategy these days is to buy and waitlist. UA has been clearing waitlists lately without opening PZ (or at least not for any longer than it takes to clear pax off the waitlist).
#4222
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: SBA
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 939
My flight is now on week away, from EWR to LAS on 7/9/19 on UA 1794. (We both have separate reservations booked in economy (T).)
Can anyone advise on if you believe mileage upgrade seats from economy to first will open in the next few days for this flight? Currently, for mileage plus copay it is waitlist only.
Thanks for the help.
Can anyone advise on if you believe mileage upgrade seats from economy to first will open in the next few days for this flight? Currently, for mileage plus copay it is waitlist only.
Thanks for the help.
Last edited by tstauck; Jul 3, 2019 at 3:43 pm Reason: typo
#4224
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: United currently plat
Posts: 203
Aloha, I requested a Mileage Upgrade Award for the following:
7/4 UA 1575 HNL-SFO 11:07 pm
7/5 UA 295 SFO-EWR 8:15 am
both are waitlisted, i am a *S...
Ive had the recent luck of getting a complimentary upgrade on my last two LAX-HNL, incredibly surprising and completely unrelated to this question.
Id be really bummed if my upgrade into SFO cleared, wasting my miles on a red eye on a 739..
7/4 UA 1575 HNL-SFO 11:07 pm
7/5 UA 295 SFO-EWR 8:15 am
both are waitlisted, i am a *S...
Ive had the recent luck of getting a complimentary upgrade on my last two LAX-HNL, incredibly surprising and completely unrelated to this question.
Id be really bummed if my upgrade into SFO cleared, wasting my miles on a red eye on a 739..
Im feeling blessed..
#4225
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 22
Just curious, what incentive do airlines have to give away any free business/first class upgrades at all as opposed to just ratcheting down the cost until every seat is purchased?
#4226
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,359
One option: possibly get people to bump their spending up to $15k PQD from something appreciably less than that.
#4227
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,186
A second reason to provide upgrades to frequent travelers is to try to provide an additional incentive to book UA even when all else is equal or even when UA is at a disadvantage in terms of convenience, fare, or whatnot.
#4228
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,324
And the golden goose here is to cultivate customers who don't even bother to check competing prices when they book. This is admittedly harder now that you can just load up your favorite search engine to see side-by-side.
#4229
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan 50K
Posts: 23
how often to check for PZ space?
Recall the context: My wife and I will be doing YVR-SFO-FRA-TXL 23 Sept with SFO-FRA in R (Prem Econ) and I've applied GPUs to our tickets. How proactive should I be about looking for PZ space on the SFO-FRA leg to be released between now and 23 Sept? I.e., can I rely on United's sweeps to automatically upgrade us if PZ is released, or should I manually monitor it from time to time? If the answer is "monitor", then when should I start, and how often should I monitor it?
#4230
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,324
Thanks to Kacee, jsloan, and fumje for helpful answers.
Recall the context: My wife and I will be doing YVR-SFO-FRA-TXL 23 Sept with SFO-FRA in R (Prem Econ) and I've applied GPUs to our tickets. How proactive should I be about looking for PZ space on the SFO-FRA leg to be released between now and 23 Sept? I.e., can I rely on United's sweeps to automatically upgrade us if PZ is released, or should I manually monitor it from time to time? If the answer is "monitor", then when should I start, and how often should I monitor it?
Recall the context: My wife and I will be doing YVR-SFO-FRA-TXL 23 Sept with SFO-FRA in R (Prem Econ) and I've applied GPUs to our tickets. How proactive should I be about looking for PZ space on the SFO-FRA leg to be released between now and 23 Sept? I.e., can I rely on United's sweeps to automatically upgrade us if PZ is released, or should I manually monitor it from time to time? If the answer is "monitor", then when should I start, and how often should I monitor it?