SCWTDDS

I'm sure this has already been asked somewhere, but if I use points to buy a ticket (say, to Argentina), and the ticket is "X" class, is it possible to get a complimentary upgrade if I have platinum status? (I've never bought an award ticket before...only been with United for about 8 months.)

tacoma

I have a question about earning MileagePlus PQM on a LH ticket. I just made a reservation on the LH website for a trip from IAD to CPT via FRA, outbound in discounted premium economy (booking code N) and inbound in basic economy (booking code K). The chart on the mileage plus site indicates I should earn 100% PQM for miles flown in these booking classes. For award miles earned, the chart indicates I should earn 100% of the miles for the premium economy flights and 25% for the basic economy flights -- a total of about 12-13,000. But, the LH reservation indicates my mileage earning for the total trip will be roughly 5,000 miles, only about 25% of the total flown. I'm not that concerned about earning fewer award miles, but I do want to make sure I will earn the full 20,000 PQM's. Is there any way to verify my PQM earnings in advance of making the purchase on LH?

fumje

Welcome to flyertalk! If you have one of the MileagePlus-branded credit cards in your name, you will be eligible for CPU on award tickets. However, there are no flights to Argentina that can be upgraded by CPU.

And welcome to flyertalk to you too!

Don't worry about the summary LH gives you for award miles, etc. if you are crediting to UA.

This page states the determination for PQM and award miles:
https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/Mar...spx?ItemId=298

edit: looks like 100% PQM for N and K class, 100% and 25% award for N and K.

tacoma

Thanks for your reply. I have generally been buying UA tickets but wanted to try LH economy plus and I think the only way to book that class is directly on LH. I will need these PQM's to earn Platinum level for the coming year.

steveman518

LH doesn't have an "economy plus"-they have a true premium economy product

findark

You can get the ticket plated 016 by calling UA to book.. it's a somewhat involved process but if you are a US resident then it's a lot of PQD to give up.

This thread has more info.

Old Gold

I noticed something I hadn't seen before on the UA website notes for premier upgrades:

Premium cabin upgrades of any type are not allowed for Basic Economy (N) fares or Economy (first bag charge/no changes allowed) fares. This includes Complimentary Premier Upgrades

Another enhancement?

jsloan

These are the new TATL "Light" fares that were introduced about a month ago, in combination with LH and AC.

rinipiyan

I don't have any status on UA, but I booked a Y class award ticket and I was hoping to upgrade to a J class ticket. Would they typically waive the $125 change fee like AA does?

gaobest

jsloan

No, the change fee is typically charged for moving from Y to J on an award ticket.

In my experience, the "Electronic Support Desk" message means you really do have to call. It's never been exactly clear to me why it gets triggered, but I've never seen it go away on its own. Certainly, if it persists more than a day, you need to call.

GuardMusic

"No flames" please! We are planning IND-BCN in May 2019. Biz out/econ return. I've looked at all the carriers (and even departing out of ORD or Cincy instead) and find the fare difference to be inexplicable both across and within the carriers. I'm seeing anything from $2700 (AA) to $5000 (UA) for the same days and class of service. Our days are locked due to a cruise.

There is a suitable (not preferred) option on AA within our FIRM budget (the $2700). However, I'm curious if we should risk waiting to book in a few months? My preference would be UA due to having the most miles (no status) with them, but I'm also not happy with their 2+4+2 business option. (I flew it last year for $2800 and at the time thought it was fine - until I saw better hardware on other carriers.)

I have no insights as to whether rates will only increase (as I saw a couple of weeks ago at a rate of 30%!) or eventually lower? I'm a very risk-adverse person. Any insights are appreciated.

jsloan

Waiting always entails risk. However, UA rarely offers its best fares this far in advance. Its thinking is basically, "there will be plenty of time to offer discounts later if we need to do so." Typically, you'll see the best fares for mid-week travel, sometime between 3 weeks and 2 months in advance -- although some deep discount business class fares do require a 100- or 150- day advance purchase.

The 2-4-2 seating is being phased out internationally -- except that UA started using domestic 777s (with 2-4-2) on routes to some leisure European destinations, including BCN, this summer, and they may do so again next summer. Note that most UA 777s will be 10-across in coach by May.

Ultimately, $5K for a half-business, half-economy fare seems quite high, and I'd expect that it's more likely to go down than up. The bigger question -- and maybe one for the AA board -- is whether or not you can expect AA's fare to stick around if UA's doesn't drop to the price that you want. You might also ask how firm AA's schedules are and what their policies are for refunds in terms of a schedule change. On UA, you're quite likely to have a schedule change on anything that you purchase this far out, and if the times move by 2 hours or more, you can get a refund. If AA is similar, that would be a way for you to limit your downside risk: you could lock in AA, and then watch for a schedule change, which might give you the opportunity to switch to UA if their fares have come down.

Hope this helps.

frontenac551

I have some RPUs that I will not use so have offered them to family. In reading the rules about how I can apply them, I realise that they (the family member) needs to give me their PNR and I go into their reservation to apply the RPU. I am clearly not going to do anything malicious and I'm not inexperienced, but still feel really weird asking for their PNR and accessing their reservation. I could do it by phone (still need their PNR, but at least not touching anything myself), but still weird.

Repooc17

I was added as a standby pax - #1 on the list. Full flight, yet somehow at least two SBYs were removed from the list. Maybe they took them off the sby list?

At least one non-rev got a ticket, but I couldn't confirm whether he was on the list.