My First Premier Silver Upgrade Eligible Flight Question
 

I'm booked in a regular economy seat for a flight tomorrow (Sunday) evening. Normally I fly on EMB 145 flights with no Business/First, so I normally check in exactly 24 hrs before flight time to increase my chance of an economy plus seat. If there is a United First seat available when will it clear - 24 hours before or on the day of departure. If the latter, should I wait to check in until the flight day?

Thank all!

WHat route? As a silver I wouldn’t hold your breathe for an upgrade to clear.

I still usually try to check in as close to 24 hours as possible.

You should still check in at 24 hours to get a E+ seat. It will not have an impact on your chances for upgrade.
They will clear upgrades right up until boarding is complete. Keep an eye on the upgrade list on the app to judge your chances.

Upgrades are cleared two ways....in advance, in the 'black box' process and from those on the standby upgrade list, at the gate, usually just prior to boarding.

The in advance process is available until some time not too far before the flight...think it used to typically be about 3 hours. Not sure if that's changed. It is supposed to run upgrades at all the elite upgrade windows, and will clear folks, assuming upgrade space is availble. It also runs, supposedly, every time an upgrade-eligible passenger checks in - as a gold and plat, I have occasionally checked in in economy, and found myself upgraded because the BP shows a seat in F. It's been a while, but it happens.

Checking in won't affect your ability to clear an upgrade in advance (the only disclaimer I know of to this is if you have another person on your PNR, it will split, so you will be on the list as two individuals, as opposed to a party of 2 - this has advantages and disadvantages, depending on your preferences). But you can still be upgraded in advance after check in. I've also had that happen several times in the last few years.

The language states (paraphrasing): "Silvers are eligible for complimentary upgrades AS EARLY as 24 hour prior to flight". Even if there are open F seats, that doesn't mean United is going to give out upgrades. They might hold the seats for last minute buyers or try to sell the upgrades. United decides in its own time when to allocate any open F seats for complimentary upgrades. Keep your expectations very low and you won't be disappointed.

Actually ....

While your odds for an upgrade, unless you are flying at the same time as Super Bowl is on, is pretty much nil as a Silver, the LAST tiebreaker after all other deciding factors have been taken into account is time of checkin @:-)

No, you still want to check in at T-24. Taking the free upgrade to E+ does not remove you from the upgrade list for First. An upgrade to F also won't clear for a silver until you're checked in, so you want to check in as early as possible if you want to have a shot.

I was upgraded on two recent flights where I checked in right at T-24. I was near the top of the very short upgrade list at check-in time and the upgrades cleared within an hour of checking in. Checked back shortly before the flight and there were 10+ new people below me on the upgrade list, presumably other silvers who checked in after me. Early bird gets the worm.

Also, as others have said, upgrades for silver will be rare if you're flying out of a hub. I fly out of an outstation, so I'm usually going the opposite direction of the really high status fliers, which helps.

To be clear -- time of check in is the last tiebreaker, after status and the fare class purchased. So, if you were on a relatively expensive ticket, you would have remained ahead of the other silvers even if you had checked in a little later. (Although, I do echo the advice for a Silver to check in at T-24 except when trying to avoid getting the PNR split, as encampbe alluded to).

It's also possible that the other people on the list were non-revs, who would also have appeared after you regardless of check-in time.

This is not true. A silver can certainly be upgraded before checking in. Also, the list was very small when you checked in because only passengers who have checked in are on that list and you checked in right at T-24 hours. As others have said, the upgrade list you see after you check in is not the same list used to upgrade passengers ahead of the flight. The fact that you checked in and were upgraded shortly after checking in is a coincidence. And the 10+ people below you on the upgrade list would likely have been below you even had you checked in much later (unless you all had the same fare).

I'm not sure @jm0933 is so far off.

Anecdotally (and this is pure conjecture) I believe that checking in early can improve one's chances.

One memorable case was back in Feb 2016 I cleared DEN-DFW on an A319 on a Saturday at noon as a Silver on an N fare pretty far in advance (12 hours?). That alone, is remarkable considering that a/c only has 8 F seats! There were probably 8+ ppl on the upgrade list when we took off. Surely there weren't 8 Silvers on an N fare on a Saturday! The canonical explanation is they were all non-revs or late SDCers. But the noncanonical is I actually skipped higher elites based on my early check in (well in advance of 24 hours). That is, the computer was actually clearing pax out of order. Yes, it's controversial to say that but it's just a feeling, not a scientific fact. Back then I didn't know how to check for non-revs or else I would have. I caught 3/4 upgrades that day but that was the only cleared flight with a weirdly long list!

Unfortunately since the process is so opaque, there's no way to know the instrument, status, fare, and check in of each person on the list! That would solve a lot of our headaches!

I would think time of travel was in your favor @:-)

Last month on a Monday evening I ended up #5 on u/g list onA319 :rolleyes:

Asked for and received both snack box and drink :)

Agreed. Saturdays, any time after noon, are among the sweet spots for upgrades, especially for lower-tier elites, as few people want to travel then. Early Sunday morning is another one.

The fact that you were able to secure an N fare in the first place is a sign that elite load (and load in general) was likely to be light on that plane. (For anyone who's not aware: N is currently Basic Economy, but in 2016 it was still a deeply discounted coach fare, lower than G). I agree that there probably weren't 8 other silver elites at N or below, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if there were 8 non-revs.

There's very little to suggest that this should used to promote the idea that Silvers can jump over GS, !K, Plats, etc if they check in early enough. Everything that I've seen for years suggests the CPU system doesn't provide any advantages to lower-tower elites by checking in early. DEN-DFW in the middle of a Saturday is hardly an elite-heavy. The CPU system in not that opaque. Seriously.

Are you getting upgraded all the time by checking in early? Just got my upgrade OGG-LAX tomorrow afternoon. Checked in at T-20 or so. Looks like there's 4-5 Silvers who got their CPUs ahead of me since I checked in so late :)

So about 15 minutes after I was checked in, I was upgraded. Guess it pays to fly during Super Bowl. Next question - I really prefer an aisle seat. It's indicated on my profile. So when I was upgraded, I got a window, and then called the premier desk to see about a aisle which they gave me. Is there any way to set an aisle seat as an upgrade preference?

I dunno...but why call in? just go online after being upgraded, on a computer or with the app, and check your seat....change it if you want to any other available seat in the cabin you were upgraded to.