fx12002

Hi everyone,

Just got off phone with United 1k desk, frustrated and would really love your advice on how to proceed. I will attempt a TLDR below but this is hard to shorten ... really appreciate your patience and advice.

TLDR(ish): Wife is 1k, I have no useful status. We booked LAX > TLV flights, hoping to use GPU from economy to business. Wife booked them with 1k desk and applied a previous travel credit she had for part of the payment. She was not told that this would split our reservations and thus I would not inherit her status. So now it is very unlikely I will get upgraded due to my low status.

United is willing to credit wife's flight back to her account ($2,200) and as a courtesy, refund my ticket to my credit card. We could then rebook the tickets so that they would not be split and improve my odds of getting upgraded with her.

Downside to this:
- We originally booked tickets in July. If we rebook now, we will get bumped down the waitlist. My understanding is that upgrades clear based on status, fare class and the time of booking if there is a tie. We would lose this advantage but not sure it matters that much.
- Stuck with $2,200 credit that can only be used by her and $300 change fee.
- Two people are less likely to get upgraded than one.

What do you think we should do? Really appreciate your help!

More info about flights below, if that is helpful.

Flight info:
9/29/18 - UA2041 - LAX>EWR - M fare (currently shows 50% of seats sold in business, lowest bucket available is P6)
9/19/18 - UA84 - EWR > TLV - M fare (currently shows 78% of seats sold in business, lowest bucket available is D2)
10/8/18 - UA91 - TLV>EWR - W fare (currently shows 56.7% of seats sold in business, lowest bucket available is C9)
10/9/18 - UA758 - EWR>LAX - W fare (currently shows 0% of seats sold in business, lowest bucket available is Z1)

WineCountryUA

Strict;y speaking your PNRs were not split, rather you were booked on two separate PNRs -- which is worst. Your wife status would have helped you in the case of a split.

Why two PNRs, (reading between the lines a bit) it appears your wife used a previously unused ticket and therefore "changed" that ticket for the new trip. Since you were not on the original ticket, you could not be on the new ticket with her.

Is the guess about the changed ticket correct?

or was the "previous travel credit" an ETC? That should not created a problem.

Often1

Reality is that with 78% of the seats sold this far out, there won't be any UG's and thus a tie-breaker won't matter. But, if there are any, it's not likely to go to the third-tier tie breaker.

But, if the facts are as WineCountry suggests they may be, it does not help your cause, but explains why UA would not have discussed PNR splitting.

garykung

My 2 cents on this is simple.

Unless you can find R spaces on your flights and confirm upgrade instantly, waitlisting is always a gamble.

There is always no guarantee that your upgrade will be cleared regardless status.

I would have try to rebook with a date with confirmed upgrade.

fx12002

WineCountryUA - Thank you, sorry for mixing up the terminology. What you are saying lines up to what United told me (basically, there is nothing they can do). Your guess about the prior changed ticket is correct. Not an ETC.

So, with that in mind, do you think it is worth the above effort to rebook us on a fresh reservation (leaving the unused ticket for future use) all so that I have a better chance of the upgrade clearing? I know this question is a bit subjective but I have no sense of how likely upgrades are of clearing these days. I have never had one clear before, only ever used the now really hard to find R fares in the past.

Often1 - Thank you too ... I hear you on flight 84 but I'd still be happy if any of the upgrades cleared for the other flights. I am just trying to be realistic in that with no status, I have a low likelihood of an upgrade clearing for me on any flight.

garykung - Thank you, I was not able to find any flights that would work with R space but maybe I looked too far in advance?

Thank you!

UALboy

I think you should leave the ticket alone. I think the biggest factor is how much you value the $300 change fee (per person or total?) Is it worth all these hassle just that you have a chance that you clear with your wife. Also, maybe other FTers can confirm this. But at T-24, your reservation will be split from your wife if your upgrade has not cleared. Then, you paid $300/600 for the same result. Also, does your wife have any plan to use that $2200?

For the other two downsides, I would not worry about them. The time of request thing is probably a non-factor because status and fare should be able to break all the ties. It will also be super unfortunate if there is only one seat available and you and your wife are number 2 and 1 on the list.

nomad420

+1
Extremely tough routes to get GPU upgrades on anyhow so not sure I would jump through those hoops and pay the change fee. If you should somehow how find a Unicorn (R space) and can immediately jump on it I would just try to get seats together. Sorry but that's the reality here.

fx12002

Hi,

Thank you for your reply! The $300 change fee would be total (only being charged for one of the tickets). I think if it significantly improves our chances of an upgrade, the $300 is well spent but I totally hear you in terms of it all just being a gamble. Sorry, not sure what T-24 is but I have definitely traveled with her when only she got upgraded (never using GPUs though).

I think she could use the $2,200 credit but if I understand everything correctly, it would not be like an ETC that she could use for other people, it would be a credit tied just to her?

Thank you all again... if I am reading everyone's feedback correctly, it is looking like it is probably not be worth changing anything.

On a slightly different note: Are there any fare buckets other than R to look out for that would make upgrading a lot less expensive (PN?? I don't know enough about all the buckets so may be confused)?

mduell

None of these seatmap "loads" or booking class availability means anything for your upgrade chances.

WineCountryUA

While the advice that seatmap loads can be misleading is important to be aware of, in this case per flightstatus, the actual booked numbers, do agree with the seatmap.

As far as fare inventory, that is so insight into UA's thinking. The C/D as lowest purchasable fare class or TLV suggests that UA feels it has a good chance of selling out the cabin. Z/P is what upgraders want to see. And PN availability is even better.

garykung

Not entirely correct.

IIRC - R>0 means the upgrade can be confirmed immediately. So there is some meanings in term of upgrade chances.

myperks

i may be wrong but i thought GPUs clear with 1K/GS status regardless.

jsloan

They do not; that ended several years ago.

WineCountryUA

GS instruments clear into PN (regardless of the traveler's status) which is almost as good as GS status but 1K instrument clear into R. Passengers unless on the same PNR of a higher elite, travel based on their individual status (since 2015).
2015 MileagePlus Change-No more inherited benefits from higher status accounts

1KChinito

Your wife can pay a change fee, if any with new money, then purchase a ticket for herself, any ticket (i.e. a throw away one way basic economy ticket SFO-LAX for $45). Balance will be issued to her in an Electronic Travel Certificate with a pin number. She can then use that ETC to purchase a ticket/s for anyone until ETC's balance is $0.