FlyerBeek

Any first hand reports of attempting to SDC with a confirmed segment in PZ? I imagine the old RN practice of getting reconfirmed into any other flight with RN is now gone?

-FlyerBeek

fumje

Anyone noticing upgrade offers on two-class planes even though already cleared into RPZ? I am getting some $3k-$6k offers in the app, and I'm quite curious what it would do, but not $3k curious.

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That's fodder for a different discussion, but in point of fact the answer is UA thinks PZ2 would undercut D sales, or they'd not have made PZ0. They may be wrong, but they set the inventory.

I would bet so, but maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised at how PZ works. ? ?

gusd

See my post and findark's above

jsloan

It wouldn't be a pleasant surprise in the least -- unless it was limited to cleared instruments, in which case I'd be in favor. Nobody should be able to SDC on a cleared CPU and leap in front of people on the waiting list, especially given UA's propensity for holding back upgrades on some flights. The fact that RN allowed this was irritating enough.

fumje

Ah indeed, especially given that PZ is currently at the end of the entire list rather than just after all the premium fares.

Well, yes, that might be a Pandora's box. I don't think it happens much with PN, based on personal observation with all the limitations that implies, but we might have a completely different story if everyone who upgrades can do it.

david_oz

jsloan

PN doesn't bother me -- anybody who can get into PN was going to be in front of people waiting for R anyway. I honestly wouldn't have a problem if you could preserve an instant upgrade via SDC, either, so non-1Ks on Y/B fares in RN -- I never thought that was a big deal. (After all, on those fares, once you SDC'ed you'd have been able to re-confirm your upgrade anyway).

The problem was that Gold customers on CPUs got put into RN also, and that meant that they could do an end-around past 1Ks and Platinum members who were on the waitlist. You could even have two customers who got CPU'd, one a 1K and one a Gold, both SDC'ing to the same flight -- and if the flight happened to be F1.. RN1, the Gold member would keep the CPU and the 1K member would end up in Y.

Now, that said, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they forgot to update the SDC logic for the PZ bucket so that it works like R, but if that's the case, I'd expect it to be changed back as soon as they notice.

findark

One hopes.. but pretty sure both PN and RN were unintended consequences they never managed to fix. PN to PN SDCs only started after years of not being able to SDC PN coupons at all.

sannmann

StuckinITH

The last thing I would want for a celebration is a bowl of soup. They should serve LPGS Champagne like in First Class on BA.

Xerinax

Perhaps that issue with RN was one of the reasons for going through all this trouble. By itself I might have assumed IT could deal with it differently, but who knows.

PN bothers me to the extent (and this was very recently confirmed by MP and also mentioned in other FT threads - so I assume it to be reality) that miles / instruments coming from GS account waitlist for PN, even if the sponsoring member is not traveling. Thus all of these requests would clear before 1K waitlisted for R (now PZ), even if the member being sponsored is general. If PN utilization and PZ availability remains unchanged as a result of the update, this practice including its impact on upgrade availability will continue whether we like or agree with it or not. It might even get worse given many instances I've observed now of PN>P, which indicates GS upgrade inventory has been de-coupled from the deeply discounted bucket.

ermintrude

Yes today - I automatically cleared into PZ...

jsloan

This has long been true. GS instruments are inherently much more powerful than 1K instruments. UA knows that many GS members use their instruments for friends & family.

UA has decided to give more valuable perk to its GS members. I'm not GS, and likely never will be, but it doesn't bother me at all. Then again, I don't fly an awful lot of GS-heavy routes.

I suspect PN > P is a mistake that will soon be corrected, but I don't see what effect it would have on upgrades. PN is always going to be more widely available than R.

Xerinax

Agree that GS deserve valuable perks but there should be an equitable limit. Since R typically was never available until stale PN, whether PN>P is a mistake, I can't see how this won't continue to at least indirectly impact availability. Each cabin has finite inventory, which means friends/family/co-workers/colleagues/acquaintances/their mail person with lower or no status will occupy seats potentially otherwise available for upgrade. Then consider that many GS are 1+ MM and they select a companion, and that companions instruments now have the same power, you have a situation worse than facebook. They took same status sponsorship away years ago for the rest of the program. Benefits should be first and foremost for the traveler, and the benefit of upgrades is directly tied to inventory management.

jsloan

Whether P > PN or not, they're going to open PN space before they open R space. The problem with inventory isn't P0 PN9, it's PN9 R0.

That's the decision UA has made. GS instruments can be used on award tickets, too, so this hypothetical generous GS of yours could book a saver award ticket for a colleague, then upgrade it with an instrument. Considering that the going rate for GS seems to be $40K in UA spend or (sometimes much) higher, depending upon your location, I can see why UA wants to keep these customers happy.

Companions don't get certs automatically, so this really only applies to GS MM companions who reach 1K on their own. There's a good chance you haven't flown with one such person this year.

Yes, they did; it was never a published benefit in the first place, but rather an accidental byproduct of the way pmCO's systems were built. The fact that they didn't make any changes for GS should tell you how UA feels about the situation.