david_oz

1. SFO-TLV
2. Oct 9, 2019
3. W
4. Y-J
5. Purchased a few weeks ago
6. Cleared yesterday, Sept 25

I had the upgrade applied for several weeks and it cleared into Premium Plus. However, after the plus points changes were announced I phoned in and asked them to remove it and re-apply to Polaris only. Two hours later the upgrade cleared, even though at the time I re-applied it the flight was still PN0 and PZ0. Not sure if that was a glitch, or just coincidence and dumb luck

findark

1. IAD-AMS (x2)
2. Nov 14, 2019
3. W
4. Y-J
5. Purchased tonight
6. Cleared at booking

1. FRA-SFO (x2)
2. Nov 26, 2019
3. R
4. PE-J
5. Purchased tonight
6. Cleared at booking

Coming to the end of a multi-year 1K run and I am definitely sad.. going to miss the rush of locking in that perfect upgrade as the culmination of a few weeks of dedicated research and inventory stalking. Sadly there's just no way to make United work in MSP and I'm neither really flying enough for top status anymore nor have the energy to re-learn a new program from scratch. Premium Fare Deals is my future, but it's been a good run and these miles should make me *G for one more year

Kacee

Return cleared for no status friend.

PPT-SFO
Sept. 28, 2019
W
Y-J
Purchased three weeks out
Cleared at T-23

Inventory had been stuck at 24/36 since booking. Clearly this is not a route that sells last minute J. Despite literally zero sales, UA waited untii T-23 to clear upgrades. At T-7 hours, booked 33/36. No online check-in for PPT, so can't tell if anyone's waitlisted.

So the $1000+ W gamble paid off.

Aussienarelle

Wahoo. My first double upgrade came through for this flight today.

O --> J

gsalem94122

Well... HKG doesn't have the demand it once had. ;-)

Yesterday's 869 had all the upgrades clear and even had a few business seats empty.

Good way to clear GPUs when the W fares are low. (I am doing this in November).

narvik

Word of caution:
Had a R/T EWR-PEK farelocked with both segments showing "upgrade available" using GPUs.
Tried to purchase the Farelock a few days later but it errored out (likely because of additional ETC applied to payment).
Called to pay for Farelock, and received conformation, including the blurb: UPGRADE CONFIRMED on both segments.
Checked GPUs and it looked like the two GPUs never got pulled.
Called in a few days later and tried to convince the somewhat bewildered CSR what was going on. A long wait while UA Support resolved the issue.

I've had this happen in the past, and at EWR they're clever enough to notice that no instrument or payment was made for the upgrade and they'll kick you back to E.


EWR-PEK and PEK-EWR
October 2019
W
Y-J
3 weeks out
Cleared at purchase


Was that +$1000 for W fare difference from cheapest offered fare class EACH WAY or for the R/T?

Kacee

RT. I was thinking I should have bought the discount fare and used miles, but it turned out okay.

narvik

500 plus a GPU isn't bad for a nice, comfortable seat on such a trip. I hope your friend appreciates the gift/gesture, and the uniqueness of it! ^

Hope I can get this deal while they still fly there! Haven't been back in 10+ years!
In the plans for next 18 months....

Kacee

Not so long as the GPU clears. If it doesn't clear, it's a terrible deal


Yeah, my curiosity is piqued. Closer than NRT, and only 3 hours time difference!

drewguy

IAD-NRT
9/23 (M)
Q
August
At gate

NRT-IAD
9/28 (Sat)
Q
August
Shortly before gate (on connecting flight)

(Both Y-J)

docbert

SFO-EWR-LHR
Oct 30/Nov 1
B/R -> J/J (no PE on first leg, so it booked into B despite being an R fare)
Purchased ~10 days before
EWR-LHR cleared at 24 hours before departure of that flight.

SFO-EWR was the ultimate battle-field. 4th on the upgrade list, one seat available (777, so 27/28 booked). First person cleared, so I was then #3 with nothing available.

5 minutes before departure time one of the gate agents comes up, asks me my name, and says "You want the upgrade?" to which I said "Hell yeah!". He was carrying a boarding pass, but didn't give it to me, and the app still showed me in my old seat at that stage. I'm presuming #1 and #2 turned down the upgrade, possible because they were together, so it came to me. About 5 minutes later the BP on the app updated to show me in J.

NJGirlinCO

1. SFO-SYD (x5)
2. 10/2/19
3. W
4. Economy- Business Class
5. Tickets were purchased in February
6. My GS sister called for us 72 hours before and they pushed all 5 of us through (no PN or PZ was showing at that time). Flying with my husband who is 1k

miasmal

1. IAH-SCL / SCL-IAH
2. 9/30/19
3. W
4. Y-J
5. Tickets were purchased in April
6. T-12 days

david_oz

1. SFO-HKG
2. 2/13/2020
3. W
4. Y-J
5. Purchased Sept 30
6. Cleared at booking

1. NRT-LAX
2. 2/23/2020
3. W
4. Y-J
5. Purchased Sept 30
6. Cleared at booking

mynolix

EWR-MUC
10/9
W
Y-J
purchased sometime in May
cleared 7 days out

Flight has had 15 open seats in J for about 3 weeks, Old J but most importantly I get to enjoy some afternoon paperplanes