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How does PlusPoints / Mileage Upgrade waitlist for business work with PremiumPlus?

Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:12 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
GPU Upgrades for aircraft with United Premium Plus:
  • MileagePlus members seated in United Economy can use a single Global Premier Upgrade request to move to a United Premium Plus seat or upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin.
  • If youd like to be considered for a move to a United Premium Plus seat or an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin, well move you to the first available seat. If the first available seat is a United Premium Plus seat, well continue to look for space in the United Polaris business class cabin without requiring an additional Global Premier Upgrade.
  • Members who have purchased United Premium Plus upgrade-eligible fares will also be able to request an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin using one Global Premier Upgrade.
  • United Polaris business class upgrade requests for members who have purchased United Premium Plus seats will be processed in priority order first, followed by upgrade requests for members who have purchased United Economy seats. Learn more about upgrade priority order.
  • There will be no fare class restriction, other than for Basic Economy and Economy (first bag charge/no changes allowed) tickets, for members who have purchased a United Economy seat and request to move to a United Premium Plus seat, and no fare class restriction for members who have purchased a United Premium Plus seat and request an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin.
  • Members requesting to move to a United Premium Plus seat only and who have domestic portions of their itinerary will not be automatically waitlisted for United First. To be waitlisted for United First on domestic portions of an international itinerary, use your Global Premier Upgrade to request an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin.
Mileage Upgrades For aircraft with United Premium Plus:
  • System-wide, all MileagePlus members seated in United Economy can use a single MileagePlus Upgrade Award request to move to a United Premium Plus seat or upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin.
  • If you'd like to be considered for a move to a United Premium Plus seat or for an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin, well move you to the first available seat. If the first available seat is a United Premium Plus seat, well continue to look for space in the United Polaris business class cabin.
  • If you requested an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin, and we moved you to a United Premium Plus seat, well refund the difference in co-pay and miles after departure.
  • Members requesting a MileagePlus Upgrade Award to a United Premium Plus seat only will not be waitlisted for United First on portions of their itinerary that do not contain United Premium Plus.
  • Members who have purchased United Premium Plus upgrade-eligible fares will also be able to request an upgrade to the United Polaris business class cabin using a MileagePlus Upgrade Award.
  • United Polaris business class cabin upgrade requests for members who have purchased United Premium Plus seats will be processed in priority order first, followed by upgrade requests for members who have purchased United Economy seats. Learn more about upgrade priority order.
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How does PlusPoints / Mileage Upgrade waitlist for business work with PremiumPlus?

Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:29 pm
  #91  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 57
Upgrades on 787-10 EWR-FRA

Booked EWR-FRA T class with the return FRA-EWR in R class (new Premium Economy product). At the time, the upcharge for Premium Economy on the outbound was significant and I was purchasing 3 tickets. Called Premier Desk (I'm Platinum) 45 days before the flight to ask about using miles for an upgrade of outbound to Premium Plus. Was told it was 20,000 miles per ticket but would be waitlisted. I took the offer and received confirmation using award code UP52T (flight still remained T class). No GPUs involved.

At T-24hrs at check-in for the outbound, the Premium Economy cleared almost immediately; and to my surprise, we were on the waiting list for Polaris, which cleared about 90 minutes prior to scheduled take-off. Fare class changed from T to PZ. Not a bad thing!

However on the return, which was booked in R class we never hit the wait list for Polaris after check-in. I saw after I returned that according to a Points Guy article, (https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...-plus-polaris/) R class is supposedly upgrade-eligible, yet we never hit the Polaris waiting list. Curious as to why this happened.
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:33 pm
  #92  
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
....
At T-24hrs at check-in for the outbound, the Premium Economy cleared almost immediately; and to my surprise, we were on the waiting list for Polaris, which cleared about 90 minutes prior to scheduled take-off. Fare class changed from T to PZ. Not a bad thing!
did you pay a copay?

Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
...
However on the return, which was booked in R class we never hit the wait list for Polaris after check-in. I saw after I returned that according to a Points Guy article, (https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...-plus-polaris/) R class is supposedly upgrade-eligible, yet we never hit the Polaris waiting list. Curious as to why this happened.
While R is upgradeable, you need to request and support the upgrade request. If you did not make a request, you will not be on the waitlist.

Being on an R fare or being in PP, does not automatic place you on the upgrade waitllst for buisness
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:46 pm
  #93  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 57
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
did you pay a copay?

While R is upgradeable, you need to request and support the upgrade request. If you did not make a request, you will not be on the waitlist.

Being on an R fare or being in PP, does not automatic place you on the upgrade waitllst for buisness
Thanks for the prompt response. Did not pay a copay on the outbound. And curious what you mean about "supporting" and upgrade request on the return?
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:51 pm
  #94  
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Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
Thanks for the prompt response. Did not pay a copay on the outbound. And curious what you mean about "supporting" and upgrade request on the return?
You need a GPU or miles + copay to go from R to PZ.
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Old Apr 30, 2019, 2:51 pm
  #95  
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Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
Thanks for the prompt response. Did not pay a copay on the outbound. ...
You got lucky, the system made an error.
The upgrade from economy to PP and then Business requires a copay. Unless it was an Op-up.

Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
And curious what you mean about "supporting" and upgrade request on the return?
With a R fare you are not waitlisted for business. If you make an upgrade request for business you need to support the request with a GPU or miles+copay.

Or to put it another way, why do you think you should have been on the business class waitlist with an R fare on the return?
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Old May 18, 2019, 9:51 am
  #96  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
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I am flying PP at the end of the month for the first time. Quite excited as I have the bulkhead window which by all accounts is a great seat.

I am curious as to how many of you who have flown PP had a GPU applied for Polaris? I have one applied and suspect it is unlikely the upgrade will come through. (Trying to understand the liklihood as I have another flight where I am in E+ as premium was too high for PP and have foregone the GPU to PP and only want Polaris on that flight and curious if that will happen - it is a day flight so I am fine in E+).

TIA (and moderators please move if this belongs on a different thread).

Last edited by Aussienarelle; May 18, 2019 at 4:47 pm
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Old May 22, 2019, 8:11 am
  #97  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Question Best Strategy: Upgrading from Economy to P+ or Polaris

What's our collective wisdom on the best way to upgrade using a systemwide certificate? In flights with both Premium Plus and Polaris, a passenger can choose to be waitlisted for one or both. Selecting both probably increases the chance of not sitting in economy, but does it also decrease the chances of upgrade to Polaris?

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Old May 22, 2019, 8:30 am
  #98  
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Originally Posted by NYC_Girl
Selecting both probably increases the chance of not sitting in economy, but does it also decrease the chances of upgrade to Polaris?
It should have no effect upon your likelihood of clearing to Polaris. The only question is whether or not an upgrade to P+ is worth using a GPU, and that's going to vary from person to person.

If you're thinking that UA is going to try to make sure they use as many certificates as possible by preferentially reserving the J seats for passengers who didn't select P+ as an option -- they're not that clever.
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Old May 22, 2019, 9:20 am
  #99  
 
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Originally Posted by Aussienarelle
I am flying PP at the end of the month for the first time. Quite excited as I have the bulkhead window which by all accounts is a great seat.

I am curious as to how many of you who have flown PP had a GPU applied for Polaris? I have one applied and suspect it is unlikely the upgrade will come through. (Trying to understand the liklihood as I have another flight where I am in E+ as premium was too high for PP and have foregone the GPU to PP and only want Polaris on that flight and curious if that will happen - it is a day flight so I am fine in E+).
To state the obvious: It really just depends on the loads. I had the following scenario recently:
1. EWR-FRA in R (PP) - GPU applied and waitlisted
2. FRA-EWR in W (Y) - GPU applied and waitlisted.

(1) cleared at T-55 mins, after I had boarded. I got the last J seat, from Prem Plus. 2 pax didn't check in on time, even though J was booked.
(2) cleared at T-23 hours, just after check-in, I went from Y to J, leap-frogging Prem Plus.

It's a gamble but I do think buying PP if the price is reasonable gives you a solid chance. As noted above, whether a Y to PP upgrade with a GPU is 'worth it' will vary from person to person. I say definitely yes if you have historically struggled to use GPU's, you don't travel internationally very often, you normally buy J outright, etc.
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Old May 22, 2019, 9:26 am
  #100  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by LarrySinNJ
Booked EWR-FRA T class with the return FRA-EWR in R class (new Premium Economy product). At the time, the upcharge for Premium Economy on the outbound was significant and I was purchasing 3 tickets. Called Premier Desk (I'm Platinum) 45 days before the flight to ask about using miles for an upgrade of outbound to Premium Plus. Was told it was 20,000 miles per ticket but would be waitlisted. I took the offer and received confirmation using award code UP52T (flight still remained T class). No GPUs involved.

At T-24hrs at check-in for the outbound, the Premium Economy cleared almost immediately; and to my surprise, we were on the waiting list for Polaris, which cleared about 90 minutes prior to scheduled take-off. Fare class changed from T to PZ. Not a bad thing!

However on the return, which was booked in R class we never hit the wait list for Polaris after check-in. I saw after I returned that according to a Points Guy article, (https://thepointsguy.com/news/united...-plus-polaris/) R class is supposedly upgrade-eligible, yet we never hit the Polaris waiting list. Curious as to why this happened.
I am not shocked by the bug in the upgrade system. When I called for return of RPU for SFO-IAD flight, which did not clear, a MP agent told me that the RPU was applied to my entire journey starting from PVG. I am not 100% sure that the agent told me the truth. But there was a thread a few weeks ago that one person got upgrade cleared for SFO-SIN with a RPU (Craziest upgrade I've had on UA (as rev)).
Hopefully, the recent fixes to this system may help to fix such anomalies.

Last edited by Kmxu; May 22, 2019 at 9:28 am Reason: add a link
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Old May 22, 2019, 9:39 am
  #101  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
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That's exactly what I'd expect: The value of GPU is fixed, so if UA can use it to serve a cheap or an expensive product, it'll choose the cheap. So, I suspect that if you agree to a P+ upgrade (cheaper product), you're less likely to receive a Polaris upgrade (more expensive product).

Last edited by NYC_Girl; May 22, 2019 at 9:44 am
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Old May 22, 2019, 9:48 am
  #102  
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Originally Posted by NYC_Girl
That's exactly what I'd expect: The value of GPU is fixed, so if UA can use it to serve a cheap or an expensive product, it'll choose the cheap.
All I can say is that UA's published upgrade guidelines do not take this into account. I don't think we have enough information to be able to state definitively that UA isn't doing something deceptive behind the scenes, but I would be surprised if they had the technical acumen to pull this off even if they wanted to.

The published order is to upgrade passengers from P+->J first (meaning, people with P+ tickets, not Y tickets that have already been upgraded), then to upgrade Y->J, and then to upgrade Y->P+.

I can promise you that they will not send a J seat out empty if you have a waitlisted instrument for it, just because they can already mark the GPU used by seating you in P+. (Or, at least, it would be against policy and would likely get you a nice customer service gesture as an apology).
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Old May 22, 2019, 9:53 am
  #103  
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Honestly more likely for the intermediate upgrade to boost your chances because of the chance of bugs that mark you as a PE rather than Y pax for priority. I don't know of bugs, but that's the most likely direction they would lean...
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Old May 22, 2019, 2:43 pm
  #104  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
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What is the experienced wait time for refund of miles/dollars if you don't get a United Polaris upgrade? I don't have enough miles to redeem for outbound and inbound. So if the outbound expires without an upgrade, I would want to try for the return with the refunded miles 6 days later if I get the refund by then. Practical?
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Old May 22, 2019, 4:30 pm
  #105  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
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Weirdest thing ever! I just checked in for my flight (SFO-FRA) for which I paid Premium Plus and it shows me as having been upgraded! I am also on the waitlist for Polaris which makes sense.

However, my connecting flight SAN-SFO which is a B fare does not even have me on the upgrade list.

Seriously weird things happening with Premium Plus bookings and upgrades - Hope United looks at this issue.

-My B fare for domestic not listed for upgrade.
-My R fare is shown as an upgrade.
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