Daitheflu84

Hi all,

Loyal DL flier and SEA-based Gold Medallion here. Just started my MP Premier Gold status match and figured I'd reach out to get some general feedback regarding the program. I'm currently flying enough with work and personal travel (Mostly the latter) that I anticipate reaching the 75K PQM/$9K PQD Plat threshold this year, although my recent experience with Delta's stingy program has left me wondering if there are better options out there. Having been born and raised in the Midwest, I've flown UA quite a bit over the years but have zero experience with their FF/loyalty program. Forgive my random ramblings, but these are mostly just stream-of-consciousness questions or comments that I haven't been able to answer via previous forum posts.

1. How does MP compare to Delta's Medallion status? Any previous DL fliers may have a direct comparison that could be helpful. I'm less interested in award/mileage pricing and availability than general program benefits such as early boarding, premium security access and the occasional E+/FC upgrade. With all of the recent DL changes, these benefits either don't exist or are available to anyone with a DL AMEX, therefore not making them worth much.

2. How does UA Economy Plus compare to Delta's C+ seating? From what I can see on the MP site, I would have access to this seat booking. Is this correct? any other perks to these seats aside from legroom, i.e. snacks/drinks, early boarding?

3. As a SEA-based flyer, I'll obviously be connecting through hubs almost exclusively, but that's not a huge issue for me as I'm usually connecting in MSP/DTW or LAX on DL anyway. Are there other SEA-based MP elites here, and if so, what is your overall feeling of UA service to/from the Seattle area? Does UA even have premium security lane access at Sea-Tac? I've only ever flown DL or AS out of Sea-Tac. Additionally, seeing as how I'll almost always be connecting to SFO, DEN or ORD, do FC upgrades ever happen? I was about 25-30% last year as a DL Silver but recent changes have cut that in half (even as a Gold). On that note...

4. I typically buy-up to FC about 35-40% of the time domestically, although this usually happens after initial booking. Does UA offer post-booking buy-ups to FC domestically or to Polaris on international flights?

5. I have at least 3 international trips planned for the rest of the year, 2 of them to Asia (HKT and later HKG). At a glance, UA's Asia routes blow Delta's Transpac offerings (and aircraft) out of the water. As a Premier Gold, are there additional benefits to utilize on these trips? I'm guessing lounge access, but are there preferred and/or Economy Plus seats on these routes or are these planes typically equipped with just J, W (Prem econ) and Y seats? A lot of Delta's A359s and 772s are currently equipped with only Prem. Economy and no Comfort+, which means there aren't many choices for comp upgrades on premium Transpac/Atlantic routes, although they are soon outfitting some frames with a 4 class layout.

Again, sorry for the 100 questions, but just trying to learn as much as possible before I start booking my UA flights in the coming weeks. Any other thoughts or comments regarding the program would be most appreciated.

findark

Welcome to United! I'm sure you'll get plenty of people explaining why you made the wrong choice, but I think UA does have some bright spots

Overall, my opinion is that DL is a better airline but that UA has a better FFP. Opinions obviously differ -- but I also will fly whoever is convenient, which for this SFO captive means UA.

It's broadly comparable to Delta Gold, and has the same qualification requirements. The biggest difference is that you can confirm Economy Plus at booking, which is a pretty major improvement. The key features of UA Gold are (1) E+ for you and a companion confirmed at booking, (2) free same-day changes (UA has a slightly more generous SDC policy than DL, except for the positive-space F part -- your current and target flights merely need to be within 24 hours of now), and (3) Star Alliance Gold.

It's worse. The seat is similar, but UA E+ provides no additional benefits. As a Gold, you will already board with Group 1 though.

Upgrades to First on UA are relatively rare, even for 1Ks. This is obviously extremely route-dependent, but unless you're flying to MSP on a Tuesday, I wouldn't count on anything as a Gold. Focus on E+ as the real status benefit, and you'll be much happier.

United is quite aggressive about these upsells. They tend to be less good than if you have a way to buy the premium cabin outright (they are much less flexible and do not earn PQD), but are commonly available and if you wait until checkin they are sometimes a great price (ca. $899 overwater, $299 transcon).

You also have the option to change your ticket to the premium cabin at any time with no change fee (fare difference only) per the GG BUYUP policy.

UA's strength of schedule is indeed outstanding across the Pacific. The biggest benefit of your status will be Star Alliance Gold, which gets you and a +1 access to lounges, and also means you are recognized as a "top tier" UA elite by other airlines (Gold is the top *A status). This guarantees additional baggage and lounges, but on some carriers also means access to better seats and preferential treatment.

All UA planes, even the ones getting Premium Economy cabins, continue to have larger E+ sections than DL is doing for C+, which continues to be a notable difference about flying UA.


One other thing I find absolutely superior about UA, especially as an FTer, is their transparency. You can use Expert Mode to find confirmable upgrades at booking and view inventory, their Flight Status is second to none in terms of information and inbound plane tracking, and the FLIFO feed from ExpertFlyer even gives slot assignment information to inform me of unposted delays

StuckinITH

4. Yes, United does offer post-booking buy-ups to FC or Polaris Business immediately after booking your flight to up to the time that you are at the gate waiting for boarding your flight. For the Polaris Business, I usually see better offers at the time of check-in or after that but I have read that some other FTers have found good offers before that.

5. From my local airport, I had the choice to fly United or Delta. Since I fly often to Asia, I chose United as United has a very good coverage of flights to Asia which seemed a better coverage than Delta. On United, with Gold status, you can immediately choose an Economy + seat and it's especially useful to me that the bulkhead or exit row seats are located in the Economy + area. Now, United is introducing Premium Plus seats that can be already purchased on some routes but not yet from and to ORD.

prometa

Daitheflu84

This is good info, thanks. DL does give MQDs and a MQM bonus on upsell offers, oddly enough. I even upgraded MCO-SEA with miles recently and found out the mileage upgrades even earn additional MQDs, which truly surprised me!

findark

Unless you're flying SEA/SFO in-pattern, in which case not even GS stand a real chance

I agree overall though, upgrades are a bit easier if you're not flying between UA hubs. A lot of my travel is between SFO and WAS, and I don't even bother trying with the upgrade game. I've lowered my goal to finding flights where I don't have to pay full fare.There are a lot of nuances to the upsell offers, but you're in that they anchor strongly on what it would cost to buy F outright. However, sometime it can be difficult to get a properly issued F ticket if the problem is a stingy employer, and day-of-departure cash upsells can work best for that.

rittenhousesq

Just one correction from what you were told above: If you are in Economy Plus on one of UA's "premium service" flights (EWR-SFO or LAX. BOS-SFO or LAX) you will get a meal served to you in E+.

Daitheflu84

That's good to know! Are E+ upgrades even possible or attainable on such routes? I used to get C+ about 75% of the time on DL as a Silver, but now that you can upgrade with miles via the DL app, most C+ seats are long gone by the time I book! Plus they moved C+ boarding up on spot, so I suspect that increased their actual revenue sales as well.

seenitall

Off thread, but can you tell me how to see this enhanced FLIFO information? I don't see it within EF, let alone within UA.com's flight status pages.

findark

BOS/LAX is not (yet?) a p.s. route. Otherwise true, I forgot!

In my experience it's very rare for there to be no E+ seats available more than 7 days before departure. UA flies with a much larger E+ cabin -- you can do a dummy booking on the UA website and get a sense of the loads. As a Gold you can snag anything open at booking - since UA doesn't sell E+ as a separate cabin we tend not to call it an "upgrade".

Flight Status > View Additional Comments

It's the thing that looks like

Where you can see e.g. the slot assignment of 19:55 wheels up from ORD.

david_oz

Personally I think gold is one of the sweet spots of the UA program. I can't talk to SEA specifically, but I can certainly say you'll have no issues picking up E+ seating on any UA route as long as you're booking more than 2 days out (even then, you'll probably be fine). E+ internationally is an excellent benefit - the legroom is quite good. I don't think you should expect any upgrades, but maybe be pleasantly surprised when the (very) occasional one hits.

Another underrated benefit of UA gold which might be useful is free same day change. SEA is convenient for a number of UA hubs, so depending on where you are and where you're going, you might have many options to get home earlier or later than your original schedule depending on what you need.

HkCaGu

Now that you're away from a weather-prone hub, you'll need to learn about how weather delays are managed at SFO, especially when going to Asia. (I suppose if you're heading to Europe, you can reroute to other hubs.)

Daitheflu84

I take it re-routing through LAX during SFO fog and WX delays isnt an option, then?

HkCaGu

TakeTheATrain

2. As a Premier Gold, you select the seat as one would select a regular Economy seat. There are no waitlists like Alaska or automatic "upgrades." We not call them upgrades as it's the same Economy service (except on p.s. routes SFO/LAX-EWR and SFO-BOS where you get a free meal) except that you get extra legroom. Plus it's something that United elites have sort of taken for granted as free for years.

3. I'm a SEA-based United flyer out of habit (previously based in SFO, BOS, and JFK before they axed it). I haven't flown a regular Economy seat on mainline United probably for years, so it's really the Economy Plus that keeps me. The international network is pretty strong as well, and for many partners, you still earn 100% elite qualifying miles or more, which makes re-qualification much easier. Plus with Star Alliance, your miles can go really far. Award availability is pretty easy to come across on Star Alliance partners, and with United elite status, you do get additional inventory. I don't upgraded to F too often as a Gold (maybe about 30% of the time usually during off-peak times), but have occasionally scored on some of the longer flights to IAD and EWR. Certain seats in E+ have more legroom than in First (row 7 on most narrow bodies). You do get to use the Premium security line at Seatac, but if you have Pre-check then it doesn't really matter.

I normally fly to SFO, EWR, and BOS, so United's network works fairly well, but does require some transferring to get to some major cities. One complaint is how few flights there are to LAX, and the few non-stops they do have don't work well with business trips. I haven't needed to fly there for work recently, but anticipate that I would probably fly another carrier for that route if I had to.

4. United does offer post-booking upgrades, but the prices vary significantly. Check this thread if you're interested in what offers were given: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...re-tod-82.html

5.If you're doing flights to Asia, EVA is a great partner out of SEA, and they actually have decent Y and B class fares, which are upgradeable under the Star Alliance upgrade program (I class has to be available, which is the same booking code as award tickets in Business, and no waitlisting upgrades). While you don't normally get preferred seating on partners, you still get lounge access and all the priority benefits like boarding and security line. In addition, Vancouver is just a short hop away, where Air Canada has a pretty decent network. On United you still get Economy Plus and lounge access which makes flying Economy on the long-hauls slightly more tolerable. The high density 777 is pretty awful.

United has very limited service to LAX and it's United Express, so don't expect this to really be an option. On international flights, I've been re-routed through Vancouver on Air Canada or through other United hubs.