Boraxo

Was shocked to see R inventory when purchasing SFO<->SJD for summer vacation, so I promptly used 2 RPUs and GPUs to upgrade Mrs. B and Child-B1. Child-B2 and I will roll the dice on CPUs as the F inventory appears wide open and I have a decent % on Mexico routes. I used to go all-or-nothing (there is some benefit to keeping everyone on my 1K record in the event of irregular ops) but I think this is a better strategy given the risks.

I felt a little twinge using GPUs on this route but I think it highly unlikely that we will have an opportunity to use them for TATL or TPAC and hard to justify holding them in reserve for a transcon or even SFO-IAH that is unlikely to clear. So maybe I need to walk back "totally useless nowadays"

Concur. In fact I even get CPU more often than not on SFO<->LAX. Given the fares, it's probably not a route that generates a lot of GS.

Bingo. Aside from the sheer # of GS @sfo, there is both (1) Fortune 500 + banking + legal + consultant O/D business class travel between SFO to regional HQ in London and Singapore and (2) Paid international business class connecting to domestic F, which significantly reduces the F inventory for domestic ex-SFO travel to other large metros.

fumje

This is an intriguing detail. I have had the impression on a few routes that the outbound is harder to upgrade than the return. Shouldn't there be 'conservation of mass' so to speak? Is this J out / Y back policies?

cricketer

I've been trying to apply my expiring GPU's and RPU's to everything. No dice. Didn't even clear LGA-ORD today with 7 of 12 booked at check-in time. Just glad I was able to GPU the whole family to Australia and back this summer!

Boraxo

That's awesome - but how did you manage it? Months out at the time of purchase?

findark

For the typical TATL, there is higher demand for flatbeds in the overnight direction.

cricketer

Booked in February for June/July. Had to scour the calendar for outbounds and returns that had enough R space, and had sufficient flexibility to take whatever dates and routings available (SFO/LAX to MEL/SYD being the contenders). The dates we grabbed were the only ones in a 60 day period with R > 2. No problem for GS though, there was plenty of PN available. The other half have it so good

fumje

Makes sense, although I mostly observe TPAC flights. Westbound is typically the longer duration, so perhaps that's a factor, but as scheduled the eastbound is when I really want to get sound sleep.

nomad420

Both my expiring instruments will almost certainly expire unused. I have a SFO KOA trip next week that has not cleared and probably won't (Sat AM flight) and the other trips including a TATLs fall in early May. Really frustrating that not one cleared in almost 4 months. My wife was able to get one of her's to clear but will probably eat one.

Kacee

Cleared SFO-SAN at T-25!!!

Buy-up was $249, so I'll consider this a decent use, even for a 70 minute flight.

TomMM

This year I am 4/4 with GPUs clearing and 1/1 with RPUs.

DELee

It's good to be TomMM!

David

TomMM

I am surprised at how easily GPUs clear to/from LHR.

nomad420

I am suprised at how poorly GPUs clear to/from SFO to MUC. Just booked May 7 (Monday) and no R space of course. The agent said it was the Cannes film festival. Pricing was outrageous (again supposedly related to festival) for Biz so used my miles on this one. Return no better through CDG (same reason given) and pricing crazy high so again used miles. I was basically told my GPU would NOT clear due to many GS/Paid F heading over to France from the west coast for the festival. Call it the luck of the draw time wise I guess.

TomMM

I've only been to MUC once and my MUC-IAH GPU cleared at the gate. I've found FRA - EastCoast a very easy route for GPUs to clear. I've also haven't had an issue with GPUs clearing on LH from PE to J. Guess I am lucky that I have 3 airports(ORD,EWR,IAD) that I can connect through.

StuckinITH

It's not only from SFO. I booked ORD to MUC two months ago for May 15 (Tuesday), no R space. Decided to not book a W fare as it increased the price by $800 for the roundtrip and it was too much for me with no guarantee of the upgrade. At booking, I just put in the request for the upgrade with miles and copay. Roundtrip Polaris Business has increased from $7800 to now $8700, which means there's little chance I'll get an upgrade.