lotemblizej

I have seen a steady erosion in my ability to use GPUs over past 5 years both on work trips to Europe and vacation travel to Asia. Similar to others, I am finding little availability at booking even when I am quite flexible on day and time as well as failure to clear wait list even when flight has many free C seats when I go on the wait list (usually 3-6 weeks before the flight). This, along with sharp reduction in 'desirable' saver award seats (which I define as 1) non mixed cabin when I opt for C or F, 2) less than 2 stops for routes that have nonstop service, or 3) less than 4-6 hour layovers), means that the value of 1K is now greatly diminished for me. I am both 1K and a newly minted AA platinum who may also finally find greener fields elsewhere this year.

LaserSailor

I've consumed all my GPUs upgrading employees on personal travel on inflexible travel. Experience for past 5 years has been the same.

ont

It's a lot better to upgrade one segment on LH than none on UA... Besides, one has to give LH some credit - I've never seen them offer ToDs. You fly in the cabin you booked. All upgrades must be supported by miles or instruments. Their upgrade process (WL) is very orderly. And there is almost always some F availability. Though they do wait until the last minute, I'm yet to see a WLed C->F upgrade request fail.

transportbiz

You paid a change fee to upfare?

LHR Wannabee

Yes there was a change fee that I was charged it was a $300 change fee plus fare difference to buy the new ticket according to my receipt.

SFflyer123

GPU's are useless from the West Coast of the USA to europe.

Just throw them away. There is no point spending $2800 on a W fare, when you will not get the upgrade instead of $1400 in Economy plus. Just throw the GPUs away and chalk it up to a loss.

This is United, and we all have to get used to it.

I throw them away almost every year--all 6 of them--because I never can use them.

When it's time to buy business class tickets, spend your money on a non-UA airline.

transportbiz

This thread might have helped you, and maybe even might qualify you for a refund.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-buyup-16.html

FLYDCA

I had to let 5 GPU's expire last year as they were not useable by me in any meaningful way. Lack of confirmable GPU's were like a stone in my shoe all year and a negative reminder each time I viewed my account. As a consequence I took most of my business to AA and Etihad.

swixo

I use em for domestic upgrades. Yeah - a GPU for SEA<>SFO. But
what else are you going to do with these things. Oh - right... Let them expire.

johnden

They are still good for business travel booked in Y. When booking 2-3 weeks in advance, often the available Y fares are W+, and any free upgrade is a really nice bonus.

Also, if goal is to use them to fly in J for the cheapest possible price, then they also work. For example, if a W fare is 30% more than the cheapest Y fare on sale, and a P fare is 200% more, then an upgrade chance of 30-40% still gets you into J at a deep discount on average. If it fails, then a TOD is usually available, but sometimes you will go in Y.

If your goal is to use them on a single flight and get a guaranteed upgrade without having to spend a single $ more than necessary on a specific date/time or popular route, no, they do not work well.

weero

I am quite jealous that you lasted nearly 2.5 years longer than I did.

After several B segments in a row did not clear for me even though I booked more than a month out, I completely stopped buying upgradable fares on UA.

Your chances of getting an ug or an el-cheapo ug from a lowball fare are very much higher than being an overentitled elite who already paid for the worthless full fare.
Only thing better is a GM or alliance member on a lowball fare.
Why? If he's a big enough idiot to pay for F on UA, he may not be savvy in anything flying related.
That is patently untrue. My very last longhaul ug on UA was after push back when the purser told me that they did not have time to clear my GPU at the gate and she'd bring my to my new seat. I declined quite rudely as I hate that commotion on board and I already mentally settled for a coach ride.

luckypierre

The revenue optimization folks at UA love to read this line of reasoning. You buy a W fare at 30% premium. In many cases the passenger never has a realistic chance at a GPU upgrade due to the .....TOD upgrades! You purchase a TOD..the airline gets into your pocket twice. Sorry, no refunds on the aborted W investment.

goodeats21

Wow. I guess this is a YMMV situation as I would put up with A LOT of commotion to secure my upgrade on a long haul flight.

On topic - It does seem to me that R space is becoming harder to find. Hopefully United is swinging back the other way, as evidenced by some comments from Oscar. As a personal rule, I do not spend additional money for W or higher unless there is R space.

So far, I have always found a way to effectively use them, but the last couple of trips have been much more difficult.

johnden

They like to read this, but for the opposite reason. Here is an example that is common TPAC:

K fare - $1100
W fare - $1600
P fare - $3800

I buy a W fare for $1600 and have a 33% chance of clearing a GPU.

Actual cost (assuming I need to burn the GPU anyway). Normally the TOD + W is less than buying P outright, so I'll assume the TOD is just a buyup to a discount P fare.

(0.33 * 1600) + (0.66 * 3800) = $3036 expected cost for J.

If you pick carefully, select times where the GPU rate is >50%, then this works out really well. The biggest advantage are the cheap TODs. All of the discount buyup offers I have seen are lower total cost than buying biz outright at the time of purchase, and many of the normal buyup offers are about the same total cost as buying biz at the time of purchase.

Sometimes you get burned and end up in Y, so it is best to not try for business heavy 14 hour flights. Sometimes you have to spend a little more to buyup if the GPU doesn't clear. But overall it is a good way to get discount business class.

fumje

You're valuing at $0 the time spent redoing searches to check for R>0 and the planning uncertainty while waitlisted.