Value of 1K when GPUs don't clear despite 20+ open seats?
 

I am 1K, flying paid business class EWR-SFO-AKL today, while my son (silver) is on the upgrade waitlist for the same flights. I saw that there were 20+ open seats on SFO-AKL just 24 hours before departure (and a phone agent told me that too) but the waitlist still isn't clearing.

And now slowly the number of open business class seats is whittling down each hour, starting 12 hours before departure. It must be that united is selling those seats making last minute cheaper offers to economy passengers as they check in. Implications of united employing this strategy :

1. The value of getting 1K status is being whittled down. GPUs are not that useful if they don't clear even when there are 20+ open seats. Are there other airlines /alliances that are better in this dimension? Or is it now better to just chase the cheapest fares, and not worry about "loyalty", because the perks of loyalty are disappearing as united employs such last minute ticket selling strategy?

2. We have not received any last minute $ offer to upgrade, presumably because I already put in that GPU for my son months ago. United's policy of last minute offers to only some passengers seems to be creating a strange situation where "loyal passengers" (the ones with GPUs) become least able to upgrade.

[complicating the situation for us is that united 's system incorrectly thinks that my son is a child traveling alone so he can't check in until we get to airport to figure out where he stands on the waitlist.]

Isn't this a well known issue. If you don't clear until 24hrs, you won't clear until the gate?

In the meantime, R opens, and people applying fresh GPUs will jump the queue.

Aren't you glad you paid extra for a W fare for your son!
Next time, have your employer purchase the ticket with a different airline if you don't feel your loyalty is being appreciated. United knows that won't happen, so they can do whatever they please.

Because the phone agent told me yesterday that there were only 4 people on the upgrade waitlist. I can also see the upgrade list under "flight status" for those who are checked in, and they've only upgraded one person from that list .

Your commenteads to another unrelated question - does the waitlist clear according to my status or his, given that my GPU was used to request?

I happen to be "my employer" in decisions on ticket purchases, so I could switch. Which is why I asked the question above, "are other airlines better in this dimension?" I can fly paid business myself, so I do care a lot about the ability to use the upgrades they give me for my family traveling with me

Clearance priority changed several years ago. The GPU is based on his status, not yours.

On the broader point, there is no reason for UA to clear last minute wait lists until the gate. When it does so relatively last minute, the people with the highest priority on the flight get the seats that remain.

Which day are you flying? It's still 17 hours to departure for today's (3-Mar) flight.

That one is currently booked 43/60 and it appears only non-rev passengers are waitlisting for Polaris currently. So it could have been four on the waitlist when you called and three have cleared between then and now. With these counts your son should upgrade no problem once cleared to check in.

The flight tomorrow (4-Mar) looks more challenging.

(Standard footnote that unassigned seats aren't the same as available capacity.)

edit add:

The upgraded list on flight status only shows passengers who received an upgrade after checking in, so seeing one person on that list tells you only that at least one person has been upgraded.

A sponsored waitlist request is supposed to clear according to the passenger's own status.

Yeah that's what I see. Maybe better to save the rant until the door has closed with the upgrade uncleared?
It would be more accurate to say UA may or may not clear the upgrades prior to the gate. There's certainly no categorical rule that they won't clear between T-24 and the gate.

Thank you for for this very helpful response. How do i "resubmit the GPU"? and is a GPU-based upgrade considered a "non rev upgrade"? What falls under each category of rev and non rev upgrades?
Sorry for the additional questions; I'm not an expert flyer, and I clearly have a lot to learn from you!

My son did get upgraded just now, so my immediate problem has been solved. But the broader quesion remains as to how United trades off "the value of loyalty" against "additional revenue" it can generate with the last-minute offers. It's of course perfectly reasonable for United to prioritize that additional revenue over whatever future revenues they would get from my loyalty, but then it becomes reasonable for frequent flyers to investigate other airlines where that loyalty may be rewarded with better perks (such as upgrades that are more likely to clear).

ok that's more accurate. But freshly applied GPUs will jump the waitlist if the waitlist is not being cleared.

Also, I thought one couldn't remove an instrument within 24hrs, so one is effectively stuck on the waitlist?

I 've removed my upgrades shortly before check-in at T-24:10, and reapplied 15 minutes later for immediate clearance.

'Non rev' is referring to pass riders who aren't paying airfare for their tickets. Their priority is behind all paying passengers.

To resubmit the GPU you'd have to have an agent pull it and reapply it. Within 24 hours of departure that can become a little tricky.

I'm not aware of that being a rule (though I've never tried). You're not supposed to be added to the waitlist within T-24. And you can't apply one online within T-24, you have to call. So yeah, it could be a risky maneuver if you get a nasty agent.

Note though that this flight is PN0, PZ0, despite being booked only 43/60 in J. So no one's jumping the queue.

I'll add also this is an example of a flight where the seat map count matches exactly with bookings (17 empty seats).
That was entirely predictable.

So, was the rant premature?

Your question is not quite so binary as it seems.

For a period of time, GPU's applied to a third person kept the original passenger's status. Thus, your son, even though Silver, would have had the UG priority of a 1K for purposes of the GPU. That was fine for some people, yet it worked to the disadvantage of many others. Imagine that as a 1K, you sought to use a GUC to UG yourself and were beat out by a non-status passenger who applied a GUC he obtained from a GS.

No matter how you cut it, UA is a for-profit business. Selling seats is its business. If UA believed that it could have sold all remaining seats in the cabin, it would have held all UG's until just before departure. There are bits and pieces of differences between how UA vs. AA/DL treat UG's, but the bottom line is that they are not so significant. Cash is king.

While I have had my share of helpful phone agents, I have also had my fair share of unhelpful phone agents. Some will say anything just to get you off the line. Take their statements as a grain of salt. The people on this forum are much more helpful.