Kacee

No more upgrade confirmation on booking? They implement that, I'm gone.

The "solution" is to upgrade the system such that waitlists clear dynamically, as soon as R opens. Anything else just makes the problem worse. This particular "solution" is an order of magnitude worse than the current problem.

artvandalay

Imagine a newbie 1K thinking 6 GPUs will easily be confirmed. Only info from FT has enabled me to secure all of mine this year, but it took daily searching for weeks to nab #6...and even then it took several phone calls until I found an agent who could make it happen. Thanks FT!

Syzygies

I'm bouncing my last GPU from flight to flight, p.s. service between JFK and SFO, with little hope of clearing. Just noticed something odd about my upcoming Thursday flight: "Online upgrade not available." Of course it is hopeless with the queue already formed, but disabling online upgrades close-in keeps people from sniping R capacity out of order, leaves control with agents. Could be an IT glitch, or deliberate. If others start seeing this regularly, it is deliberate. UAInsider did say something was in the works.

I fully expect UA.com to offer R capacity as mileage upgrades for new tickets, rather than clearing the upgrade list. If this is a change, we simply can't clear ourselves, out of order.

erwin123

Flight LAX - IAD - BRu on feb 14 2015.
Was booked in september.
Applied GPU to the whole itiinerary.

LAX-IAD cleared immediately after booking (R > 0), IAD-BRU portion was waitlisted.
This morning, when checking the flight IAD - BRU, it had R=2.
BUT, my still showed waitlisted (upgrade requested).

Called the Brussels reservation office , and they cleared the upgrade.

Not sure when it went to R=2 , last checked it two weeks ago.

So, it is worthwhile to check your waitlisted upgrades regularly.

channa

Maybe the system thinks you're inside 24 hours since you're getting close to that time.

You can't apply a waitlisted upgrade inside 24 hours.

Or there could be a remnant of the previous upgrade in there that it sees, preventing you from re-upgrading.

lhrpitlhr

R has just opened up for a flight in 2 weeks on which I am waitlisted (miles + $$ BF u/g).

Called to see if u/g can be applied, and agent said 'nothing we can do'

Is my tactic to keep calling till I speak to someone who can help? Or sit and hope for the best?

UA-NYC

Keep HUACA

Or if the next agent stiffs you, tell them you want to cancel the UG and reapply it on the spot.

lhrpitlhr

Thanks...

Agent #3 knew what to do, and forced both me and my wife (separate PNRs) through.

But seriously, this is they system? Watch R like a hawk, then spend 30 minutes of your Sunday trying to get a simple task done?

Baze

And if you were not #1 and #2 on the waitlist you just stole other peoples upgrades. System is broken.

kb1992

This strikes again, twice last week for my associate.

EWR-LHR, 90 min to departure, R=1, called but was told can't push the upgrade even though he is No.1 on waitlist.

LHR-IAD, same thing happened again.

1K on M fare, failed upgrade both ways. The agent said it's within 2 hours, she can't do anything?

UA-NYC

Yep - never-ending fun almost-3 years since the systems downgrade to SHARES

Kacee

Not sure why you are complaining, you likely jumped the queue to score an upgrade you would not have otherwise been entitled to.

Now this is worth getting upset about. MOLA. They can clear it.

channa

30 minutes isn't bad. It could be a lot worse.

I've had one take a while after a few hand-offs on the phone, then an agent double-pulling upgrades and having to deal with MPSC to clean it up.

I'll take a 30 minutes R find any day.

abrutus

Just to update everybody.
As of today 12/28/2014. Best way to clear an upgrade using RPU/GPU`s is to make the reservation on flights that have confirmed R space available. Therefore they will clear instantly at booking.
For waitlisted flights, you will have to look for R space segment by segment like an eagle, (I would do it twice per day), and once it becomes available CALL IN!!!!!! and have the agent force the upgrade. THE SYSTEM WILL NOT UPGRADE YOU AUTOMATICALLY (at least not fast enough, and that lag in time many times is enough for others to be upgraded and take away your seat trough other means (Money+Miles* or straight up purchasing a a seat in first,etc).
I was waitlisted for an RPU upgrade on a DFW-DEN flight on Jan 8. This morning as I was doing my morning R Space check on that segment I saw that it had R space available, and as expected :/.... I was still waitlisted for my RPU upgrade.
So I called it, told them I had an RPU and wanted the seat.. and the agent sounded so surprised, She was like ooh wow! I wonder why it did not clear, Good eye sir!. I was like.. man, if she only knew.
So long story short.
For waitlisted upgrades, Look for R space diligently and once you find space, Call in and get it while it last!
Wating till t-24 or so its a whole lottery in it of itself :S
The struggle is real! thats all im going to say..

alexperi

I just had a waitlisted GPU clear on a EWR-TLV flight at beginning of Feb. Hadn't checked R space for the past few days so I don't know how long it's been showing R>0, if at all. But the upgrade cleared (J is wide open). I understand that this is not a useful data point since I have no idea how long R was open before the upgrade actually cleared, but it's proof, at least, that upgrades can sometimes clear off the waitlist....