Best option for scoring upgrade to business with A fare
 

I was finally able to finalise plans for my first trip to Asia (EWR-HKG-HAN-NRT-EWR) with what seemed like a reasonable price with Premium Plus (R on the way out and A on the way back from Narita to Newark). I do not have status currently, but have 105k miles and a United Mastercard that I got years ago.

I'd like to upgrade the flight on the way back, but United are looking for 30k miles and $450 to be waitlisted. Is there anything else I can do to get a cheaper upgrade, or to improve the likelihood of an upgrade? I should have looked at my credit card before now, but I can look into that if there is a better option. My guess is that this route is fairly busy so I'd have to be lucky to get off the waitlist with better credentialed (and probably more deserving) passengers.

Thanks!

Nothing that you can do other than look at buying up to C. There are several threads on upgrade waitlists, but the gist is that they are ranked by status first, so that makes you pretty low on the pecking order. If you're willing to pay the 30K miles and $450 co-pay, I say put yourself on the list. Just be prepared to sit in Premium Plus.

• You can pay the fare difference
• You can watch to see if you are offered a discounted cash upgrade
• You can waitlist with miles+copay
• You can find a friend with a GPU (Global Premier Upgrade) cert ( do NOT buy these on eBay / Craigslist / ... or any online site) This will not improve your priority but if the GPU is a gift, it is cheaper.

With your paid PP fare, you will be a higher priority than someone in regular economy waitlisting for business (including elites), but with no status, any other elite waitlist in paid PP will be ahead of you.