Is Athens a tough upgrade?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2002
Location: US
Programs: UA GS 2MM
Posts: 1,727
Is Athens a tough upgrade?
Curious if anyone has experience with upgrades out of Athens. I will be flying ATH-IAH in late June. Departure will likely be a Tuesday/Wednesday. 1-stop options are either ATH-EWR-IAH or ATH-MUC/FRA-IAH.
Tickets would be booked in Y with miles and waitlisted for PN with a GPU. If I choose MUC/FRA, I would need to (possibly) buy the LH/A3 flights on the first segment since Y awards arent currently available
Looking at the ATH-EWR flights, the seat map shows 6 seats already taken (other early planners, I see). I spot checked other days in June and noticed very healthy J bookings.
Tickets would be booked in Y with miles and waitlisted for PN with a GPU. If I choose MUC/FRA, I would need to (possibly) buy the LH/A3 flights on the first segment since Y awards arent currently available
Looking at the ATH-EWR flights, the seat map shows 6 seats already taken (other early planners, I see). I spot checked other days in June and noticed very healthy J bookings.
Last edited by cmhua777; Oct 15, 2019 at 2:17 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,651
Advance seat maps are not representative of actual loads. Never have been, unlikely to ever be.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2002
Location: US
Programs: UA GS 2MM
Posts: 1,727
Not sure I understand your comment. I was noting that flight loads already have healthy bookings, since seats are occupied. I think your comment refers to assuming a flight is empty because the seat map is empty? Or are you saying occupied seats might not be actual bookings?
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,651
Not sure I understand your comment. I was noting that flight loads already have healthy bookings, since seats are occupied. I think your comment refers to assuming a flight is empty because the seat map is empty? Or are you saying occupied seats might not be actual bookings?
#5
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,956
I think ATH and VCE are some of the harder seasonal routes UA runs when it comes to upgrades. I would just use the skip the waitlist feature if you have enough points for it next year if you really need it.
#6
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,606
"Seat blocking" is a tough concept for me, not sure a pax can do it and occasionally the airline will but UA usually marks it differently on the map. Anyhow, sticking with OP questions, I agree with PsiFighter37, upgrades into ATH in late June will be almost unheard of. And having relatively recently used points into ATH it is very "pricey" using the "skip the waitlist", I think a F seat will shock as to the amount of points needed.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,839
Flew to ATH in late August, Friday before the long weekend. Thought this would be 'light' in the front cabin but the flight went J0 literally 6 weeks prior and in the end there was a 3 page long waitlist out of which 2 pages were revenue pax. None cleared at the gate. Was happy that I had a C fare booked and didn't play the lottery.