malgudi

Haha ... that gives me hope as I'm not #1 on the list (yet)

So how do we find out where we are on the list?

(Not that anybody would do such a thing) But isn't this a perfect setup for upgrade shenanigans to happen?

jsloan

We guess.

Absolutely, which is why I hope that if #1 on the list gets skipped, they’ll write to UA. Eventually they either need to fix the list or they need to hide it. Hiding it obviously doesn’t solve the problem, but bad information is worse than none at all, IMO.

That said, the lists are demonstrably worse for flights with a PP cabin. My guess is that they are pulling the upgrades in the published order — meaning paid PE has an advantage over paid Y — but not listing them in that order. But, it’s hard to be 100% sure.

SS255

Anything can be fixed if you throw enough money at it. And therein lies the problem.

Flying Machine

I purchased a ticket for my son to go back to Boston after his winter break. He’s traveling this evening.

I applied 20+ points that were expiring at the end of the month. I applied them about a week and a half ago. He was number three on the list. The list has been flawless on this reservation. He stayed number three all along, last night after checking in number one and two cleared, he then became number one, around four in the morning he cleared as well. Received notification and he was assigned a good seat as well. I didn’t see any issues at all

jsloan

No, that really isn’t true. There’s a saying in the software world — adding more people to a late project makes it later. It’s not foolproof, but I’ve seen it happen time and time again. The new people on the team aren’t familiar with the work that’s already been done, so they end up interrupting the experienced people to ask them questions, slowing the whole thing down. Plus, with a larger team, there’s more overhead (meetings, time spent project planning, reports, etc.).

If I had to guess, I’d say that management never asked the engineers whether or not the project timelines were reasonable; or, if they did, either (a) there’s a culture of never saying ‘no’ to management; (b) they kept asking until they found someone who would agree; or, (c) they asked somebody without any experience (“Hey, congratulations, you’re the development lead for MileagePlus. December 4 sound OK?”).

WineCountryUA

The Brooks' classic, The Mythical Man-Month.
A short but excellent read. Still have my 40+ year old copy. And does not just apply to software development.

jane456

So I have spent all morning on the phone with United regarding a Plus Points upgrade waitlist for an upcoming flight from Frankfurt to SFO in about ten days. I am not sure if this is about Plus Points and the wait list, that is part of it.

But I think it's more about the United 1K customer support for this crazy mess. I spoke to an agent when I booked the ticket, right away to make sure I had the correct fare to get an upgrade and that it was looking O.K., that I had a chance. I know, no guarantee. But I have had a lot of success with this approach in the past. I would have paid more to get a better chance, but they said, you are good there's lots of room, you have a good chance. This morning I have spoken to 4 different agents and they all tell me something different. One told me I have no chance,even though there are seats available, not a lot but some. Another told me there is no way to tell until 24 hours prior to the flight, there is no way for United to tell. I also was looking at options for changing the flight and if I could do it 24 hours prior to avoid the change fee. Again conflicting information from each agent I spoke to. The last one was very nice, but basically there are no realistic options for me at this stage. I will have to wait until check in time and then hope that I can speak to an agent who actually has the correct information. Ha! I will of course try again prior to the actual flight and we'll see. Oh and the last leg of this reservation, a short flight from SFO to LAX did get upgraded and they took the 40 PlusPoints. I didn't want that and they told me it doesn't matter to my other chance of getting upgraded. But if my experience from this morning continues then that may be incorrect information also.

If anyone has any thoughts, tips, they would be very welcome. I think I really want to make the point that nobody at United really knows how this "new" system works and it is a total mishigas. You cannot rely on United to assist or advice you because they don't seem to understand it anymore than anyone else.

Just spoke to another agent and was told that this is something new, she just found out about 2 days ago. Which is they can see where you are on the list this 11 days out (not sure the exact time frame). So I have zero chance of getting upgraded, I am now being told. I regret booking that long leg on this trip, but I was given confidence by the agent I spoke to at the time that it all looks good. I will try to change within the 24 hour time frame, but poor chance of being able to and not incurring significant costs. I will be traveling less this coming year and maybe that's a good thing. This is neither fun nor funny.

Kacee

I have my doubts they asked someone competent whether the goals themselves were reasonable, independent of timeline, keeping in mind what they are layering on top of.

Flying Machine

If you have an iPhone just change the date ahead and look at the flight list via flight status then upgrades.. you’ll see where you are. That’ll give you a little bit more color

RobOnLI

As the poster above me already said, change the date on your phone and load the United app to get current flight status. When United rolled out PlusPoints on Dec 4, 2019 they also enabled the entire upgrade list to be visible. So now you can see where you are in the upgrade queue whether you're checked in or not. This is invaluable data for deciding which flights to take in the future.

As to your question about PlusPoints. The new system has been discussed at length in so many threads on FT and is explained clearly on United.com. Basically, you booked FRA-SFO-LAX and waitlisted with PlusPoints. This upgrade costs 40 PlusPoints (W or higher coach fare) or 80 PlusPoints (if S or lower coach fare). Once any segment clears you are charged the full upgrade cost. If only SFO-LAX clears then you will get PlusPoints back because it's only 20 points for domestic upgrades. But the 20 points that are locked up waiting for the Polaris upgrade can't be used on any other reservation until they are released (assuming you don't get the FRA-SFO upgrade). This is why most won't select the domestic segment for an upgrade because 20 PlusPoints is a waste for a flight like SFO-LAX. And the new system does not allow you to cancel a successful PlusPoints upgrade.

-RM

n8-the-gr8

In general, the only way to guarantee an upgrade is if you see PN (for Global Services) or PZ space (for 1K's) at time of booking. You can see this on United's website when searching flights if you have expert mode (or whatever it may now be called) turned on in your profile. Obviously if there are a lot of seats in Polaris and you're a few days out, chances are good. If you're booking farther out there's really no guaranteed way to tell you your likelihood even if they know trends on the specific route (which a phone agent will not know). The FAQ on United's site lists the discount fare codes that require more PlusPoints (https://mileageplusupdates.com/milea...lish/upgrades/ - it's fare classes S, T, L, K, and G - basic economy is not eligible) - I always find it better to just know the rules and book when I find PN space rather than rely on information from agents. They can either give you misinformation to appease you (in saying an upgrade is likely) or tell you they don't know (unsatisfying) when asking about upgrade likelihood months out.

jane456

I don't have an I phone. So I guess this would not have helped me and was it available when I originally booked?

fumje

I think 'iPhone' was used generically there, a la 'Kleenex'. You can do that with any phone that runs the United app. The last time I tried, it also worked to change your computer date and use the website.

jane456

This approach has been pretty successful for me in the past (maybe 80% of the time), finding a fare and route that has a good amount of open seats and then speaking with an agent to make sure it had a reasonable chance of upgrade.. I did not book the fare classes you mention, I booked in a class that upgraded me for my outbound international flight. I would have payed more and got a fare with a better chance, if I thought I needed to do that. My gut told me that booking a longer flight was a higher risk, but the reassurance of the agent lulled me into a false sense of security. Also, I did not have the option of selecting only the international leg for upgrade, as a previous poster suggested.

There's still a couple of things I can try. I will figure something out, but now I think, is it worth all the time I have spent.

I was not given the option of selecting only the international leg for an upgrade. I would have done that if I was able, because I agree domestic is not worth it.. These plus points don't matter much because they are going to expire.I just didn't want this SFO part to affect my chances with the international segment. They told me it doesn't matter, how reliable that is I don't know.

jsloan

FYI: It’s against UA policy for them to give you that information. Some will do it anyway. Others make something up. The problem is that the list is ordered by status and fare, so it’s always possible to be hopped.

All UA fare classes can be upgraded except for a Basic Economy ticket. You must have booked one of them.

I rarely, if ever, recommend this. Spending more to waitlist a flight is often just a way to pay money to move higher up the list of people who don’t clear the waitlist.

Did you book this flight, and apply the upgrade, prior to December 4?

It doesn’t.

Basically, the reservation agents you spoke with aren’t experts on MileagePlus or upgrades. Many of them have never used an instrument in their life. Most of their training involves ticket purchases and changes, as that’s a much larger part of their job than anything in the MileagePlus world. The collective wisdom of this forum is, in aggregate, likely more accurate — many of us use (or try to use) our upgrade points frequently, and we’ve had to learn the system as a result.