TerryK

I experienced a similar upgrade issue. I was on SFO-EWR with PP supported upgrade. I was #3 on PS upgrade list and #2 on Polaris upgrade list. It was curious as #1 & #2 on PS list were not on Polaris list. Two Polaris seats were open when boarding started. I approach GA to inquire about my upgrade but was told I was #4 on the list. Then she cleared #1 & #2 from PS upgrade list into Polaris. #1 on Polaris upgrade list didn't clear. It appears that there are hidden entries in Polaris upgrade list which is not visible on app.

lotemblizej

I am 1K flying on Q fare from MUC to IAD in the coming week and applied a GPU before switch to PlusPoints. I am 16 of 19 on the waitlist, which is the furthest down I have ever been on a Q fare. While I acknowledge there are many good reasons while this could be legit, it feels to me just like after the merger when the upgrade waitlist process was also broken for a while (IIRC it put CO elites above UA elites for several months and I believe I missed several upgrades then as a result). Hope my fears are wrong, but UA already let me down before.

Kacee

Yes, that's right. Is that what you meant to say - that pax listed for both PP and Polaris are ahead of you?
Which suggests what you're seeing is not the "unpublished" list. Whether it's the published day of departure upgrade standy list who knows.

NYC2SGN

PS = Premium Plus?

TerryK

Whoop. I mixed it up with DL Premium Select. Yes, I meant Premium Plus.

escapefromphl

If they are going to publish anything it should attempt to be as close to what the actual upgrade order is. They should just not publish at all if there is no apparent order to the actual upgrade order. I suspect what is published is something simplified like what the CPU order would be, but the system below is properly handling all the different cases, displaced F pax, GS etc.

Kacee

There have always been two separate lists, one published, one not. The issue now is that at least one of them seems prone to serious errors.

cricketer

I've reduced stress in my life by treating the upgrade lists as a random lottery and not looking at them for the most part. I make peace with my E+ seat, and if I happen to get an upgrade, then great. Saved me so much time and hassle - calling in when I didn't appear on the list at T-24, or obsessively checking for PZ (or back then, R) to open up are things of the past. Have I missed out on one or two upgrades? Possibly. Have I saved a few hours o time, and needless "worrying"? Definitely.

None of that justifies the fundamental systemic mess - just makes it easier for me to deal with it. Hopefully someday I'll be able to not think about it because it works as it should.

Kmxu

Another data point: I applied PlusPoints to two domestic segments (within 10 h of the departure time of the first flight). The second segment cleared right away, but the first segment was waitlisted. After I checked in, my name was not on upgrade standby list. A gate agent could not fix it, neither could a 1K agent. Because the first class cabin was full, I gave it up after talking to 1K agent.

Edit: My name was shown up on the upgrade standby list of the second segment with seat assignment after the phone call. It was missing before the call.

Absolute

Ran into a new issues today, in the middle of a few domestic and international segments, requested with GPUs prior to the change. Kept noticing that even though I was near the top (or at the top) of the upgrade list, I was being skipped over.

My first few flights I attributed that to last minute GS bookings on the flights, but for my EWR-YOW tonight I was at #1 , and four people jumped in front of me.

When I asked the GA what happened, she said she tried to reach me as it was telling her I had to pay $100 for the use of the upgrade... As a 1k on a W domestic fare.

She couldn't override it, so had to skip me. A call to the 1k desk saw no issues, and saw I had 500 plus points. She suggested I ask for a supervisor, but the GA agent refused, and said it would be a waste of her time.

Instead she forced an upgrade, and left a note on my reservation that there seems to be upgrade issues, and she implied I'm not the only one with the issue.

Tried to search for similar issues using my phone at the gate.. wonder if it's a legacy upgrade issue? Either way, I'll be calling into the 1k desk on Monday about it.

exerda

I have a flight week after next which will likely CPU clear (a 40 minute RJ flight), but as I have 200 PP that will be expiring by the end of January, I figured I would apply points.

The phone app says the itin isn't eligible for upgrade. The website errors out every time when I try to confirm applying the 20 PP to book it.

Definitely seem to be a fair bit of issues. If I had a longhaul where I was getting bypassed left and right, I'd be furious, that's for sure.

Silver Fox

You didn't have an ex-UK flight anywhere in that same booking did you? That is the only place I have seen $100 when I have used upgrade instruments. Although strangely enough on the phone last week for an ex-LHR the phone agent said the system wanted $121.50, online it said $100. She sat on the phone while I did it online to make sure it all went through ok (it did) and that is the only place I have seen the $100 for an upgrade.

SkiBikeBeer

I had the same thing happen last week on a TPAC. Watched the list process upgrades in a completely random order, most notably a person or two lower than me on the list clearing first. I also had the gate agent say that the upgrade list on the app does not match what they are using to process upgrades. Not ideal.

Silver Fox

Yes, I have noticed this and did mention this somewhere else, maybe here even, but the net is the same that they do not seem to be matching up and the upgrades seem random.

tcdtcd

I was passed up on two recent domestic segments - one was a CPU where I was #1 from checkin to T-15min. Passed by #2. GA said he/she “probably applied plus points at the last minute, but not sure”. 🙄

Second one - on a GPU as part of TPAC where long haul had already cleared. Again I was #1 throughout. Passed by two people who were not even on the list, or at least on page 1 of the list. GA had no explanation - and said the PP process “is a mess right now”.👎