Can confirm this is commonplace, especially if the GS is traveling leisure. Sunday IAD-SFO on my last trip the boarding announcement on the 77W was "we'd now like to welcome aboard the 8 Global Services customers on this flight" -- I think two were in F by my count, and one of those was the sole upgrade on the flight (looked like T-48 clear). And this a/c was upgauged from a 772 to a 773 that morning, with no additional upgrades into the 10 additional seats.

I have a single upgrade on a dozen or so leisure flights this year as GS; GS/1K upgrade experience is much less about which level you are and much more about where/when you are flying.

WF? BF.

Observations are sure correct. But whether that translates into proof of wisdom of buying F on every flight is another discussion!

My point is that if GS aren't getting UG'd on most of my flights, then there would be no chance for a 1K like me to ever get an UG. So, the argument made by many other 1Ks here, to book Y, apply PlusPoints at booking and waitlist, because you'll have a high chance of getting the UG, is therefore specious. If there is no chance of an UG and you want to fly in first, then you must buy first. Oh, I do get few UGs on short runs e.g. MSP-IAH/IAD/DEN/ORD, but I don't really care about those because they're not long flights, it's the transcons that I can't deal with.

Exactly, they’d like us to be as loyal to the airline as the airline is to itself.

Well, on my last flight, I was an award ticket, #1 on the upgrade list after F filled up. Part way into the flight, the F FA came out and thanked me for being 1K by name and asked if he could get me more drinks. Towards the end of the flight, he dropped off a stroopwafel/pretzel/water bag that they give out in F. (I saw he had another bag in his hand some maybe another 1K on an award ticket further back)Anyways, that was a first for me. . Well, maybe once an F FA slipped me a snack box (before they were free for 1K). It's very YMMV, some FA's care, some dont.

I'm old enough to remember UA used to provide everyone a snack bag as recent as a few months ago. This is how cheap UA has gotten.

Yeah, now you only get drinks and F gets the bag on short flights. I'm not sure if 1K in Y get access as I don't know how many they load. I've never bother asking. They don't even load snack boxes where in the past, F would get a snack box and Y could buy them. If you go back far enough, there was a period where you only get drinks. Ofcourse if you go way back, we all go meals in Y

But the point of my post was that some FA's will go above and beyond to make a bad situation slightly better.

On both UX and United. I can't remember the gate number but it was IAD-BRU.

On UX, agents may merge BP groups due to the smaller number of passengers -- but an international mainline flight is a problem.

Well, I'm getting what matters to me: decent seats for free in Y on booking, a dedicated phone number with folks who actually know what they're doing, and not having to stand in line to get on the plane. I get the free snack box (when provided / available) with no problem. Name saying happens about 50% of the time. I honestly gave up on upgrades way before the pandemic. While they happened, they were too infrequent to be considered a benefit. Forget about PlusPoints - I apply them EVERY time I fly and I've yet to have one hit. I think that this new benefit is actually a devaluation. United WAAAAY over promises free flights in First and vastly underdelivers. If I knew another carrier did any better, I'd switch.

I was desperate to use my PlusPoints so I made sure I picked flights where there was no waitlist. Not for everyone of course, you need to be able to be flexible and and have multiple ways to get from A to B. Worked out well so far, Polaris for the wife and myself to and from Europe. I didn't even know about PlusPoints when I first tried to make it to 1K but I think they're one of the best parts of the program now. That and pre-boarding, if and when United allows me to do so.

I think overall, I've had more success with UX than mainline. 🤔
(But maybe it's just because UA/Air Wisconsin at AVP is just good at following protocol, and that's where I fly out for most of my UX flights.)

Interestingly, I recently flew DL in paid F, have no status, and got this note from the FA. No one else in my row or in front of me got one as best I could tell...

I got a note like that and a nice notebook and pen set from an LX crew in F once. I've never gotten anything like that on UA.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ca92286714.jpg
Nice Notebook

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...df12ae3574.jpg
Hand-written poem inside, " Der Erlkönig". A very nice touch.

I left IAD from Gate D9 a couple days ago it it was locked down TIGHT! There was absolutely no way to get to the door without going down lane 1 or 2. Kinda surprised me, I never saw it that tight before. Just wanted to validate that it may be infrequent, but I saw it too. I wanted to take a picture, but didnt want to answer questions about why I was so interested....
Lane 1 started filling up the second the GA reached for the microphone. I wandered to the front of Lane 2 and was actually fairly alone. Although I can board with military, I mostly try and wait for GS to go ahead. It just gets a little tight if I am in a bulkhead seat. I never use a carry-on, but do need somewhere to put my small backpack.
I tried the same leaving LAX friday at 71B (I think). The area was jammed with people at the CS counters, and Lane 1 was packed. I just walked up lane 2 and waited there and the front. The GA stopped me as I stepped up from Lane 2. I just quietly said I was military and she let me move on.