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The way of the Dodo? - 1K upgrades, PP or CPU

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Old Jan 27, 2024, 4:51 pm
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The way of the Dodo? - 1K upgrades, PP or CPU

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Old Jul 12, 2022, 6:13 am
  #256  
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Originally Posted by lsquare
I thought that was J?
On United J is a full business fare. I believe C is the next bucket, so it’s a fare that’s discounted relative to J. You’re correct in that it’s not the full fare. D is similar to C.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 6:54 am
  #257  
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Originally Posted by ContinentalFan
On United J is a full business fare. I believe C is the next bucket, so it’s a fare that’s discounted relative to J. You’re correct in that it’s not the full fare. D is similar to C.
Both C and J are routinely used to mean “the business cabin.” I don’t think the OP was speaking about a specific fare class. There is no consistency between airlines as to what the highest business class fare bucket is.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 7:19 am
  #258  
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Originally Posted by ContinentalFan
On United J is a full business fare. I believe C is the next bucket, so it’s a fare that’s discounted relative to J. You’re correct in that it’s not the full fare. D is similar to C.
Originally Posted by jsloan
Both C and J are routinely used to mean “the business cabin.” I don’t think the OP was speaking about a specific fare class. There is no consistency between airlines as to what the highest business class fare bucket is.
I normally see J being used to mean business class. This is my first time seeing C being used in that manner.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 7:23 am
  #259  
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Originally Posted by lsquare
I normally see J being used to mean business class. This is my first time seeing C being used in that manner.
If I recall correctly it was used on AA a lot for business fares when I flew with them for a while.

At one point, many moons ago, the fare buckets were fairly consistent between and among carriers. I’d say the trigger for the divergence was the Carter-era deregulation of the industry.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 8:55 am
  #260  
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C is commonly used to refer to business class in Europe and Asia. J is more an American thing.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 9:02 am
  #261  
 
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I'm going to date myself by adding my 2 cents - C was used by UA to refer to Connoisseur Class (now known as Business Class) and if memory serves, C was also the fare bucket used for it.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 11:26 am
  #262  
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Originally Posted by MarkyMarc
I'm going to date myself by adding my 2 cents - C was used by UA to refer to Connoisseur Class (now known as Business Class) and if memory serves, C was also the fare bucket used for it.
This is absolutely correct. C was full-fare Business at United before the merger. There was no J.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 3:31 pm
  #263  
 
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Next week wife and I are flying EWR-CDG. We have R class fares, I'm 1K, and we're currently waitlisted for a PP upgrade. Per the UA website there are 25 of 60 seats available in Polaris on our flight at this time. After reading this thread I think I'll have to manage my expectations for an upgrade. I'll be surprised if we don't none the less. Last Sept. wife and I flew from EWR-ATH and were upgraded using PP to Polaris and we were on discount economy fares.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 4:33 pm
  #264  
 
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Originally Posted by flyaway54
Next week wife and I are flying EWR-CDG. We have R class fares, I'm 1K, and we're currently waitlisted for a PP upgrade. Per the UA website there are 25 of 60 seats available in Polaris on our flight at this time. After reading this thread I think I'll have to manage my expectations for an upgrade. I'll be surprised if we don't none the less. Last Sept. wife and I flew from EWR-ATH and were upgraded using PP to Polaris and we were on discount economy fares.
Good luck. Wife and I just cleared last week CDG to EWR booked in PremPlus (think it was A?) — we were 1 and 2 on the waitlist at the gate and we got it. On a Thursday. It can happen.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 4:39 pm
  #265  
 
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Originally Posted by threecap
Good luck. Wife and I just cleared last week CDG to EWR booked in PremPlus (think it was A?) — we were 1 and 2 on the waitlist at the gate and we got it. On a Thursday. It can happen.
I think Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days for upgrades and my experience is I have ways been able to get the upgrades using GPUs/PlusPoints/Mileage Award upgrades

However, I am wondering if United has now factored this into their pricing algorithms as my most recent reservation for December and return January TPAC was significantly cheaper fare for outbound Monday and return on Friday. I think Mondays and Fridays are dreadful days to try and get an upgrade but the airfare was significantly less. I am watching to see if the airfares come down in price for midweek and would switch to them but I am slightly concerned and it is a 14 hour flight...so really hoping the upgrade happens.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 4:42 pm
  #266  
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Originally Posted by iluv2fly
This is absolutely correct. C was full-fare Business at United before the merger. There was no J.
This is what I love about this forum. I had no idea and now younger members can learn from you guys.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 4:46 pm
  #267  
 
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I sense that UA would sell a last minute upgrade for $2 rather than give it away. I’m amazed at how many F seats with PZ=0 disappear even with outrageous fares. I’m dying at 1 again for a cle-den trip and the last seat went for over $2k.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 5:30 pm
  #268  
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Originally Posted by lsquare
This is what I love about this forum. I had no idea and now younger members can learn from you guys.
The critical point was that UA - and all the others - are filling the First and/or Biz cabins with paid customers rather than free upgraders aka CPUs, PPs, etc. Of course this has been the objective from the beginning of time, but now the strategy has shifted from extracting as much as possible from customers flying on company-paid tickets to leisure customers paying fares that are often discounted below the pre-pandemic pricing.

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jul 12, 2022 at 9:26 pm Reason: Removed unneeded comment
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 5:33 pm
  #269  
 
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FRA-IAD on 14 JUL is even P9 (seatmap shows 28+1blocked out of 50) - and yet 1k with PP (H Fare) continue to remain on the waitlist where i've been since ticket was purchased in April.
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Old Jul 12, 2022, 5:35 pm
  #270  
 
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Interesting experiment
my brother in law taking a red eye tonight from lax-xxx (not hub). Flight leaving in 5 hours and he has an H ticket with no status. I just applied pp and he is now #1 on the list with 1 seat left.

somehow bumping everyone else?

although it looks like they already cleared 3-4 from the list already.
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