azfanboy

I am a 1K who is flying with family to BCN from PHX. The trip consists of 2 segments, each way and the fare class is S. I want to be able to maximize the amount of PQP's that I have, which is 280, and am wondering what the best strategy is here.

Options are:
1) Upgrade myself for the IAD - BCN and BCN - IAD for 160 points.
2) Upgrade all the segments just for myself for this reservation for 240 points, if I do this:
a) Will my family still be eligible for the CPU upgrades as part of my 1K reservation, since the reservation will be split?
b) Does this make sense to even do, given the CPU available for the PHX - IAD - PHX segments?
3) Upgrade 2 IAD - BCN and 1BCN - IAD for 240 points
a) Will this cause this 1 reservation to be broken up into 3 different reservations, and if so, will this cause complications?

Hope all this made sense, and thank you in advance for you help.

jsloan

2 isn't a realistic option. Unless you do something foolish, you'll be able to upgrade PHX-IAD-BCN for 80 points total. You pay the highest number of points for any segment in that direction -- assuming you're not planning a > 24 hour stopover in IAD, anyway.

And, no, once your reservation splits -- which I believe is necessary for you to waitlist the PlusPoints, your companions are no longer eligible for CPU. Although, actually, only one companion is eligible in the first place, and you'd already have to split at check-in to make that possible. Everyone should be able to stay in E+ barring an equipment swap, though.

But before you get any further down this rabbit hole, what are your travel dates? It may not be worth the effort to worry about if clearance appears impossible.

WineCountryUA

With S appears your are booking economy. What's the cost for PremPlus, that significantly modifies chances for the TATL leg

myperks

I would upfare from S to W and have it waitlisted with the same Amount of points as one S. S to W is only one fare class up.

jpezaris

How big is the group traveling (edit: oops, I see it's four total, sorry), and what sort of within-family political capital will you be spending if you upgrade and they don't?

As people much smarter than me (including ua1flyer) have often said, "happy wife, happy life."

azfanboy

You are right about the 80 points total, so thank you for that!

The dates are 10/1 and 10/15 return.

No PremPlus on these flights

Is it possible to upfare only one person out of the 4 in a reservation?

LOL, indeed I am following the advice of this group. This upgrade is for the wife, I'll be sitting in the back with the kids.

If I get 2 the youngest one will go with my wife in the front.

jsloan

For the overwater flight, your outbound is J9 C8 D0. For the return, J9 C7 D1 Z0. Saturday upgrades are tough -- not quite as tough as Friday or Sunday, but more difficult than midweek. Neither of those looks particularly promising 6-8 weeks out.

For the domestic flight, the outbound is J9 C8 D2 Z1 P1, and your return flight is J8 C7 D4 Z0.

The upshot of that is that you'll probably get the most mileage out of the upgrades by upgrading just the domestic legs, for all four of you. There's at least a moderate chance that you'd clear on the outbound; the return looks iffier but you might be able to get a couple of seats.

The suggestion to buy up to W -- a return to the W Lottery of old -- seems iffy at best. For one thing, I don't see W space on those flights; due to inventory, you have to go all the way to U. For another, I don't think you're likely to clear.

If you really want to shoot for one of the overwater legs, you're probably best off splitting the reservation and waitlisting 3 passengers on both the way out and way back. You can only clear one of them, but you can list for both in case somebody opens PZ space on either. Your best bet is to split your wife off and upgrade yourself and two companions, then give your seat to your wife if you clear. That way, you'll keep 1K priority on the upgrade list. If you split yourself off of the reservation instead, the rest of your group will be prioritized based upon the highest Premier status any of them have.

If you do happen to clear the outbound, you can list two passengers for IAD-PHX; however, that would require splitting one of your kids into a separate reservation. If they're of unaccompanied minor age, I believe that can cause some hassle. (The goal here would be to list your wife and one child with PlusPoints, and hope for a CPU for you and the other kid).

I'm not saying any of this is likely -- the only likely upgrade, IMO, is the PHX-IAD outbound -- but it's at least possible.

Good luck!

Section 107

As long as the agent doing the split realizes the parents are still on the same flight as the kids this should not be a problem. I recently did this HNL-IAD (so I could have the lie-flat for the red-eye as I had to go to work immediately after landing) and the agent didn't make one remark about it.

azfanboy

I am the 1K in a split reservation situation. Travelling with family (wife and 2 kids under 12), and requested 3 upgrades with plus points totaling 240 points. This is waitlisted. This is for an international reservation 1 week out. I have a total of 280 points right now, so could only upgrade the other 3.

While browsing my United reservation I noticed that there is 1 seat available for an immediate upgrade. If I upgrade myself, I will have 200 pluspoints remaining, what would happen with the other 3 people in the other reservation? Would any of them be upgraded? Would 2 of them be upgraded? Would I have an opportunity for a miles + $ upgrade?

Lastly do the $ in the money plus miles upgrade count towards the PQP. Thanks all.

Kmxu

One bird on hand is greater than many birds in the forest. With this said, I would do the following:
I assume that you purchased W fare and needed 40 PPs for upgrade to Polaris.
1) Split your wife's reservation and grab the one seat in Polaris so that your kids will have the same upgrade priority with you (and wife will be happy, too).
2) Do nothing with PP request before the outbound flight.
3) If outbound flight upgrade is cleared for you and kids, you will have 120 (280-160) PPs remaining, enough for three persons.
4) Check upgrade standby list now (clock trick with website) and to guessestimate the upgrade chance for all four passengers. If the chance is excellent, you may consider using M+copay on your wife on return (but get the outbound Polaris, first).
Of course, there are other options, depending upon the risk tolerance level and upgrade chance.
Good luck with upgrade.

azfanboy

Thank you for taking the time to answer.
1) I did split the reservation to apply 80 pluspoints for one leg. Unfortunately these are S fares, requiring 80 points per person for each segment.
2) Apparently they (my wife, kid#1, kid#2 are #1, 2, 3 on the upgrade list). I am ofcourse not on there since no more PP left.

Kmxu

Then, you do not have enough PPs for all four. Did you try to call 1K to upfare to W? If upgrade will be cleared, the additional fare is worthwhile, ie., not wasted for nothing.

mduell

The upgrades for the other pax will be skipped from processing until you have enough PP.

"Your PlusPoints balance has fallen below the price of 3 unfulfilled upgrade request(s) and these requests are now being skipped."

jsloan

Yes.

azfanboy

I will be left with 200 points here. Will the first 2 atleast process (160 points), or will it fail for all 3 (240 points)?

Oh this is great to hear. I suppose atleast I'll get some PQP out of this.