Yes.

HI Guys,

First time I am trying to play the game. Have AMS ORD booked in April on a 788. Currently J9 O9 Y9. Purchased award economy ticket for wife and I then paid cash to upgrade to PP. Current fare class is R. Threw in Plus Points for waitlist to Polaris. Under "My Trips" it says Upgrade "waitlist." Called 1K. She said there is 7 PNRs waitlisted for Polaris but that she didn't see my reservation on the list. She wasn't sure why.

Did I mess up somewhere?

She also said a few other (minor) things that were inaccurate/not technically correct. Trying to see if it's me or her. I will probably HUCA tomorrow.

Thanks all!

If it says waitlist, you’re probably good. Maybe a communication problem. You can also go to United.com > my trips > PlusPoint upgrades to confirm. If it’s there (and looks like my August 31 request), I wouldn’t bother calling agent. There is a possibility your reservation might be out of sync, in which case it will look like my last request does (no points requested and no cancellation option) - then you might call to re-sync (which I need to do):
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...abc967bf3c.jpg


United is not clearing upgrades early and the trip’s in April. Calling to see status is a waste of agent’s and your time. The only exception is if you PZ>O during interim, at which time you might want to rescind request and re-apply.

If the status of the upgrade =waitlisted, then you are good. Unless there are confirmable positive space, then you will have to wait and see how everything plays out.

Calling to see your position is taking away time for customers actually traveling. I am critical of United, deservedly so, but its IT is among the best in the game, and there are a lot of things you can do yourself.

Thanks guys! Message received. I got to reading something here (honestly don't remember which thread) about someone seemingly screwing up the award economy ticket --> cash upgrade to PE --> Plus Points to Waitlist for Polaris game which I thought was something to do with them upgrading to wrong PE fare class but I probably misunderstood what they were saying and I just wanted to make sure I did this process correctly. Sounds like I should be set. My page does look the image above. Appreciate the help!

O, A, R are all upgradable fare classes on UA for PP upgrades. Partners may (ANA comes to mind) exclude the lowest PE fare class(es) for upgrades.

What you’re trying to do isn’t officially allowed, so I don’t think I’d be calling agents about it.

The problem would occur if you ended up in RN/ON rather than R after applying the cash buy up. I’m not sure if that’s still happening, and it definitely doesn’t seem to be happening when RN=0. If it did, though, you’d have been ineligible to upgrade with PlusPoints. As it is, your wife should be prioritized as a PE customer as if she’d bought a cash ticket in R.

What I believe you may have seen somewhere is multiple reports that recently United closed the 'loophole' that allowed you to buy up to PE and then apply PlusPoints despite starting with an award ticket. However, more recent reports have indicated that the loophole is now again available. So it looks like you were able to take advantage of this loophole being reopened but given that it's not officially allowed, this isn't something you'd want to litigate with United customer support reps.

Thank you, all. I think that is most definitely what I saw. I am definitely currently in R fare class. And also most definitely "waitlist." I will certainly keep my mouth shut and let it ride. I appreciate the help of all!

I'm looking for upgradable space from BOS to Germany near term. When I look at the one-ways (IAD<->BER, EWR<->BER) there is plenty of PZ space available, However, trying to add the short hop to Boston messes things up terribly. If there is no PZ space on the short haul, they seem to block the PZ inventory on the transatlantic flights as well. The only options that seem bookable from BOS have 10+ hour layovers. I'm perfectly fine with flying E+ on the shorthaul or being waitlisted but it doesn't seem that this option is bookable. Does anyone have an idea what's going on there and how to deal with this ? Ironically I found a good return option using LHR->BOS since the shorthauls in Europe are not United metal so they can't be upgraded anyway (which is fine with me).

Ignore it entirely. If there is PZ space on the longhaul flight, your PlusPoints will clear when you apply them, even if you see PZ0 when combined with a short-haul flight.

We are on a round-trip IAD-DEN-IAD.
There were 3 of us on one PNR.
The outbound split when I, the 1K, cleared in advance on the outbound.
My two companions cleared at the gate on the outbound and were split.

Now we have three locators.

On the return, my two companions are non-status members.

However, one non-status companion is # 6 on the list while I, the 1K, is #8, and my other non-status companion is #9.

We aren't going to make it but I'm curious why my non-status companion is higher than I am on the list.

Thanks.

who has the original PNR?

The person who is at the top on the list within our group (non-status) is the one with the original PNR.
Does that matter even they are a general member and I'm 1K?

Question for the experts: 2 pax, both GS on reservation in A one way and R the return. GS plus points applied for upgrade. Is it better to split the reservation in case PN is released by increments of 1? Phone agent says it does not matter, reservation will automatically be split if PN=1. This is not what I have been told before and would prefer early choice of seats.

Thanks in advance!