Yes, that's exactly what UA has said:

Apologies if this has been covered up thread and I missed it... seems like there is some ambiguity when it comes to the cancellation of requested upgrades due to lack of points. When will the cancellation occur? Once my point balance hits zero (or falls below the required number)? Or at the point that a waitlisted upgrade is ready to clear? The difference being that under the second scenario an upgrade could be requested and then supported by points earned at a later date (eg after qualification), whereas under the former it could not. Not a big difference but would have a minor impact on priority.

Fare Buckets still working for upgrades???
 

Hi All,
Saw the announcement on Plus Points: are the Fare Bucket upgrades being eliminated? Or + Points just another way of getting upgrades? Would any of you be willing to give a brief explanation of how +Points work?

Also, I read alot of posts that say "that fare bucket is only for elites"--so what does "elite" now mean?

Finally, what elite level do the "Y" buckets apply to?

Thank you!

Excited about these changes!
 

I think these changes are awesome. I've always hated having to figure out where to spend my GPUs vs. RPUs and having RPUs expire at the end of the year while I'm having to pay miles or copays to upgrade a remaining international leg. So, LOVE IT!

That said, I fly a LOT from SFO <-> EWR . One of the benefits of those flights is that an RPU was usable on them (20 points in the new system). But this "premium" route has multiple types of planes flying on it - true Polaris (all-aisle access) and old-school lie flat (not real Polaris). In addition, some of the planes are now outfitted with Premium Plus, some are not.

So does that mean:
* Dreamliner: Marketed as true Polaris, 20 points for E -> Premium Plus, 40 points for E -> Polaris
* Non-Dreamliner, old config: 20 points for E -> Domestic "First" lie-flat

?

Also, what happens if a plane swap occurs (as is common on this route at this time)?

SFO-EWR is not a Polaris route, regardless of aircraft assignment.

UA doesn't sell Premium Plus (or Polaris for that matter) on domestic/transcon flights. So it's 20 PlusPoints going from Y to F domestic regardless of plane type for now. (I still think transcon/Hawaii routes will require more points when they enhance the program again)

At the simplest level, GPUs and RPUs are being converted to 40 and 20 PlusPoints. Then on the usage side, what had been an RPU upgrade will take 20 points and what took a GPU (with W fare) will take 40 points.
There are a lot of tweaks here and there that may effect some and then some new features. See the wiki of this thread for a the best summary of changes. For many, they will not see much change but there are some intriguing changes. For non-GS you still will be looking for PZ for business / domestic first and RN for PremiumPlus

Are you confusing comments about awards? Other than GS vs non-GS there are no other elite/non-elite restrictions on these PlusPoints upgrades.

For most unless you want to try the new feature, there changes are around the edges (impacting a few, but not most -- realize some will disagree but it really has not changes that much -- may in the future, but not yet). Mileage upgrades are still the same

As Kacee mentioned, the route is marketed as United Business and United Economy with 2-class service, regardless of the equipment flying.

My read is once the number of PlusPoints unused is insufficent to support the request, the request will disappear.

Waiting for you to earn more PlusPoints would create a problem / complexity upgrade inventory was to become available.

To me this seems a reasonable process. No reasonable to hold space on the waitlist if you don't have the points.

The United website makes it sound more like your waitlist becomes "inactive" if you have insufficient points to cover clearance, and would become active again if your points increased. In this scenario, the waitlist is inactive if you go below the number required for that segment, and any upgrade checks will skip you. It would reactivate if you earn more points. But I agree, not terribly clear.

This makes me super happy! Thanks for the replies (and findark!)

Though I suspect hirohito888 is correct, and eventually we will see higher priced upgrades for t-cons and Hawaii. Especially now they're going to be treating PE as separate class of service on SFO-EWR starting Oct. 2.

Every one of your SFO-EWR flights was marketed (front cabin) as “Business”, not “Polaris” or “First”. You can tell by looking at your ticket, and it is independent of flat seat type / aircraft.

It’s not a Polaris route.

Appers that is changing
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...tober-2-a.html

So...
2020 changes: New "dynamic" PlusPoints - Some award upgrade prices will be lower than what’s currently published in our chart.
Which will inevitably lead to:
2021 changes: PQD based Points - Earn X PlusPoints for every $10,000 you spend on United.

I thought United always marketed domestic Business as First?