ploo

I'm confused on how the instant upgrade system works. I am having to do some last minute travel and had to purchase a B fare. Clearly marked in the flight selection screen and my reservation is the yellow "U" "Premier Instant Upgrade Fare." When I booked the flight there was still F-bucket availability (I think there were 2 tickets left). But when I actually booked the ticket it still put me in economy class. (Nothing instant happened) When I called in, the res agent said that the program is only instant if award upgrade space is available, and the fact that revenue buckets were available was irrelevant. And now that the check in has started the last 2 tickets have been upgraded and I'm at the top of the upgrade list.

Was this correct? When I read the text of the instant upgrade, it does not mention that it needs upgrade award space available but only seat availability. It seems like a misrepresentation of this "perk" since upgrade space is rarely available these days (esp to those flying last minute on B fares).

Ploo

anc-ord772

The agent was correct, the instant upgrade does not pull from F or A. Instant upgrades on a B fare pull from the PN fare bucket. Therefore for an instant upgrade to be processed at time of booking PN>0. If PN=0, I guess UA is supposed to sweep regularly, but I booked a flight with my TA and had to call UA to manually process the upgrade. When I tried to do it online, UA wanted 10k miles.

Night Flyer

You need PN inventory to upgrade into on a B fare domestically. If PN=0 you won't get an "instant" upgrade, you'll get waitlisted.

Also, you need to actually "redeem" the instant upgrade by clicking the smaller blue "redeem instant elite upgrade" link on the lower part of the page after booking. It's "instant" but not "automatic."

Chances are if only 2 F seats remained that there was no PN inventory available at the time you booked.

ploo

OK thanks

Somehow I feel that this can be better communicated to keep expectations inline with reality. On the return, which is also a B fare, there isnt the yellow "U" and corresponding upgrade text. I'm not sure their algorithm on when they show this vs not.

Paul

ijgordon

The little yellow "U" icon is supposed to indicate that there is, in fact, the appropriate inventory for the instant upgrade. I can't say for certain whether it's working correctly all the time, but this is not something that ever came up as an issue in the past.

That said, you still need to request the upgrade during the booking process. There are legitimate reasons why people DON'T want the upgrade at booking, namely those who need an eTicket receipt in coach for T&E reimbursement.

You can keep an eye on the flight, and if a seat opens, you can go online and try to confirm the upgrade at that point.

bldr1k

I was under the impression that if I booked a YBM fare, and there was room in first, I would get an instant upgrade. Twice since March 3rd I've booked one of these fares and ended up in coach. I figured there were lots of GS or people ahead of me and that was life.

I just booked another flight in M and decided to go fishing around. What I realized is that I have to go in to the seating chart and request the instant upgrade. Voila - the upgrade goes through and I'm in first class (which is good since there were only 4 center seats left in coach).

Live and learn...

RealFan

Glad you figured it out. This was mentioned in a few YBM threads post 3/3. Never hurts to have a reminder though.

redwoman

[QUOTE=bldr1k;18349090]I was under the impression that if I booked a YBM fare, and there was room in first, I would get an instant upgrade. [QUOTE]

Don't you also have to make sure that there is PN availability if a B/M or JN availability if Y?

I made a point of this because, on an upcoming flight of mine, there are 5 seats free in F if you look at the seatmap, but if you try to buy that segment, it's not available for sale.

Daniel-SYD

Yeah, that is not the most intuitive. Hopefully it gets rolled into the Redeem Upgrade page.

I keep ending up with two seats when I buy in M/B/Y and apply a GPU. I end up with a seat in PN and R because of the Instant Upgrade :-) Gate fixes this, but if you care about which seat you want, it is best to call in ahead to correct this.

bsmnsr

Thanks for sharing the lesson with us. I missed that in the other thread.

Beerman92

This is correct. Make sure PN is available before you buy a B or M (if 1K) and JN if you buy Y. Then make sure to request the instant upgrade before purchasing. You can even pick your seat after the upgrade goes through before purchasing.

pdx1M

I think it is the case that the instant upgrade icon will only display in the flight search for flights where the upgrade will work. If the relevant class (PN or JN) isn't available then the icon shouldn't be there. But in any case it is safest to select the upgrade during the booking and before you pay.

austin_native

I have to book via Carlson for work, so I go in after the fact and choose seats. I've had to call each time to get the instant y/b/m upgrade pushed through since system conversion. Interested to know if anyone has self-service upgraded when they see the icon on their segment? Would you mind detailing the steps? Next time this happens I'll try and "explore" the page options more thoroughly. Thanks.

alex_b

Quick question. If I book a Y fare UA metal, but as a code share flight number am I still eligible for Instant Upgrade. I'm flying to NZ and will be flying UA841 (NZ9149) as one leg in Y.

sbm12

Historically, yes, though I haven't heard examples going either way since 3.3.