Unexpected GS PlusPoints upgrade behavior (waitlisting for PZ instead PN)
 

This is a first.

Tried to upgrade my niece PVG-SFO-EWR on G fare. She is a silver. I was expecting that she would be on top of both upgrade lists.

To my surprise, she is at the bottom. It turned out that she is waitlisted for PZ, instead of PN.

Did anyone else have seen the same thing?

What's going on? :confused:

I've had this happen before, the last time I called the GS line and they basically removed and reapplied the upgrade request. This resulted in my family member moving to the top of the list.

I applied PP tp my colleagues flight this week. He auto-cleared the first leg via PZ/N inventory and then (as silver) was #26 on the upgrade list for the 2nd leg. F was full already so I didn't bother calling in but it sounds like a similar experience to what you describe.

Unexpected GS PlusPoints upgrade behavior (waitlisting for PZ instead PN)
 

Last year I would often ask my sister to upgrade me to polaris or first class using her plus points. She had 1K status and I have Gold. When she did it I'd jump to the top or very near the top of the waitlist compared to when I used my own miles/copay to get on the waitlist. This year she got GS and used her plus points to put me on the waitlist for an EWR>SFO flight. I'm number 13 on the waitlist and the that's based on my Gold status. I called United and they said that's always been the policy. Unless she's on the reservation waitlist priority is based on my own status. I know that's not how it worked before. I even had a situation where I was number 33 on the waitlist when I used my miles so I canceled my upgrade and asked her to put in the upgrade for me and I immediately jumped to number 7.

Does anyone know what's going on? Can it really be that you are worse off being upgraded by a GS than being upgraded by a 1K? Or have they changed or "fixed" something this year? I assumed I'd be even higher on waitlists now that she has GS but instead I'm in the same spot as if I did the upgrade myself.

I think you're just on an SFO flight at the end of January where there are a ton of GS PPs floating around and that's actually where you belong on the list. Bad info on the phone.

The rep looked at the waitlist and told me there are 10 1Ks and 2 Plats ahead of me and that I'm listed as Gold on the list. It's not a crowded flight.

That’s not true as you’ve described it.

That’s true, sort of.

That’s not true, but the current policy has been in place for about a decade.

That’s mostly true.

Not possible as you’ve described it.

For upgrades to business class, GS upgrades have implicit priority over non-GS upgrades; however, within GS upgrades, you’ll be prioritized based upon your paid cabin and Gold status. Most EWR-SFO flights, you’ll have no chance of being upgraded, because the GS member sponsoring the upgrade is traveling and therefore the entire travel group will be prioritized ahead of you.

For upgrades to Premium Plus, GS upgrades do not confer any additional priority benefit.

PlusPoints from a 1K account do not have any inherent priority above a Miles+Copay request from a Gold account. You’ll end up in exactly the same spot on the waitlist with these two instrument types.

The only way to square is circle is that either your sister was actually GS last year or (more likely) the time(s) that you noticed yourself leaping up the waitlist, your Miles+Copay upgrade hadn’t been applied successfully and you were looking at your spot on the CPU list.

Are you waitlisted for PN or PZ? That is the only way that you’re getting any extra priority from your sister’s PlusPoints — they should waitlist you for PN.

No one here can see the details of your specific flight. What we can tell you is there are plenty of data points including very, very recent ones that say that the system works as you expect it to work, not as you are being told, anecdotally by a single agent, that it works. Note my status to the left, this is not a guess. So the most likely explanation for you, with imperfect data, is the one I gave above.

The system does not work as OP thinks that it works, but the OP is correct in this specific instance: GS PlusPoints are more powerful instruments than non-GS PlusPoints, for upgrades to business only. OP hasn’t stated what class of service he’s listed for.

Thanks for replying, but everything I wrote is 100% true and happened exactly as I described. I now found a post in the GS thread where someone is mentioning the exact same strange behavior. They upgraded a colleague who went on the list as Silver instead of where GS would usually put them as they were accustomed to.

I'm talking about the upgrade list to Polaris from economy.

No, it isn’t, and it didn’t. I assure you, about a decade ago, UA very loudly and very firmly closed the loophole where status was inherited from the instrument being used. It used to work exactly like you thought — if a 1K used an instrument for an upgrade, you’d basically inherit 1K status for a day (and if they used their miles to buy you a flight, you’d inherit 1K status on that too). Here is the thread from when it was taken away: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-accounts.html

I promise you, it’s simply not true that you were inheriting your sister’s status when she used her PlusPoints before. If that functionality returned, I assure you that this board would notice.

The colleague is supposed to be on the list as a Silver. It’s just, they should be waitlisted for PN. That is the only thing that differs between a request from a GS account and a request from a non-GS account, unless the GS is traveling.

Since you said you’re talking about the business class list, I ask again: are you waitlisted for PN? If so, you’re in the right spot on the waitlist. If not, ask your sister to cancel and re-apply the request, or ask her to call GS customer service.

They said I'm listed as PZ

Ask your friend to remove and reapply the points.

OK. That sounds like a glitch, and I expect the only person who can resolve it is your sister. You should be in PN, which would probably put you first on that list, at least for now.

(Unless they’re making GS PlusPoints less valuable, which I would absolutely love since I’m not, and never will be, a GS. :D but I don’t think for a moment that they’re doing that).

Appears to be a recurring glitch. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36819978-post100.html