mr27

Do any of you folks fly this routing frequently? What are your upgrade experiences? I would be routing via SFO on a Saturday. As a guy who is 6'2 I would rather not get stuck in E+ for the JFK-SFO leg. Thanks in advance.

tulippicker

The ungodly early flights usually have space up front. If you're using miles you can presumably find out if there is room when you book the ticket. Saturdays are obviously good days. If it's all the same to you, your odds almost have to be better routing via LAX--much fewer connecting PAX. It's probably not all the same to you though, as you're looking at either a CRJ or a Brasilia through LA, versus mainline or a CR7 through SFO.

good luck

mr27

Thanks tulippicker. If it improves my chances through LAX I can put up with the short hop to SAN. My previous experience out of JFK-SFO was on the 6am flight in e+. Yikes!

unavaca

I've flown the 6am JFK-SFO a few times and there's generally upgrade space available a few days prior to departure. I've cleared with miles as a 1P (before the GS window) and with e500s as a 1P.

CruzinAway

I was on #893 yesterday (JFK-SFO Saturday) morning at 8:15 AM and put in for an upgrade and did not clear. I am a 1P. Your best shot would be a Saturday or Sunday morning, preferably the 6:00 AM flight. I usually chat for a second or two with the gate agents if they are not busy and ask how many GS and 1K's are on the flights. Usually they total over 30 on any flight after 7AM on this route. JFK and SFO are full of high level UA elites. I am very much a lightweight as a 1P on this route, which I fly at least 5-6 times a year.

On my flight yesterday there were so many high status people who boarded before I did, that the gate agent had to shoo away the regular passengers, GM's and 1P's so that they could make way for the lowly Premier Executives to board. All of the plebs were getting restless after all the high status people had boarded. I guess they were worried that there would not be any seats left on the plane.

mr27

Thanks to everyone for their tips. I will book my seat
and hope I can snag an upgrade.

ifly153

Look for flights using a 757 since there are 24 available F seats. Your chances on a 757 are much better than A320 (12 seats) or A319 (8 seats).

As already suggested, the P.S. JFK-LAX-SAN gives you a good chance of upgrades. Also, if you go JFK-IAD-SAN, you might be able to get one of the 777 international versions with a ton of F and C seats on the IAD-SAN leg, which give you a much better chance of upgrading too.

mr27

Thank you intl_flyer153. Which experience is better in
C, the ps 757 or 777?

ifly153

P.S. > 777.

But usually, I'm more interested in just getting the seat so I would still look at how full each are and go with that one.

What I do along with checking inventory in expert mode, is to do a dummy booking one way flight on .bomb in C and check how many seats are taken. Even though its not a perfect science since there could be people who have gate assigned seats, it still gives you a good idea on which flights have more space available.

mr27

I'll do that thanks.

hmy1

AFAIK, UA does not have regularly-scheduled widebody service to SAN. I can't remember the last time I saw a 767 or 777 in SAN.

For the OP, I agree with the others that upgrades on LAX-JFK are easier to get than SFO-JFK. I've found that the very first and last flights in both directions (and the red-eyes) are easiest to get. Please note that it will not be possible to get on the 6am-ish LAX-JFK or SFO-JFK flights if originating from SAN since flights out of SAN are not allowed to take off until after 6:30.

ifly153

Yes, your probably correct about that. I've never actually been on any IAD-SAN flight. I was thinking more from my perspective of what I would do to get back home from JFK, and JFK-IAD-SFO does have 777 service for the IAD-SFO leg.

Of course, OP could also do JFK-IAD-SFO/LAX-SAN with 777 service and rack up an extra 500 miles.

mr27

The extra miles would be icing on the cake. I really dont
mind not clearing between SAN-JFK. Id prefer to clear
out of JFK.