Problem with the new e-SWU
 

Made 1K. Yey for me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I bought one of those S fares when UA was matching BA's SFO-LHR $100 each way sale a month ago. Total fare paid: $336 USD. The outbound flight departs on January 28. There is (currently) confirmed upgrade inventory for NC available on both of my nonstop segments. Another yey http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'm supposed to get 6 electronic SWUs deposited into my Mileage Plus Account in 2004. Yet another yey http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The question is when.

I've asked Mileage Plus a couple of times. They understand the dilema, but no one (including a Service Director) knows when the electronic SWUs are supposed to appear in our accounts.

If I want to upgrade, I have to buy up to a V fare. Currently it's only $218 more than my super cheapie S fare. This is a leisure trip. I'm willing to pay the money, but if I don't have a way to support the upgrade at check-in, I get thrown into an E- middle seat and don't get any money back.

Mileage Plus suggested waiting until mid-January to see if the electronic SWUs post first, so that I do not waste any money. They mean well, but the confirmable upgrade spaces and the lowest V fares will be long gone by then! And you know the SFO-LHR nonstop market is particularly expensive when you get into the higher fares (when compared proportionally to lengthier flights in the UA system).

1. If the agent at Mileage Plus said she got the (lack of) info from a Service Director, is there a Supervisor or some other type of employee I should have been talking to?

2. Can Customer Relations Help on this issue?

3. If you pay up for a higher fare, can UA issue a travel certificate for the difference back down to the lowest available fare that you qualify for (at the time of such a request), on the exact same itinerary?

I suppose Coupon Connection is an option, but I feel more comfortable knowing how I can solve this using United Airlines.

I would like to add that all of the agents at Mileage Plus and Int'l Reservations have been very helpul and courteous. They all completely understood what my dilema is and they were careful to not make any promises that they cannot fulfill.

FWIW, I would also add that one of the Int'l Reservations agents made it a point to congratulate me for making 1K. She said it should be particularly enjoyable next year because they will have a lot more 1Ps but not that many 1Ks.

[This message has been edited by John26 (edited Dec 12, 2003).]

Fewer 1k's next year? With all of the EQM promos, how can someone not make 1K?

Phone and book the upgrade now on the 'S' fare and say you are going to use a paper SWU to upgrade. If pressed (unlikely) say it will be a 'Sweet Spot'. Select your favourite seats.

When agent asks you at desk how you are supporting the UG - ask her to deduct 2 x SWU.

If they are not posted there yet, 99% certain they'll let it slide based on your real situation. OR take miles. Not YOUR fault they are not posted by end Janaury. You are a new 1K and can't except to know all this stuff. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Print out and take this along:

www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50622,00.html?code=&jumpLink=%2Fplusismore

If UA can't be precise on thier own website about SWU deposit date what fault of YOURS is that? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

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~ Glen ~ sipping bubbly from a UA 747-400 exit row 15 near you SOON!

Um, they're gonna ask for the profile code.

Making 1P and 2P was twice as easy on the double EQM offer as opposed to 1K...that might help explain the swelling of the mid-tier. I just hope UA won't have to go the path of DL or CO and cut benefits to reduce the number of elites the program can't realistically support.

Creative, but miles require an H fare and there won't be a V fare to buy up to at check in (most V fares require at least 7 days advance purchase). Probably will only be M, B or Y at that point.

The web site clearly excludes S and T fares from the new e-SWUs. I wonder if I'd have better luck paying up to V first and then trying to get miles deducted at check in if needed.

FWIW, same time last year on LAX-LHR I got delayed due to mechanical and was on an S ticket as well, but protected in the B booking class on the next morning's flight. The Gate Agent on that flight let me upgrade at the 15,000 mile price, knowing full well I was ticketed in S. He said he was allowing it as a favor and to help apologize for the delays (right after the UA bankruptcy was declared, too).

Very interesting strategy, ozstamps.

Any other ideas on how to resolve this "officially?"

Officially...then here's what I would do.

Pay up to V, secure the upgrade, and if flight date approaches and you still don't have E-SWUs posted, call United Customer Relations and explain things. They'll likely authorize the upgrade in your PNR. Then they may or may not follow up and deduct them from your 6. You might get very lucky. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Good Luck!

for what it is worth, i called 2 days ago and was able to get a confirmed upgrade, using eSWU, even though nothing is in my account. i was told during this particular phone call that they plan on posting the upgrades on 1 Jan. under that assumption she upgraded me for my travel plans on jan 5.

And oh, btw, if you were 1K in all of '03 and requalify @ 100,000 paid miles or 100 segments, you get 8 E-swu's in January/February.

Confirmed this with M+ for re-qualifiers. I made sure of the agents name and that she noted it in my account that she was certain.

IMPORTANT: With which "device" will you upgrade from a "V" fare? Clearly a SweetSpot or new E-SWU will work, but you seem to not have either. The only other option that comes to mind is an H fare, with miles. Perhaps you were misinformed?

He expects to have his new V-fare eSWU by his departure date (01.28/04), UNITED959.

He would just like to secure his upgrade before he gets the SWU, while seats are currently available, rather than wait till he has the cert and there might not be any seats available anymore.

I ditto Glen's advice here.


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True, but I just called Rez last night to price out an ORD-CGN for March. They would not confirm the upgrade using a new e-SWU w/o them being in my account; she'd only price out an H fare. Maybe my CSR was just a stickler. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Amen. With no difficulty at all, anyone could have made 1K this year by sending in three competing frequent flier statements, flying a mere 45,500 miles, and paying $100.00.

Or uninformed. I know of dozens of folks that have upgraded using the new Systemwides without them being issued yet. All they way back to a few days after they were announced, too.

It's just like any other E-Cert (CR1s or 500 milers)...you don't have to have them in your E-Bank to confirmed under them. You just have to have them by the time you fly.

A United system profile exists for the new Systemwides (was loaded I believe the day after they were announced) and someone even posted that new profile code in another thread here on FlyerTalk. So the agent can get all the booking codes they need from that.

Just call back and get another agent.

I have successfully secured upgrades, for Int'l V fare flights in April 2004, using my earned e-SWU's. ( I have ~ 130k flight miles credited to my M+ account in 2003.) The CSR was somewhat hestitant to do this but when I explained the details, quoting from the email I received from UA about these new SWU's, she went ahead and confirmed my upgrades. (A Mileage Plus CSR previously mentioned to me that this was acceptable, and that Reservations Supervisors are both aware of these new e-SWU's and can approve their use in advance of having them deposited based upon your YTD mileage accrual activity being greater than 100,000 EQM's.)

One can of course purchase an H fare, confirm upgrades with miles, then refare to a V, take the difference, and substitute e-SWU's anytime through check-in.

The original poster might just consider sticking with the S fare, and locate someone who might swap Sweet Spot SWU's for his 2004 e-SWU's?

[This message has been edited by transpac (edited Dec 13, 2003).]

If you want to take tanspac's advice, I'd be glad to swap paper certs (Sweet Spots) for the e-certs -- although this is not the forum for this exchange.

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JerseyJoe

I actually know of a few flyers that aren't even 1Ks (or aren't yet) that had no problem securing upgrades under the new Systemwides, without having anywhere near 100,000 EQMs in their tally yet.

Even know of one totally non-elite traveling apart from the donor, that is holding upgraded space with these pledged!

And my and other's bookings with these did not require any difficulty or Supervisor authorization at all. As I posted above, there's an easily available profile on these in United's system...just like old Systemwides have. There should be no difficulty or higher level authorization required. Just an agent that knows what they are doing, or knows how to look up the profile on these.

In fact, they can actually confirm your upgrade with anything old or new available to them in their system that will do the job. Once your upgrade is confirmed by any means, all that matters is if you have eligible/qualifying upgrade media for your particular flights, available to forfeit at check-in.

Those upgrade ticket designators/codes that Reservations uses to confirm the upgrade, don't really have to match the upgrade media you forfeit at check-in. As long as what you have at check-in is valid for your fare, routing and allowable upgrade window...you should be good to go.

In my experience and understanding.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited Dec 13, 2003).]

PremEx, Thanks for the valuable insights. My
experience, as related above, ocurred the day that the new e-SWU's were announced so the agent, justifiably so, was not knowledgeable on these new upgrade
profiles. At least that's what I assume.

PremEx, just want to make sure. I have a V fare IAD-ORD-NRT-BKK departing on 1/1/04 with confirmed upgrades to C class (the United Itinerary lists the fare class as "C", not "NC"). I planned on using a Sweet Spot but it appears I can use one of my new e-SWUs (I currently have 110K EQMs in my 2003 balance.)

Can I call reservations/MP today and ask them to make sure the miles are available or will I be able to do that at IAD on 1/1?

I'm also curious (slightly off topic, sorry) if the fact that the fare class listing as "C" rather than "NC" is the usual way an upgrade is listed on the "Itineraries" page? Or does the "C" mean that I won't have to use any certs, since I'm already listed as "C", with "NC" used for UGs requiring a cert?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif Very generous of you JerseyJoe! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

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The black art of how to gift UA North America Upgrades is revealed here.

UPDATE:

Decided to buy up to V and use my own e-SWUs to upgrade (assuming they show up). If they're not posted in time I'll call Customer Relations as PremEx suggested.

The deciding factor was the Triple Miles promotion. I will have already qualified before this LHR flight so if anything it's worth it for the extra bonus miles to pay up to V.

Please note though, that the Profile says that Agents are *NOT* to book space in the NC class until the e-SWUs are posted "sometime in January 2004." The agent at OAK showed me the profile so I'm not making this up. Of course, this is after she did the add collect for $200. However, I called Reservations on the spot and they instantly upgraded me to NC.

Yey for 15A on the 744 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

That's not true. The Great Offer isn't offered to just anyone .

I should also add that many 1Ks did not receive their 2003 SWUs in the mail until February. The fact that UA is moving to electronic SWUs in 2004 may potentially allow flyers to receive them sooner. I wouldn't call this a "problem" as the original poster suggests in the topic title.



[This message has been edited by Yoosh (edited Dec 14, 2003).]

Hmmm. Well AFAIK it was offered to EVERY existing UA elite of any colour who faxed in 3 statements showing even zero points balance.

And to further add to Always Flyin point they did NOT even have to fly anything like 45,500 miles. ALL Asian and Pacific residents got a 5000 EQM bonus per RT once they registered, as did many targeted US members.

On that basis flying 40,500 real miles was all that someone from SYD (or Asia) needed to make 1K for 2004. i.e. TWO round trips SYD-NYC or similar, which are about 20,000 real miles each. So 1K for about $2000 was certainly possible this year for 100s of folks reading this board.

And some thought the Baht Pass 1K deal was as dead as a dodo. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/003577.html

Well personally, this could be a problem for me.

If the new E-Systemwides are posted on Jan 1 and have a one-year validity, they could likely expire on January 31, 2005.

This would be a problem for me as I almost always use the current year's Systemwides in the first quarter of the following year.

The reason that the old paper Systemwides that came with the beginning of year credentials kits were usually pre-dated with March 31 expiry dates, is that it was unknown how long it would take the mail clearing house to send them all out and get them into the hands of the members. So they added a slight buffer into the expiry date to be safe.

With instant crediting to the E-Bank now, I'm concerned I'm gonna have a handful that I may not be able to use by the time of a possibly new, shorter expiration date.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited Dec 14, 2003).]

Make sure that you are indeed upgraded to "NC" class. I got to the airport in March last year, only to be asked how I was going to pay the difference between my "H" fare and the "C" class? I said that I was ugraded to Business, and they said, no the agent put you in Business Class. They were going to make me fly coach and I called the 1K line and got it straightened out. Check under My itineraries, All United iteneraries - it should say Upgraded Business Class and "NC" - I think, but I can't seem to access mine right now (sometimes it doesn't work for some reason). Or just call another agent and double check. I sure do.

Billy