I actually think that makes sense. If you are confirmed and they oversell, why not accomodate you on any other flight. I was involuntarily downgraded once and I bet had I pushed it they would have put me on a different flight. It was a red-eye transcon and they gave me a $250 cert so I was happy anyway. I sleep better in Y because I'm not trying to stay awake to get my meal and domestic F sucks anyway.

btw - i thought UA only oversold C to the point that there were F available for op-ups? could this have been a FAM? or does that no apply internationally?

It would make sense if OP was paid C or F. He was a Y to NC upgrader who got downgraded because of the oversell.

No idea how the oversells work but I've seen and heard about this numerous times during "prime" days which are typically the Friday before a major holiday week when all us expats are heading home at the same time (ex: Friday 11/18 was week before Thanksgiving). Flights were packed out of PVG....

I just don't like UA changing the game on the fly. OP should have been put in priority list with others on the rebooked flight or taken his lumps on the flight he booked.

Now he not only jumped in front of someone else but then got his SWU comp'd. Screwed up system if you ask me.

I can see both sides of this issue. Yes, OP ended up getting an UG pulled and then getting one replaced ahead of others on a different flight.

If I was #1 on the list and didn't clear on the other flight, I would be bummed out. But the truth is this has happen many times to me (and I'm sure others on this board).

On the other hand, I would have done exactly what the OP did. It's not his fault UA oversold. Again, I think most of us here would want to have UA honor their confirmed UG for us at any length (well, I sure would).

Yes, for the flight I was booked on, If I change flights all bets are off, play the upgrade game again. It is only fair. And they were on a W fare so they probably would have never gotten the upgrade on the new flight if they had been put in the queue like they should have been. But as they say, bad karma will come back and bite the OP in the a**.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I feel if UA overbooks and screws up, it's perfectly fine to put him on another flight and jump the upgrade queue. THis has happened on VDB's as well - take a VDB, and get rebooked into Y to clear an upgrade. Or get booked into C/F. If you're doing UA a favor and they offer to book you into C as part of your VDB comp, then let them. the person #1 on the upgrade list isn't entitled to anything.

I am flat out flabbergasted by the number of people who are blaming the OP and saying "well if *I* was in that situation..." - no matter whether you think the OP did the right or the wrong thing, in his position why would you ever want to accept being screwed out of a better seat? Shouldn't you focus your disapproval on how a guaranteed seat was taken away from someone instead of hating on the OP that he didn't pay full price for his seat? Wow, just wow.

How is it bad karma when the OP got screwed with his confirmed upgrade to begin with? He had to change flights because UA took away his confirmed seat - which wasn't "fair" to begin with.

I totally agree with you. Besides, the UG wasn't given at the gate but way before, even though it was a W fare.

And I am agreeing with you. UA screwed up to begin with.

OP's original flight still got him into his booked fare class. You apply a upgrade for a specific flight, not all flights to a given destination on a given day.

Your post adds a bunch of red herrings that did not occur in this instance but in any case, NC should not be protected on other flights. Paid C/F pax yes, NC no. You get one shot on the flight you choose, not what UA pulled in this case.

As someone who has had low success getting INTL SWU's to clear, I am amazed that people are happy to hear that UA would deviate from the protocol of each flight having a waitlist for upgrades. ANYTIME you actively switch flights you put yourself into new risk category.

I'm currently waitlisted for two flights that are over 4 months away. If I got/get bypassed because of this kind of scenario you better believe I will call UA on it. Basically the OP transferred his misfortune on his flight to someone else who played by the UA SWU lottery rules

On the other hand, if your wait list gets cleared now and then gets taken away from you at the gate 4 months later, will you call UA on it? Will you just shrug it off and accept your misfortune? What will you do? Have you asked that question to yourself?

I don't see where the OP not play by the rules.

Remember that the OP got screwed up to begin with not that he actively changed routing for no apparent reason. Yes, I am happy to hear that UA deviated from the protocol to accommodate a passenger when they (UA) screwed up, even though he's on a W fare. That's what I call good customer service.

BTW, paid C/F pax was protected - that's why the OP's UG was taken away from his original flight. And he did not take away a paid C/F seat from the flight he made it on. Did he?

UA did not follow protocol of the U/G list. Period.

It sucks if you lose NC but that can also happen to paid C. I've seen it happen. However, I don't expect UA to bump someone in line on an entirely different flight if the flight I applied my SWU too got oversold.

The OP had a flight still take off with a Y seat available. That's what he should have received. Call UA and get an e-cert whatever but bumping the line on a different flight is totally wrong IMO.

Karma baby!

I think UA did the right thing, although I dont think the OP should have received another SWU. That seems to happened as a byproduct rather than deliberately.

I would hope and expect UA to offer me the same if it happened to me - and I would understand it even if I missed an upgrade as #1 on the list.

On CO biz over sells are a lot more rare.

Reading this it appears a lot more common on UA. Hope that changes -- what good is an advance upgrade if there's a good chance it gets revoked.

Hold them back when in doubt and don't tease. We do have choice (other airlines, other routing, using full miles, paying full fare) to get biz in advance -- would rather have seen "NC0" at time of booking so I could make other arrangements in advance.

UA screwed up twice. Over selling and putting OP in lurch. Don't spread the virus onto someone on another flight.

But that said, all class of services can get oversold. In this case the SWU was not "sold".

All airlines oversell. There are people on this board who actually seek out VDB certificates (I'm not one of them).

I highly doubt the majority of people on the waitlist would be happy or willingly give up an U/G to appease the OP's misfortune, especially if they were on higher fare.

United did what the should have. And great you stood your ground to get the upgrade you deserved.
Also I love UA and this is why employee's that go the extra mile to take care of a customer. I doubt we will get this treatment from CO in the future.

No because CO over sells its premium cabin far less frequently and avoids the situation to begin with.

Now how much this practice is unique to the west coast to Asia flights that get a lot of feed is something I'm curious about. CO doesn't have those.