Gov't Y NH Metal questions
 

I'm a GM looking at my options for WAS-SGN on a weekday for government travel. Everything would book in Y.

1) If I fly UA metal, then I should be able to upgrade to C with 20K miles, right? I assume upgrade availability would be in the NC bucket? Is this an upgrade I could do right away?

2) Is a 55 minute layover in NRT insane? Lets assume I'm in C on the way there so I'm one of the first off the plane, and the next flight is UA as well. The other easy option is to fly NH metal to NRT and have a 2-hr layover.

3) If I fly NH metal on a UA codeshare, could I book a Star Alliance upgrade to business? Is there any way to check availability ahead of time?

4) If I end up not being able to upgrade my Y ticket on UA metal, would I at least get E+ as a GM? Should I try to book straight into E+?

It's late and I am fuzzy.. but if I recall correctly:

1) If it's UA metal, then the mileage requirement coach on a full Y to business be different than coach on something other than full Y or full B. Double check. Either way, it would book into NC if there's anything available. Otherwise, you get put on the waiting list. If it gets to the flight, it would be processed with everyone else. Also, worth noting is that mileage based upgrades affect as many segments as possible.. so if any one of those clears, the entire mileage deduction happens.

2) 55 minutes is short.. however, if they let you do it, they will (should) take care of you if there is a delay and you miss a flight. In general, the Japanese are very good about customer service... Even contracted agents. NRT isn't too bad if you are sticking within the international terminal, so you can probably make it, but you will feel rushed. Any delay will probably screw you.

3) NH metal, star alliance upgrades are super pricey mileage wise. Availability is slim (i think) and it can only be confirmed if space is available when you call about the upgrade. I don't think there's a waitlist, so it's either yes or no.

4) Last I knew, GM meant regular old sardine-style E, not E+... even on full Y... Sucks, but that's how it is. However, I think there are ways of getting E+ buy-up refunded if your upgrade clears. I've never had to deal with that, but I seem to recall reading that it's possible.

Hope that helps!

Option 3 might not be possible. Here's a cut and paste from the Terms and Conditions of Star Alliance Upgrade Awards on UA's website:

"Upgrades on code share flights - where a ticket was issued by one airline (the marketing carrier), but the flight is being operated by a different airline -- are excluded. The marketing carrier and the operating carrier must be identical."

No input, only a question here: Can you use code-shares to O/A metal? :confused:

Thanks for the quick replies! It looks like I'm screwed if I miss that 55 min NRT layover so I don't think I can risk it. If I want a shot at C upgrades I'm going to have to route through SFO/ORD - HKG - SGN. Those itins have better layover times but what are the chances I'll get C? However, I could pony up for E+ or even pay some cash for C.

I'm 6', I don't know if my knees can take Economy in NH (or UA E- for that matter) all the way to SGN!

Not sure what O/A is?

Unfortunately, Star Alliance upgrades are not allowed on code shares.

http://faq.ua2go.com/al/12/1/article...4b&r=0.2869914

Also see:
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52927,00.html

I would not be too optimistic about the abiliy of a Gold to get an upgrade on all flights. I suspect that UA will only put you on the wait list for upgrades after the ticket has been issued, which is likely to be very close to your travel dates as government SOP.

HKG-SGN is only about 2 hours. I wouldn't worry about the upgrade there and focus on the upgrade for the overwater portion of your journey.

Other Airline

Ah. Well obviously it wouldn't be a contract fare, and I'd have to justify it, but I think I can do it. If I try to get to SGN on UA metal with fewer than 2 connections, I run that 55 min NRT layover risk and the price is the same compared to UA metal.

As a GM, your chance of an upgrade with miles into C from ORD/SFO-HKG is about zero. Those flights often go out with 1Ks not getting upgrades, especially on Sat/Sun.

Ask your agency travel agent if they can get you a complimentary E+ seat. Sometimes they can.

You can "test" Star Alliance Y/B upgrade availability on Continental's website, although only if you enough miles to support the upgrade.

In my experience, there is plenty of availability for routes where an upgrade isn't that important (like BNE-AKL) and zilch for long routes.

Update:
Looks like our new government booking engine was pulling up fares that weren't really ticketable for my complicated itin. So I'm booked on UA metal Y IAD-SFO-HKG-SGN, SGN-HKG-NRT, NRT-IAD. It won't actually ticket till shortly before my trip so I'll have to make a decision then whether I put in for upgrades and/or pony up for E+. What is annoying is that by the end of my trip with the Y EQM bonus I'll be Premier, instantly rendering an E+ access purchase redundant. I can probably get them to put me on E+ on the last leg, but I don't know if they would extend that courtesy for the rest. What are the chances I can get a CSR to do that for me on the phone before my trip?

On the phone pre-trip, I would say near zero.

Day of departures, you may find a GA who will give you a E+ seat (while the odds are not good, at least you have a shot).

No, and note that E+ is unavailable NRT-HKG-SGN due to the use of CO 737s.