nycua1k

in response to NYCflyerUA1k's question:

I have a further op-up question. Anyone have experience getting away without having to hand over an SWU (or have one taken out of the bank) when your upgrade has already come through but you find they are doing extensive op-ups. For example, I am doing IAD-LHR on Friday on the 747. Its been sold out in coach for weeks and my confirmed upgrade just came through -- there are still 30+ unassigned biz seats so I figure they will be doing plenty of op-ups. As a 1k on a B fare I'd have a pretty good chance of getting one, but of course am already upgraded. Anyone ever ask an agent to not pull the miles since they are doing op-ups anyway?

Any experiences would be useful...

Thanks.

that actually happened to me once from LHR to JFK. I had redeemed miles to upgrade my H class ticket only to find out that they were O-U pax in economy to C cabin. I was a 1K and there were some passengers near me who were only regular MP members, and some weren't even MP members at all, who got upgraded. I asked the agent at check-in counter if I could be O-Ued instead, and she replied no. I emailed the 1K folks and was told that upgrades "are never arbitrarily given," and once miles have been redeemed, they cannot be recredited, even if I could have been O-Ued. It was quite a curt email (though, I must add that this particular email was the only discourteous email that I have ever received from the 1k desk). I fly this route quite frequently and have learned that O-Us are given quite frequently now because of the increasing number of visitors from the UK due to the exchange rate.

BTW, has anyone noticed that confirmed upgrades are now less frequently given in the pacific market? i recently booked a flight to tpe from jfk, and was not able to confirm the jfk-nrt leg, even though the entire c cabin is currently empty? in the past, i was able to confirm upgrades without a problem. i think the us to nrt / nrt to us routes have been overbooked a lot in the past several months and upgrades are now hard to come by.

brian_in_dc

Op up'd on UA 925 LHR-IAD... So wonderful since I came from MAD to LTN on EasyJet, transferred airports, and had further gotten only 1.5 hrs of sleep in MAD due to it's irresistible nightlife.

I went to the podium at LHR Gate 22 to give "The Speech" and as I did so -- noticed a gold BP with my name on it and "United Business" sitting on the desk among a slew of assorted BPs. They said they'd call me. Saw someone else give the speech and was turned down and told to board. I approached again and they said I'd need to support the upgrade with something, but then another agent pointed out that these two BPs were done as upgrades for 'free' -- and handed me my new seat.

Flight was oversold in Y to the extent that they were offering $800 vouchers upon check-in. I'm glad I turned that down and grabbed the seat in C!

pacozg

I'll keep my fingers crossed....on UA925 next month!

WWBGD

Excellent thread...thanks for all of the great advice.. Operationally upgraded only once...I was giving the "speech" at the check in counter, when the agent informed me that I was already upgraded to biz...I thanked her, grabbed my BP and enjoyed the LHR flight from Ord.

1P

For int'l itineraries where there is a US domestic segment (at either end), I've had some success getting the int' segment op ugraded by upgrading the domestic portion of the itinerary to F (or C) with a confirmed Region 1 (HK-50) when booking or shortly after. On checking in for a fairly full int'l flight, the whole itinerary is upgraded and I don't need to use the HK-50 at all.

UAL_Rulez

I've gotten exactly zero that I can recall in hundreds of domestic and international segments, unless you count a few non-collects of SWUs. However, I virtually always have confirmed C (occasionally F) space on international legs, either paid C/D or a coach ticket upgraded in advance, so I guess I'm not the ideal candidate to get an op up. Even when I was doing heavy travel in paid C to NRT/HKG/TPE/SIN I think I got just one free C-to-F bump which I had reserved ahead but the check-in agent declined to collect the SWU.

aussieinsf

Last trip I did to Asia a week ago was SFO-LAX-NRT-BKK//BKK-NRT-SEA-SFO
(Routing to get cheaper fare - Asia has been busy)

I got op-uped NRT-BKK and NRT-SEA - both very much appreciated!

In both cases I asked at the lounge in NRT and was told no-op ups were happening but I delayed boarding until towards the end and when my boarding pass got put in the machine it spat out and they replaced me with a business class.

I can't recall being paged in the gate in either case.

afwen

My op-upgrade story is here.

Counsellor

Me, too.

We'll see.

v-orange

Yesterday I got my first ever op-upgrade on LHR-ORD!!!!

I followed all the rules- booked on the flight that is normally oversold(UA949) and did not check in until 1 hr 10 min before the flight(I was transferring from a BMI flight, so I just waited in the lounge and got my boarding pass in T3 RCC). It did not require a speech!

Now, a question: The flight was oversold, but there were still a few economy class seats when we departed- and also a business seat next to me was empty!!!- so I am still not sure how they process the upgrades, and if I got upgraded without asking, but they still ended up with a few empty seats- do ther upgrade more people than necessary, and if that is true, why did they not fill the business cabin?

Anyone with knowledge on the subject - I would appreciate this for better understanding on how to plan in the future!!!!

Thanks in advance

hiyo

We knew UA1126 ORD-SAN was oversold today, so we showed up a little early and signed up on the VDB list. The TA said it was oversold by 20.

At the gate, I introduced myself and confirmed that we were on the VDB list, the GA said that they might need us but nothing definite. So I gave "The Speech®," saying that we would be happy to move up front if they needed our seats. The agents were both laughing, and both now knew our names. ^

At about 15 minutes to boarding, they called my name, and said to wait to board, that there was a possibility they could use us. At boarding, they kept calling several names, no-shows that never did show up. After announcing "all passengers may board," they called my name again.

I went to the podium and the GA took our BPs, and said, "Well, you're not sitting together, but here. Thanks for volunteering." I was in Row 3, my wife in Row 6, but my seatmate, when he found out, volunteered to switch.

That's an operational upgrade from award miles XY tickets to domestic F on a midcon. Tenderloin filet instead of a snack box.

Credit to FT, PremEx and The Speech®

WannaFlyUAmore

I had an operational upgrade last Wednesday 7/14 ZRH-IAD. I was traveling with my family, but they were on separate records with award tickets, while mine were paid tickets (I tried but was unable to move them up to E+). I waited a while to board with them in one of the later groups, and finally heard my name called.

Since I had already gotten s*** from my wife for my seat in E+, I asked that they give her the upgrade they were offering to C. This went over well for a while. Then on the flight my wife decided she wasn't interested in any of the menu choices and came back to ask my choice; subsequently she said we should switch now, because she had been told that we could only switch once. This seemed rather harsh, but who was I to question too hard? Anyway the FA was reasonably good but rather cold; I enjoyed the seat and it did help with a strained leg muscle, but didn't help with the spousal "balance sheet".

Possible lesson: it may pay to board late--I am only 2P, so I'm not sure my name would have been called if they hadn't had any response from the earlier boarding passengers with higher priority.

Xplorer

I have been flying United since late 2001, and here is my experience:

Flying Buccaneer

I've had two OU's so far this year.

My first was TPA-DEN (pre-TED days) on a Saturday morning in January. My partner and I checked in and the agent said "Y is oversold, but F is empty. You should upgrade." I didn't have any 500-milers, so I didn't. When we arrived at the gate, I heard "Buccaneer, party of two, please approach the podium." The agent asked what my seating preference was and printed 2 F BP's.

The other was LGA-IAD on a Sunday afternoon in June. I was paged and the GA told me that I was being moved to F, because Y was oversold. I told her that I was traveling with my partner who was on a different PNR. She put both of us in F.

guyt

are the upgrades that united gives to pax with Y or B fares considered operation upgrades? (Since united has this as a published 'perk' now)