Was I not upgraded properly for IAD-SYD?

 
Old Jan 7, 2005, 6:30 am
  #1  
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Was I not upgraded properly for IAD-SYD?

I redeemed 60K miles each to upgrade RT from M fare to business class from IAD-SYD for June for my wife and myself. The SFO-SYD and SYD-SFO segments were immediately confirmed as upgraded. However, we are waitlisted for upgrades on the IAD-SFO (UA #951, 3 class 767) and SFO-IAD (UA #838, currently 319 but has been 757) segments. Load factors show open seating in business and first. I thought that when the miles were redeemed that all segments would be upgraded, but am told by UA MP International that this is not so. UA MP also cannot tell when, or if, we will be upgraded on the domestic segments. Furthermore, if the seats do become available, MP will call me to see if I still want to upgrade and if I don't not respond within 72 hrs we will not receive the upgrades . My FF status did not help but supposedly puts us near the top of the waitlist. Someone have an explanation for this, or were we not upgraded properly?
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 6:45 am
  #2  
 
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MP is correct. You do not automatically get upgraded when redeeming miles. The upgrades are capacity controlled and not always available.

Did you ask about other routings (i.e. SYD-SFO-ORD-IAD?) I guess now that it's booked, it's a bit late, as you'd have to pay to change to more open flights.

You willl need to check your status yourself. MP rarely, if ever, call to say you've cleared. Most of us on FT have an upgrade OC disorder and will check every day! At least united.com does generally show you've cleared.

I would guess you'd be OK on the 763 flight. They'll probably open up some inventory a few months before hand. The 319 flight will be a toughie, as even 1K/UGS fail to get upgrades on this flight.

I'd call about every two weeks to see how you've progressed.

Do you have any status at all with UA?
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 7:03 am
  #3  
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Yes, I have some FF status. Currently 2P when the reservation was made but will become 1P in Feb. I would think calling in Feb to have new status reflected in record locator should help chances of upgrade?
I like your suggestion of calling MP to check on upgrades and will follow-up on that idea. What do you think of the requirement to respond to MP request for upgrade within 72 hrs? Why wouldn't I want the upgrade? I've already requested it and handed over the 120k miles? Sounds silly to me.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 7:19 am
  #4  
 
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Yes, most definatlely call UA once you hit 1P and have them re-enter you MP number, as you'll then zoom up the list (well behind 1K/UGS, but up the list nonetheless.) NB: Give it a week or so, as the MP and reservation systems update seperately and it can take a bit of time.

Others have reported the 72 hour palaver before and HAVE lost upgrades because of this. At least the agent was upfront about things. Better that than not knowing about the requirement and losing the upgrades. See last post of this one as to what happens when you don't call:http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...e+call+confirm

One word of warning if you do not clear in advance of the flights. Your wife (I'm assuming does not have status) will carry your status BEFORE the flight. On day of departure, if you have not cleared, you will go on to the Departure Management list (DM list) at the airport. At that point, it goes by INDIVIDUAL status. Thus there is a likelihood on one of you clearing (i.e you with 1P status) and one of you not (i.e wife without status). Just another 'gotcha' to be aware of with MP upgrades.

My guess is you'll clear the 763 without problems. The return may be a toughie, if it remains a 319 (only 8 possible F seats on a long route).

Last edited by LHR Tim; Jan 7, 2005 at 7:24 am
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 7:36 am
  #5  
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You are correct about my wife's status so I hope that we clear the upgrades days before departure. I didn't know about the DM list which is helpful to know. If I do clear on the day of departure and she doesn't, it only seems fair to give her the better seat to make up for all those times that I've been away on business. What's one more trip in the Premier zone after so many already. Thanks for your help.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 8:03 am
  #6  
 
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Not to be pessimistic, but... I highly doubt your upgrade will ever clear on the A319 SFO-IAD. That F cabin is so small (8 seats!) and that flight is fed heavily from in-bound Asia flights, with any full-fare F or C pax snagging those seats-- and as another poster said, even 1Ks and GS having trouble upgrading here.

Can you change to a later flight with bigger equipment? Re-route SYD-LAX-IAD?
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 8:24 am
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Originally Posted by 1K-SFO

Can you change to a later flight with bigger equipment? Re-route SYD-LAX-IAD?
This is sound advice. Suggest you call MP to have your flight changed to one where there is availability to confirm.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 8:40 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by gsorob
UA MP also cannot tell when, or if, we will be upgraded on the domestic segments. Furthermore, if the seats do become available, MP will call me to see if I still want to upgrade and if I don't not respond within 72 hrs we will not receive the upgrades.
If upgrade space is not available when you request an upgrade, you should be put on the waitlist. As upgrade seats open, they clear off the waitlist. If you are signed up for United Easy Update, when you clear you should receive a notice (so far, it has worked 100% for me, but some report it is hit or miss with them).

So I am not sure why MP would call you to ask if you still want them, unless they are expecting only one seat to open at a time (which is quite possible) and you need two. So they may want to see if you actually want the upgrade (if only one seat becomes available and you'd need to split the itinerary) or if you would rather pass and sit together in Economy Plus and then they can clear the next "single" on the waitlist.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 8:42 am
  #9  
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Until a couple weeks ago I was a 1P and never had trouble upgrading on multiple IAD/SFO combos. Your flights are in June.. I'm thinking UA just hasn't opened up the inventory yet. I think you'll be ok.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 8:48 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by Jim Phillips
This is sound advice. Suggest you call MP to have your flight changed to one where there is availability to confirm.

Will there be a change fee? From reading of the rules, there shouldn't be, if there the routing stays the same, although the flight # is changed.

Can someone confirm?
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 9:23 am
  #11  
 
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Originally Posted by gsorob
Yes, I have some FF status. Currently 2P when the reservation was made but will become 1P in Feb. I would think calling in Feb to have new status reflected in record locator should help chances of upgrade?
Just want to clarify that you're going to fly 50k miles in Jan/Feb this year to make 1p in Feb. If you flew 50k miles last year, then you're already a PremEx, and you just haven't gotten your card yet. The old status expires in Feb, but the new status (if it's higher) takes over immediately... If that's the case, call MP now and if your status isn't reflected in the reservation, have them do the re-entry thing...

(just checking to be sure that you aren't saying "Feb" because that's what's on your Premier card...)

Dan
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 10:25 am
  #12  
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Dan - I flew over 50K last year so I qualified to become 1P for 2005. I assumed, because I've been a 2P for so long and only second time to reach the elusive 1P status solely on required business travel, that the new status would not be reflected until Feb when the new cards were issued. My error for making this assumption. If the new status is recognized when the magical 50K mile is flown (for me that was in Nov 2004) then I'll go ahead and call MP International ASAP to have the MP number re-entered into the CRS. Thanks for the heads up.

Last edited by gsorob; Jan 7, 2005 at 10:28 am
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 12:31 pm
  #13  
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As a follow-up, I just got off the phone with MP International regarding rerouting. I can reroute through ORD to SFO with upgrades available. However, on the return SFO-IAD there are currently no routes available with upgrade potential. On the bright side, a check of the electronic timetable shows the SFO-IAD segment now scheduled to be 320 which offers better hope of upgrade.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 12:39 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by gsorob
Dan - I flew over 50K last year so I qualified to become 1P for 2005. I assumed, because I've been a 2P for so long and only second time to reach the elusive 1P status solely on required business travel, that the new status would not be reflected until Feb when the new cards were issued. My error for making this assumption. If the new status is recognized when the magical 50K mile is flown (for me that was in Nov 2004) then I'll go ahead and call MP International ASAP to have the MP number re-entered into the CRS. Thanks for the heads up.
If you log in to ual.com mileage summary, it will tell you your current status. It does indeed take effect immediately on posting of the 50k mile (or 60th segment), no need to wait until Feb. If you do not requalify, you lose it in Feb 2006 (or drop down to 2P if you qual'ed for that), but an increase is immediate.
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Old Jan 7, 2005, 2:29 pm
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by gsorob
I redeemed 60K miles each to upgrade RT from M fare to business class from IAD-SYD for June for my wife and myself. The SFO-SYD and SYD-SFO segments were immediately confirmed as upgraded. However, we are waitlisted for upgrades on the IAD-SFO (UA #951, 3 class 767) and SFO-IAD (UA #838, currently 319 but has been 757) segments. Load factors show open seating in business and first.

Just FYI.....flight 951 IAD-SFO is a 2 class 757! That flight number originates in Brussels. It shows the C class booking code for C class international connections. Even though at first glance it looks like a 3-class bird it is actually a 2 cabin aircraft. Up until about a week ago, we were using a 2 class 767 on this route.

-IFLYUA
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