best

Have you done this? Do you have to have certain status?

ua_to_ord

Yes, one can upgrade W booking class fares (or higher) with a single SWU...

jan_az

Is this a UFC at the gate or what?

Lightman7

Do a search for "paid upgrades at the gate". All your questions will be answered. Yes, it is true ($619 last time I did it, but it isn't always offered).

ryan182

Here is the thread on this subject:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530404

RS250Racer

Is there a reason UA will not sell upgrades at check in when there are open seats?

I asked if I could buy up the other day when I checked in for my FRA-ORD and they said no...I noticed a number of empty C seats....does UA not need the money?

FSU

Just dropped off friends at the airport ORD-HKG. Told them to ask about an upgrade at the gate. He just called me and said he was offered an upgrade to C for the whole family (4 people) for $705 each. They happily took it.

Lightman7

They probably don't want people expecting to be able to buy up - if you could be sure of buying up at a reasonable price, why would you buy a C or F ticket? The only way to prevent expectations is to not offer it all the time.

Downunder girl

That is cool that all four of them got the ug :-:.

I am budget conscious so to me that was a lot of extra money to cough up for 4 people.....but I guess if you have $$$$ spare and want to fly C class - why not ^.

ORDGuy79

Your friend is a smart man.

ORD-HKG is a flight I'd pay pretty much whatever to get out of flying in Y. At 15+ hours, it is one of (if not) the longest flight on the UA network. Sitting on a 744 in "E+ lite" in that 3-4-3 setup with no individual seat monitors would seem like pure, unadulterated hell. My hats off to anyone who has actually done it (especially in E-).

Coincidentally, it looks like the price of this u/g at the gate has gone up. 99.9% of the time my ORD-HKG flights were in C for work, but I went in April on my own dime and it cost me $599 to u/g to C from Y.

best

Thank you for responses--very interesting alternative--even for UA when they have empty seats.

c.l.i.a

I paid $670 for LAX to HKG on 6/1/08. For a 14 1/2 hr flight, it worth to have the upgrade.

c.l.i.a

I believe that it really depends on the agent you work with. I had the same experience when flying out SFO/LAX/HKG.

At check in counter in SFO, first I was told that up sell was not available, but later the CS agent told me it would be okay but I would have to do it at LAX as all seats were under airport control. At RCC in Terminal C in LAX, the first agent firmly told me NO and SWU would be the only instrument I could use for requesting upgrade. Asked her to put me on the waitlist. About 30 minutes later, I walked to another agent and told her that if possible I would prefer to pay for the upgrade. This nice lady told me that my upgrade had been cleared (using SWU) but she would check if she could make me pay for it instead of SWU. I was called back another 30 minutes later and this agent credit my SWU back to my MP account and charged my CC for the upgrade. Done.


Btw, I was out of luck when coming back form HK (HKG to SFO). I saw 1/3 of C seats on an old configured 747 empty 2 days prior to my departure. However, at HKG check-in counter, I was told the equipment has changed to a re-configured 747 that has much fewer C seats, many on the waiting list already including 2 full fare pax. Still asked to be on the list and I was told I was #26 based on my status (1k) and ticketed class (w). I ended up seated in E+, middle section (4 seats) with another passenger only. Not too bad as each of us could use 2 seat space.

Downunder girl

.

Good point - it is the longest flight I believe, with my route SYD-LAX/SFO coming in second at around 14 hrs. Come to think of it, I would probably try to stretch the budget to get out of E- or + on UA for that length of trip too - ugh ! I have flown the trip in Y on other airlines and its no fun and hard to get comfortable. UA C makes a huge difference (even in the old seats) ^.

Raffles longhaul

Recently flew ORD-HKG . When I arrived at the gate asked about getting upgraded from economy without paying any extra $. The agent said no . So I asked if there was any rows with 4 or 5 seats empty. The agent said yes there is one row the last row with 4 seats empty. I said can you change my seat to the last row and block out the rest of the seats. The agent said yes I can change your seat but cannot block the rest of the seats . So I took the chance and went to the last row , and spread my carry- ons on the other 3 seats hoping no one else was assigned a seat in the last row . As the doors shut and the plane started to taxi no one came to the last row but some passengers were eying those seats as the flight was fairly full. One passenger asked me if anyone was sitting in the other 3 empty seats ? I said that I had puchased the other 3 seats I ended sleeping very well on the 14 hour flight and arrived in HKG well rested on a rock bottom economy fare. I would call that an upgrade from an economy seat to an economy bed