Upsell Offers From UA For Business/First Seating (Time of Purchase, OLCI, or Gate)
 

I didn't get any response from another post,
so will try to get this going as a new thread.

I find the paid upgrades offered at the gate a very interesting option.
If you have done one, or been offered one, please post details here.
It will help me see how common and consistent the offers are.
Thanks ! ^


dfwoods 2/09/06 Y to C ORD-EZE $550.
mrhalliday 2/16/06 Y to C SFO-NRT $550

9/13/2005 SFO-KIX Y (Q Gov) -> C (NC) $300

I thought all govie booked into Y? :confused:

Nope. Some (particularly intl) book into lower fare buckets. They are still fully refundable, but obviously hinge on availability.

I've seen:

LHR-IAD Y-C $350, $450 & $550
LHR-IAD C-F $550 & $700
SYD-SFO Y-C $350 (!)

The SYD flight at $350 was unbelievable. I was already in C with a SWU from Y and asked if I could get into F for $350. GA said F was full. :(

Don't know if you are interested in domestic, but:

LAX->PDX - $120.00
PDX->SFO - $55.00

Turned them both down.

more domestic
 

Lax-ewr (y-c) ~$262
Jfk-lax (c-f) ~$348

Offered IAD-SEA at MEC (while waitlisted with a CR-1) for $325. I was the first to clear the waitlist at about an hour before departure.

Sorry -- missed the part about "at the gate"

Purchased business cabin on both segments from deeply discounted economy:

SFO-PVG $550
PVG-SFO $550

Govt Fare Classes
 

In washington they frequently book into V. You can see Govt. fares at this web page http://apps.fss.gsa.gov/citypairs/search/

For example, if you look at IAD to LAX fares there is a column YCA for $177 and a column -CA for $147. If there are V fare classes available for this route, a Govt ticket will always end up booked under the code VCAIAD for $147

Does this mean that upgrades are offered for sale before waitlisted upgrades with certificates etc are allocated ?

This is all very interesting, including the domestic info !

I am hoping to grab Y (T-fare) to C next week NRT-SFO,
looks like $550 is the common number.

And (barring the gov fare issue) it doesn't seem
at all dependent on the paid fare class?

How early has anyone been able to confirm the int'l upgrades?
Do you need to wait for the GA to appear at the gate,
or any other angles?

This is certainly attractive getting a UA transpac C seat
for well under $2000. I don't think consolidators can get close to that.
Of course it is not guaranteed, but until I accumulate some SWU's,
(and still pay a higher fare), I like it ! :D

Actually, for this particular flight, they originally had! My reservation was YCA the entire trip, but then Mrs. Ego took her sweet time in getting my tickets issued (they were paper and had to be issued at *this* travel office for some reason). When they reissued them, I was booked YCA for the domestic flights and QCA for the rest. It was annoying since I was hoping for the extra EQM. Still made 1K in the end so it worked out aight :)

IAD->LHR $550. Although I missed my connection and this became a LAX-LHR without any extra costs or fuss from the airline.

Original fare was booked on W fare basis.

Upgrade was offered at checkin some 13 hours before the flight was planned to depart.

Yes.

I've had it happen twice to me, and there have been other reports, as well.

That being said, I only missed out on one upgrade in 2005, so evidently most folks aren't taking it (no elite should, since the cost is $65 per 500 miles and you can buy the certs for $50). (And it annoyed me because when I checked in it said it was available, but then waitlisted me when I selected it, costing me two 500 milers since I only cleared SEA-SFO instead of SEA-SFO-DEN which would have only needed two for the whole shebang.)