And not just for a 1P! If you're right, anyone below a 1K, from 1P to GM, should cancel their waitlisted mileage upgrades and apply e-500's if they haven't cleared at their window. Assuming they have e-500's and value them less than miles, of course.

I know united rarely makes sense, but these incentives seem particularly messed up, not to mention a bit unfair to 1Ps and below on mileage upgrades who will be jumped over by any lower status pax who cancel and apply e-500s. Once this FT tip is more widely known, it will surely cause them a nontrivial amount of hassle as they field all the canceled upgrades.

I still suspect that they merge the lists at some point, but I suppose as a 1K I'm glad I don't have to worry about this particular mystery of IM.

An interesting thread!

FWIW, I believe that the OP has a very limited chance of clearing the upgrade as 1P with any upgrade instrument since LAX-IAD is a route that is heavily travelled by 1K members. This would be especially true on flights with the AB320. Flights on the 757 are a crap shoot at best.

But, hope can spring eternal There are 2 flights with large aircrafts, a 777 and a 767, and perhaps 1P may have a good chance on those flights?

I know that this has been the long-held wisdom on FT, and I even still hold it to be 'true,' but my own experience as either a 1P or 2P over many years has been completely contradictory. All upgrade requests I have ever made using miles -- except one -- were placed on the PA list.

The reason I know this is, because of the aforementioned long-held wisdom, any time I am waitlisted for such a request I have called to ask specifically if I were on the PA list. All responses were affirmative, with some even saying that because I am 1P/2P I would always be on the PA list. (Of course I never believe any such sweeping pronouncements from agents.)

The one time I was not on the PA list, I politely asked if I could be moved from PB to PA, and the agent was nice enough to accommodate my request. That was another nugget of FT wisdom. ^

You book a 3 seg flight a month out and request upgrade using SWU. The first 2 segments have X available and clear immediately. The last (LAX to HNL) has no X but 9 F. Now a 4 days out, still waitlisted.

If I get to the DM window still un-cleared, does the fact that a SWU has already been spent paying for the upgrade figure in at all? Or will a comp UG or one not yet paid for trump if the pax has higher order on the list? I get in this position frequently, usually clearing.

I get the rank order criteria, but it does seem like already paid for should be a factor over not yet paid for...

At the gate (DM), its about status and fare paid (then miles flown). So any GS or 1K with a higher fare class will jump ahead of you. Previously cleared segments do not influence UG priority at all.

I disagree with the fact that an upgrade on a previous segment should count as a rating factor. If we are both 1Ks, and I spent 2X on my ticket than you, why should I be further down the waitlist for an upgrade because you started your trip one airport ahead of me?

So check the FAQ, there is a good thread that (IIRC) LuckyCoins started on this.

One interesting thing is that when you get to the gate, it can actually come down to the letter that your last name starts with, if status & fare paid are equal. This actually happened to me on a SFO-BOS flight a couple of years ago. I missed the UG by one, and I had been chatting with lucky guy in line while we waited.

I wrote UA about doing "reverse" alphabetical order every once in a while, but I don't think they taken that up...

Because a SWU is valuable (as are the extra $$ you may have paid), and it isn't the segment you were spending it on but the entire trip. None of us want our SWUs to be only partially redeemed, even if you did pay more tham me tonight (likely trivially more...) If you are using one as well, one airport ahead doesn't matter. But we only get a few, and you have to pity the guy who makes it SNA to LAX in F only to not clear LAX to HNL (but who took the gamble because there were 9 F showing at departure time.) It wasn't even worth 1 e500 let alone a SWU. Extreme example, but you see what I mean.

SWUs are extremely valuable, and as such you should be using CR1s for a trip to HNL ;-).

This difference between a W fare vs a Y/B fare can be quite extreme depending on the route. It can easily be thousands of dollars.

What you will find is that most of us will only apply SWU, CR1, miles to the most valuable leg (e.g.; LAX-HNL) and when/if that clears, we'll call UA and have them apply it to the rest of our trip.

I do agree SWUs are valuable, but all SWUs have equal value; thus I do think fare-class is a good sorting order behind status. Sometimes it will work to your advantage, sometimes it won't...

As a rule, ALWAYS apply your SWU to the longest portion of your trip, as mentioned by several people on this thread. Once that clear, then try to get the other segments upgraded. Just common sense.

Right on all counts. When HNL to mainland points is all you fly, sometimes you wind up using SWUs for what CR1s are better suited for if you have plenty of both. Hawaii is tough, without a lot of advance notice, you may have no XF for a couple of days, so you are forced to take your chances or sit in E+. Bummer to pay for the upgrade then not clear. I would fully agree with your point if it was possible to undo a SWU or CRI when the major leg fails to clear and replace with E500s.