wendySFO

Schedule to fly UA 901 (FRA-SFO) on May 23, requested upgrade to C, got a "upgrade denied" message in stead of the usual "upgrade waitlisted".

Checked with UA agent and was told the upgrade list is closed so not even a chance to put myself to the upgrade waitlist 3 weeks out.

The confusing part is there seems still plenty of seats available according to seatcounter (same number from UA award booking page):

Availability by Booking Class(*) (by class)
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z
9 9 9 8 0 9 0 9 0 0 0 9 0 0 9 9 1 2 0 9 9 4 9 4

UA agent said the seats are pretty much sold out so they don't anticipate much upgrade will happen and there are plenty of people already on the upgrade list so they closed out the upgrade list.

First time for me to encounter this and strange the seatcounter number and the "reality" is so wide apart. Any idea why the discrepancy and possible for the waitlist to re-open again?

SEA1K4EVR

I suspect the reason is that C may already be booked full or oversold for the flight. In looking at the seatmap there are only 7 available C seats out of 73. There could be people holding reservations who do not have seat assignments yet...they are still selling a few seats perhaps because they are willing to oversell further.

Still, it's absolutely ridiculous that upgrade waitlists are ever closed. What difference does it make???

planeluvr

Looks like C is full but F is wide open.

TA

this topic has been addressed previously (I think once even with a comment from UA cust rel), but I agree it is very stupid not to be able to handle the length of a list with a computer -- why should a list ever be closed, even if it looks grim? Especially if you are promising people the chance at least, to feel that their upgrades are useful, and especially if you consider that high status people can jump lower status people on the waitlist, there is never any reason to close an upgrade waitlist, which is basically just a piece of information. Even if the list is long, the right person could be at the top of that list, while if it is closed, they won't even have a shot at it.

If they have some incomprehensible reason for wanting to close out lists at a certain length compared to availability, to manage expectations or something (which I doubt), at least drop the lowest priority people on the list so high fliers can get on.

planeluvr

What person would jump someone on the PA list? That upgrader will still have the opportunity for the battlefield upgrade on day of departure to jump to the top.

bseller

I see your point, but it creates a problem from the standpoint of the FIFO nature of the upgrade waitlist.

Are you suggesting that as the list gets longer, and more people are LESS likely to clear - that 1K's should displace 2P's who were on the list first??
I don't think that's a very good idea. YMMV

Dave

1K_From_SNA

I don't see the logic, and think it is silly, but they do it.

It happened to me once, and it later opened up and I got on the list, then a day or so before I got the upgrade. In my case Y was way oversold, and C had a number of seats still for sale (which really seemed silly). So the chances depend on the circumstances, but my advice is keep calling and asking. It can open up.

TA

No, I'm not suggesting that of course, but for example how about PA vs PB waitlist? They could drop the PB waitlist if it is obvious it will never clear, and they "have to" close the list if others are to be added.

As for whether 1Ks and GS should trump 2Ps who were on the list earlier? I don't know if they should, but in practice it is happening more and more frequently as the list goes to DM on the day of (depending on your flight). Whether this is to stealthily emphasize and reward the highest tier, or simply to hold back inventory for possible purchase, or a combination, who knows.

PHLGovFlyer

Perhaps it makes some sense...

If there really are a ton of folks already on the list for a few remaining seats its doubtful that UA will be clearing any UGs prior to the gate. Since prior to the gate is all FIFO anyway it really won't make a difference if any more pax are added to the bottom of the list.

The real trick here is to make certain that you check in at 23:59 and get an upgrade request in at that time. Then the FIFO list is effectively gone and its all status, fare basis, and time on the DM list.

What I wonder about in these cases is if they'll deny pax the ability to request UGs when checking in?

jyinyang

To address your question about the disparity between seatcounter and the "reality" of the situation, it's possible that it's a .bomb error as well. When I was traveling to HK in January, I tried booking a flight that I was trying to use a SWU to upgrade and even though seatcounter showed wide open availability, the agent over the phone kept telling me otherwise. The next day, correct data was uploaded and did, in fact, show the plane as being close to oversold.

Always Flyin

That sounds like a very good idea to me. Rank has its privileges.

Are you advocating that a 2P should receive an upgrade on a flight and a 1K or GS member does not because the 2P received it first?

That's not much of a loyalty program rewarding frequent fliers (which a 2P most certainly is not).

flyinbob

UA is still selling standard award C seats, so there is some availability.

Keep in mind that is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, so lots of business travelers probably going home for the holiday weekend. You may get lucky if you could move a day either way?

bseller

I'm not advocating that at all! I'm 1K, after all.

All I'm saying is that this is way the system works prior to the DM. The list is FIFO, not status based.
Dave

chwbauer

I am flying from SFO to FRA on a Q fare and tried to upgrade the flight using and SWU. .bomb came back with Upgrade denied. After calling the 1K line, they told me that the flight is oversold in C and the waitlist is closed because it is too long already. But I would assume that I would jump to somewhere close to the top of the list were they to add me. Does anybody know how I can convince them to put me on the waitlist?

ryan182

This happens if the # of people on WL exceeds the number of seats, and the WL is FIFO until day of departure where it goes to DM so you wouldn't jump to the top. You'll probably have to wait until check-in (do OLCI 24 hour before)

Given the fact that SFO is 1K/GS central and a Q fare isn't exactly super high and C is oversold I'd say give it the old college try but expect to be in E+.

ETA: also the "good" news is they most probably won't clear anyone off the WL so being on the WL right now vs DM @ 24 hours is probably the same