KatW

I recently read the front-back&fine print on my Mileage Plus uprade certificates. I was intrigued to note this verbiage:

"Receive 250 miles for each unexpired 500 miles in complimentary Upgrade Certificates returned. Miliage will be credited to your account." These are upgrade certs issued before I made Premier Exec.

My questions:

1. Now that I'm PremEx status, would I receive more than 250 miles in exchange for a 500-mile cert?

2. I've never had much luck using upgrade certs. Mostly because I'm a whimp and don't like to leave anything to chance so I tend to upgrade only with miles since I know at booking that I have the upgrade. The thought of spending more than two hours in steerage is less than appealing to me. May I ask FTalkers to opine on whether I should try to use the certs to upgrade; or, would I be better off exchanging them . . . ?

Thanks y'all.

pgupta011

1) No, you do not receive anything extra for being PE.

2) Some flights are better than others for upgrading. Use the United connection on PC software to look at the number of unallocated
first/business seats.

JeffS

Kat, IMHO you should use the certs. As a Premier Exec. you can be confirmed starting at 72 hours prior to the flight time. And, you can request the upgrade at the time of booking.

It pays to know your aircraft too. One of the things I do is try to choose flights on aircraft with a decent number of first class seats. For example, the 757 has 24 in first while the A320 only has 12. I also agree with pgupta that the United Connection software is nice as you can view the seat map.

Give it a try and see how it goes. If it doesn't work I'll gladly take the upgrade certs off of your hands.

PremEx

Dear Friend, very good advise has been given here regarding aircraft type and number of first class seats available. I would like to point out another option...gift them to a friend.

baobab

They are all purring and acting very cute for you, KatW...

pjaucutt

I don't know if this has already been said, but look at the time of day when you are going too. Monday morning, Thurs. and Fri. afternoon, etc, are absolute no,no,nos for travel in my book because it is a zoo. I would guess that the upgrade opportunuties are limited during those times also.

Does anyone know the rule on the certs. given by customer relations for bad service? Can those be given away?

Phil

jerry grant

Yes they are. I have received certificates from FAs and Customer Relations from between $ 25 and $200 and had no problem in using them towards my wife's or kid's airfares.

KatW

Great advice, thanks to all. Carrying forward the idea of choosing aircraft with maximum First seating, I probably could book a DC10 to and from Hawaii rather than 757.

baobab -- indeed, a toast of the bubbly to us, ladies and gentlemen all!

[This message has been edited by KatW (edited 02-02-99).]

Rudi

a) only 250 miles (Prem, PremEx, +K)

b) best chances are requests for upgrades to BUSINESS on THREE class aircrafts.

TropicalFlyer

If you're upgrading on Hawaii flights, your best chance is upgrading to business on the 747 flights and then trying for fc on the DC-10s. You practically have no chance of upgrading on the 757s.

timfucius

I have three 500-mile upgrade coupons expiring on 3/31/99. I don't know if I'll be flying on UA any time soon. I feel bad redeeming them for miles, and don't want them to expire. I remember reading a thread on trading coupons, but couldn't find it. Can anyone advise?

Thanks,
Tim

Rudi

timchen: just get the 3 times 250 miles credit and take it as tomorrows birthday present. Enjoy your birthday!

Catman

I would go with Rudi's advice TimChen. Consider it's better to get some miles than NONE at all.

Here is a testimonial of FLyerTalk: Stupid me did not know for several years that you can exchanged unused upgrade certificates for miles. I think I lost several thousand miles by not knowing this rule.

Then I read FLyertalk and found out about it!
Thanks guys! (OF course I was not a well-read Frequent Traveler before getting Inside Flyer and reading this board!!!)

So FlyerTalk works. Take it from THE CAT!
CATMAN

timfucius

Hey, thanks for the advice.

I forgot about my b-day (want to skip it actually)! I wonder if UA will remember and send me two complimentary first-class tickets to anywhere in the world. hehe- Yeah right!

Thank you for the b-day wishes! :-)


Tim

[This message has been edited by timchen (edited 02-23-99).]

Counsellor

Don't feel too bad, Catman. My recollection is that they only began taking them back for miles about three years ago. Or, maybe they always did, and I just didn't know it?