First Class on A319
 

I am new to the board, so pardon me if I missed this info in my archive searches. I am flying SF0->EWR on a redeye aboard an Airbus A319 on a full fare ticket. I am a first level Premier. This is a two cabin aircraft, and I was wondering the quality of the first class seats. I am concsidering using 5000 miles to upgrade from coach but not if it will be a marginal experience. Currently there are no seats available, but they might become available. What are the chances that a) seats will become available and b) that I will be able to secure the seat as a full-fare premier? The flight is this monday night. Thanks

a) With only 8 first class seats on the a319, it is rather unlikely that a seat will open up. but...
b) if it does, you will be among the first in line for it.

HOWEVER, do note that on redeye flights first class service is cut way back. You may or may not get a snack and breakfast will be juice, coffee and a danish.

Further, as you may already know, UA's domestic fist class seats are not that much more comfortable then coach seats for sleeping. They are narrow and do not recline very far. While the bending headrests help, its not all that much.

Having said all that, however, I do tend to upgrade redeyes myself....

Welcome to FT! This question reminds me so much of the very early days of FT http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif!!!!!

Imho, 5k miles is worth it. The seats are similar to the new F seats on most other domestic narrowbody aircraft. It's no 777 or 747 C.

However, my hunch is that as a premier you're unlikely to clear on SFO-EWR. You're ahead of premiers on discounted tickets but behind Premier Executives and 1Ks.

I like the A319 as far as domestic F goes, because it's a pretty intimate cabin. For transcons I'll generally try to confirm the upgrade in advance b/c as a 1P I often won't clear at the 72-hour window. Red-eyes are usually a bit easier, but with only 8 seats it may be tough. How far off is the flight? What is the load up front?

If you are in Y+ and HAVE THE MIDDLE SEAT NEXT TO YOU BLOCKED you will be almost as happy -- pitch and width will be about the same. And since it's a redeye you're not missing much in the way of service. (You should get a snack in F.. nothing in Y.. but lotsa folks forgo it in order to sleep.)

Wait, if he is flying full-fare as a premier, doesn't that put him ahead of 1Ps?

I thought full-fare premiers clear 72 hours out...

Not worth it, there is the same(if not MORE) pitch in the E+ section of that same plane, the only thing you might get is a SNACK.

Nope. Both Full fare premiers and Premier Executives clear 72 hours out.

1Ps, however, are ahead in line...

I may have a basic misunderstanding of how the mileage upgrades work.

I was under the impression that one could "pay" for an upgrade with miles at any time. If there's upgrade inventory available you get it. No waiting around for the 72 hour window, etc.

In fact I have done exactly this as recently as October (bought super cheapo ticket ORD-HNL and upgraded immediately after purchase with miles. Travel was at least three weeks away at that point).

This is a basic difference between upgrading with 500 milers and with miles.

Am I missing something?

For the record I am Prem Executive.

Mike

using miles is the same as a confirmed ug. if it is available you get it, if not, you are waitlisted

But a full-fare premier is ahead of 1Ps who are not on full-fares, right?

"Ahead of" only matters when there's a list. Mileage upgrades are done as requested, not listed then prioritized.

So it would be unlikely that a full-fare premier would get a mileage upgrade ahead of a discount-fared 1P. First come, first served, I think.

If it is very important you could always try to buy an F ticket. Perhaps a discounted F ticket is available, perhaps for only a little more (relatively speaking) than your full coach ticket.

I think when you are waitlisted using miles this is where PA/PB comes into play. But once you are on these lists it goes by time. Once you hit the DM, it goes status, fare, time.

If you sit in row 2 on an A319, you'll find out just how far the seats do recline - far enough to stop you getting your tray into the arm of your seat, or out of it... I always try to sit in row 1 on the A320 or A319 for this reason.

The upgrade is certainly worth 5k miles, but I wouldn't loose too much sleep over whether you get it or not. Just book yourself a nice Y+ seat (with the middle blocked, even) and consider it a bonus if you get moved up front. If not, you'll still be able to sleep easy knowing that F service on the red eye is nothing to write home about.

If you're flexible, why not fly into JFK instead of EWR?

For the $2,000 or $3,000 you're spending for this flight, I would hate to be stuck in the front OR the back of an A319 on a transcon redeye.

The JFK flight is a 762 with plenty of business class seating that will virtually ensure your upgrade as a full-fare premier (or you may be willing to buy the C-class seat). The C-class seat will be demonstrably better than your 319 F-class.