crimsonAA

Quick question -- I had existing reservations and just bought Trial Preferred and had them add my US number to my reservation (previously had A3 number in there). If I can see Preferred Seats available for selection and I have an "S" next to my name on the seat selection page, does that mean my status is attached and I'll be automatically considered for upgrades?

Or is there some special indicator that I need to see that means I'm upgrade-eligible (like what I see on UA/AA/DL).

I know that the terms of Trial Preferred seem to indicate that only bookings made after purchasing Trial Preferred are eligible for Preferred Benefits, but others have reported receiving the benefits anyway. My question is just whether I should see something next to the flight segment to indicate that it's upgrade eligible.

And just to make sure I'm understanding the upgrade process correctly, if there are no upgrade seats available before check in, there is no possibility for a non-Preferred companion to be upgraded, correct? If I don't want to split off, am I better served to wait until the last minute to check in, or are companion upgrades impossible after D+24, regardless of check in time?

Thanks!

Superguy

As long as you haven't flown, the ticket can be booked before you started the trial.

I bought my Trial Preferred about a week before I actually flew. You'll have to babysit the first reservation as it's prone to glitches. I ran into not being added to the upgrade list, and the system attempting to charge me for bags despite Silver being printed on my BP.

If you don't get an upgrade email at your window, call in and make sure that you are. If there's an upgrade seat available that hasn't been given out yet, they can manually process the upgrade (they did for me anyway).

When you get to the airport, also ask if you're on the upgrade list as well, or check the flight status in the mobile app. If you're not on there, they'll need to add you.

They'll have to split the PNR at the airport at that point. My wife and I traveled once and the upgraded hadn't cleared. They said they could upgrade me on the spot but not my wife, and we'd have to split my PNR. We stuck to our exit row seats.

crimsonAA

Thank you so much for the help!

Normally I check in 24 hours in advance. Is there any benefit to waiting until later? Here's my hypothetical:

I check in at D+24 and there are 0 seats available for upgrade. At D+23, 2 seats open up. (Let's assume we're at the top of the list.) Will the system give me those two seats automatically as soon as they open up, even though I'm already checked in? Or do I have to wait until we're at the airport to get an upgrade if it hasn't already cleared by check in time? And worse, will those two seats that opened up go to the person who checks in at D+22 if they're available when he checks in online?

Sorry of that was confusing. I've read through a good chunk of the master thread on this, but I'm still a bit unclear on this point.

sjpmurph01

No harm doing OLCI at T-24. If seats become available later, the system won't automatically upgrade you within the 24 hour window, but you can go back to OLCI, click 'Just Change Seats' and select your seats in FC for a $0 upgrade fee.

crimsonAA

That answers my question. Thank you!

Superguy

Another quirk of US's system is if there are open seats at T-24, you have a better chance of snagging them as it goes by check-in time.

Check in and add yourself to the standby list. I've had it happen on more than one occasion that by the time I got to print my BPs, I was already upgraded into F.

Sam I Am

Note that it's by status tier first and check-in time next. (So a Gold checking in after a Silver is higher on the priority list).

I was recently moved up (PHL-SFO) after boarding was complete. One no-show in F and I was the first person to check in (seq. 1) for the flight. A nice surprise.