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Hey folks, so I'm buying a round-trip ticket to Asia for later this year with miles, and I'm trying to figure out the likelihood that I'll get upgraded to business class from economy based on my status with the airline. I'm buying X fare class tickets on United/Star Alliance airlines - does anyone know the breakdown of how each fare class may or may not be eligible for upgrade?
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Aug 8, 2014 04:45
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United does not offer complementary upgrades for international flights regardless of status or method of purchase. If you have a United credit card you may be eligible for a complementary upgrade on any domestic portions of your itinerary. Your best bet is finding a Business Saver award if you have the miles. http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/upgrade/default.aspx
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Aug 8, 2014 05:32
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Redeeming miles and hoping for an upgrade. You're hoping to see a real life unicorn. Also what is your status. Are you 1k? What is the route? Are you flying united metal or a code share? None of this matters really. Just curious.
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Aug 8, 2014 07:17
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You will only get upgrades if you have one of the better tier frequent flier cards (gold, platinum) and even then it's pretty drat rare to get upgraded on transcontinental flights. The only way you will get upgraded to business is if you pay the extra money to upgrade yourself. I did get upgraded to business class at the gate once for no reason on a company I'd never flown before (SwissAir) on a transcontinental flight, along with 2 other people. We were literally the only 3 white people on the entire flight from Zurich->Douala->Yaounde, so I'm pretty sure it was just good old fashioned racism.
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Aug 8, 2014 10:04
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I'm Premier Gold on United/Gold on Star Alliance. It seems that B or Y class tickets in economy are the only things that can be upgraded w/ miles? I'm exploring options on Turkish Airlines, since its base fare tickets are cheaper, but it does require dealing with THY's phone service.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:09
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I don't understand what you're trying to do but it feels like you're trying to game a very established system and/or predict the unpredictable. In the first post You want to redeem miles. Then redeem an upgrade on that ticket? Why not just redeem a biz class award? Or are you hoping for an operational upgrade as a gold? To say that isn't likely is an understatement, although possible. An op-up on an award ticket? Even less likely. There's certainly no way to determine it until basically boarding of the flight given changing loads, misconnects, rebookings, etc. Now you want to book a Turkish airlines Y or B class fare and upgrade from there? I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of that fare class is almost equivalent to that of discount business. Basically book the class you're comfortable sitting in. There's no gaming or predicting otherwise. sellouts fucked around with this message at 07:12 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 07:08
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I don't fly United myself, but you might try this forum for info. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus-681/
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Aug 10, 2014 20:06
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Yeah, good luck with that.
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Aug 11, 2014 00:20
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The best I have gotten is to ask the gate attendant the date of the flight and see if there are any seats available. If there are, you may be able to get an upgrade from your paid class of service up to business or whatever is available for a reduced amount of miles (or dollars).
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Aug 11, 2014 23:20
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Cheesemaster200 posted:The best I have gotten is to ask the gate attendant the date of the flight and see if there are any seats available. If there are, you may be able to get an upgrade from your paid class of service up to business or whatever is available for a reduced amount of miles (or dollars). Actually, there are a number of ways to secure upgrades past the Complementary Premier Upgrade (CPU) process that United offers. The first, and by far United's preference, is that you simply pay for it. In the booking process, the payment page will offer you an, "upgrade" for a price. The same offer (though pricing may be different based on your status) will be offered in the View Reservation page after a trip is ticketed. Both of these represent the delta between the fare you bought and the cheapest premium cabin fare available (including UP fares, though United doesn't offer those as much as Delta these days). So while it's marketed as an upgrade, it's really a fare-up. The next one involves miles. Domestic trips can be upgraded for 15,000, 20,000, or 25,000 miles depending on length or duration. International trips have the same capability but there is usually a co-pay involved unless you bought a very high (and expensive) fare class. Page four of this chart lists all those details. The Y and B upgrades that the_chavi describes above are Star Alliance upgrades and those are used to upgrade on partner carriers using your base carrier's miles, but a Y or B fare is required to be eligible for that. The last one is via instruments provided for gaining elite status. I'm 1K with United so got four Regional Premier Upgrades and six Global Premier Upgrades that are good through the end of 2015. There are a bunch of rules on how those get used that I won't bore you with unless someone is interested. Most of it is listed on the United site anyway.
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Aug 19, 2014 13:43
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the_chavi posted:Hey folks, so I'm buying a round-trip ticket to Asia for later this year with miles, and I'm trying to figure out the likelihood that I'll get upgraded to business class from economy based on my status with the airline. I'm buying X fare class tickets on United/Star Alliance airlines - does anyone know the breakdown of how each fare class may or may not be eligible for upgrade? EDIT: ignore original post You will not be upgraded on an X class fare, unless you get an "operational upgrade" from economy being oversold. Even then, you will be behind all revenue ticket purchasers in the same Premier class as you. i fly airplanes fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 02:07
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the_chavi posted:I'm Premier Gold on United/Gold on Star Alliance. It seems that B or Y class tickets in economy are the only things that can be upgraded w/ miles? I'm exploring options on Turkish Airlines, since its base fare tickets are cheaper, but it does require dealing with THY's phone service. Y or B on TK metal, yes. W and up on UA metal are eligible for miles/copay and the higher class ticket you buy, the better your chance gets. Are you seeing TK Y & B for cheaper than UA W & up? I hate the UA int'l upgrade lotto because it forces you to pay more for better chances but, if you are a lowly gold, you better be prepared to pay or be disappointed because you have all the GS, 1k, and plats ahead of you playing the same game. My advice if you are going either TK or UA and want a sure thing is to shell out the miles for an saver award. Also avoid TK comfort class unless all you want is a bigger seat. TK J is great stuff but comfort is really inconsistent -source, colleague that flies IAH - IST 3 times a year.
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Sep 1, 2014 17:25
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Aristotle Animes posted:Y or B on TK metal, yes. W and up on UA metal are eligible for miles/copay and the higher class ticket you buy, the better your chance gets. Are you seeing TK Y & B for cheaper than UA W & up? I've read great things about TK Comfort Class on Flyertalk because the seat is supposedly great value for money (much cheaper than J but much much more comfortable than Y) - unfortunately, I think they are phasing it out
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Sep 2, 2014 10:30
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Aristotle Animes posted:Y or B on TK metal, yes. W and up on UA metal are eligible for miles/copay and the higher class ticket you buy, the better your chance gets. Are you seeing TK Y & B for cheaper than UA W & up? Not to mention are you competing against Global Premier Upgrades, which are used on reservations outside of the GS/1K account!
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Sep 3, 2014 05:30
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AdrenalinG posted:Not to mention are you competing against Global Premier Upgrades, which are used on reservations outside of the GS/1K account! Indeed. A traveler sponsored with a GPU will clear with the premier account status it was sponsored from. So a GPU from a 1k would clear with the 1ks. Inside the group, the fare class will matter so a W (lowest upgradeable fare) will clear last among the 1ks using instruments (miles or GPU) and a Gold buying a Y or B fare would clear first among the Golds. What I don't know is if the UA Golds have to fight it out among the *Golds in hire fare buckets or if UA sweeps it's own premiers before alliance memebers with *Gold status. Which is potentially a lot of passengers.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:15
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Aristotle Animes posted:Indeed. A traveler sponsored with a GPU will clear with the premier account status it was sponsored from. So a GPU from a 1k would clear with the 1ks. Inside the group, the fare class will matter so a W (lowest upgradeable fare) will clear last among the 1ks using instruments (miles or GPU) and a Gold buying a Y or B fare would clear first among the Golds. What I don't know is if the UA Golds have to fight it out among the *Golds in hire fare buckets or if UA sweeps it's own premiers before alliance memebers with *Gold status. Which is potentially a lot of passengers. GPUs from GS don't have minimum restrictions, so a GPU from a GS on a K fare (lol) will clear before a GPU from a 1K on a W fare. I think Premiers before *G would get priority, even Silvers, since they are subject to the same fare buckets to upgrade into higher classes. I think *G requires Y or B as well, in addition to mileage and co-pay. There's also some sneaky ways using award tickets too for int'l travel, there used to be something called "Plan B" tickets from CO days where you would book economy saver awards, be charged for business saver and then put on the upgrade list. You would always be #1 to clear because the system saw you as an IRROP-displaced J passenger. Which was a great way to get around UA not releasing J seats.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:24
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Nice beni GS gets for sure is the no fare restriction for instrument upgrades. And if you are departing out of SFO, good luck because they're a bajillion GSs in San Fran... fuckin up my CPU rates every time I go down there. Speaking of SFO, TK, and may the OP is interested in business class. If you are going to Istanbul in March '15, TK is opening a new route SFO-IST and the the J saver awards are WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open right now. It won't last forever tho. Sweet, sweet, TK 773er business class.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:57
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Aristotle Animes posted:Nice beni GS gets for sure is the no fare restriction for instrument upgrades. And if you are departing out of SFO, good luck because they're a bajillion GSs in San Fran... fuckin up my CPU rates every time I go down there. Not to mention if you're connecting, TK gives you free hotel rooms for overnight connections, and the TK lounge is one of the best in the world.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:58
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AdrenalinG posted:Not to mention if you're connecting, TK gives you free hotel rooms for overnight connections, and the TK lounge is one of the best in the world. Wow. I didn't know that. Looks like a 7hr connection will get you a hotel room with a biz class ticket with some restrictions. If the hotel was at IST i would probably jump at that for a shower and a nap/walk and then quick head back to IST for the awesome lounge there. http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/travel-information/frequently-asked-questions/travel-information/special-service-requests
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Sep 3, 2014 20:12
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