United Airlines Upgrade Waitlist

[Luvtoride]

Does anyone have experience with when these upgrade requests are cleared? We are booked on a flight to Italy in April of ‘25. We are ticketed in Economy and I have provided the required Mileage Plus miles and cash needed to upgrade to Business Class or Premium Economy when/ if they become available. Any experience with when this can/ does occur? The phone rep I spoke to said it could be as soon as this week or as late as the day of the flight (or not at all in which case both will be refunded to me).
Thanks,


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[Sandy VDH]

I've seen both happen.

My flight to French Poly upgraded me about 3 months in advance. My flight to Frankfurt upgraded about 12 hours before departure. I return from Frankfurt never cleared even though their were 8 seats open in business. The FA say it is in the GA hands, and the GA didn't have time to process the list after they gave up on the missed connections that weren't going to make the flight. Annoyed the crap out of me, as I was 4th on the list and would have gotten an upgrade.

Remember upgrades are based on space, and also on your own status, and what you are upgrading with.

I am 1K on United and even that doesn't help. My success has been rather spotty.

 

[vacation dreaming]

I've seen both happen.

My flight to French Poly upgraded me about 3 months in advance. My flight to Frankfurt upgraded about 12 hours before departure. I return from Frankfurt never cleared even though their were 8 seats open in business. The FA say it is in the GA hands, and the GA didn't have time to process the list after they gave up on the missed connections that weren't going to make the flight. Annoyed the crap out of me, as I was 4th on the list and would have gotten an upgrade.

Remember upgrades are based on space, and also on your own status, and what you are upgrading with.

I am 1K on United and even that doesn't help. My success has been rather spotty.

When the reservation has two people, how do they handle the upgrades? Years ago I remember the reservation was split and each person separately upgraded. Is it possible to request an upgrade but only if both people on the reservation can both be upgraded or is there always a risk that one clears and the other doesn’t?

 

[Luvtoride]

Sandy, you have much higher status than I have (Silver). Our reservation is for 3 seats which are all under my Mileage Plus account. If they don’t upgrade all 3 of us, we wouldn’t take a partial.
Thanks for the response.


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[VacationForever]

I made 2 roundtrips to Singapore in 2018, the first without my husband. My husband only travels in First Class/Polaris, so the second trip was not the issue. The first trip, I bought Premium Economy and requested upgrade. On the flight from US to Singapore, I did not get an upgrade but I was upgraded on the return trip. I was also given a refund for the Premium Economy when I got upgraded. My upgrade on the return trip happened sometime before the flight - days or months, I cannot remember.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Sandy, you have much higher status than I have (Silver). Our reservation is for 3 seats which are all under my Mileage Plus account. If they don’t upgrade all 3 of us, we wouldn’t take a partial.
Thanks for the response.


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I think sometime getting an upgrade depends on where you fly to. Frankfurt is a very Business oriented trip and a place to change flights to connect to Lufthunsa. So upgrades are harder to come by.

Flying to a Holiday destination might be an easier upgrade, as you are not fighting the long list of business travelers who might have Global Service Status which is higher than 1K and by invitation only (based on how much you spend).

 

[Luanne]

With my Silver status I am supposed to get an automatic upgrade, if available. So far, I haven't gotten one.

 

[vacation dreaming]

Sandy, you have much higher status than I have (Silver). Our reservation is for 3 seats which are all under my Mileage Plus account. If they don’t upgrade all 3 of us, we wouldn’t take a partial.
Thanks for the response.


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You said if they don’t upgrade all 3, you “wouldn’t take a partial”- how do you decline a partial upgrade? It all seems to be automatic in the system ahead of time if you request the upgrade online.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

supposed to get an automatic upgrade, if available

as long as they price upgrades right, you prob never will get an "auto", and with all those FF miles people accumulated on CCs but not flying in 2020 & 2021, it could be a LONG time

 

[buzglyd]

With my Silver status I am supposed to get an automatic upgrade, if available. So far, I haven't gotten one.

Good luck getting upgraded as a Silver. I’m a Gold Million Miler on United and never get upgraded. I’ve sat in Premium Economy with 1K who are far down on the list as well. I miss the Continental days.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We have been Gold and Silver. I cannot remember getting a complimentary upgrade on our own elite status. We are also Gold Million Milers and don't expect upgrades anymore.

What does work on occasion is using cash or (Chase points portal which counts as cash) for PE and then applying status to request an upgrade. That ranks you higher in PE class. We have been upgraded that way sometimes but I don't count chickens so am happy with PE if nothing happens.

There are lists online that show the upgrade pecking order based on type of ticket and elite status.

The other way to get upgraded is to get a 1k flyer with expiring upgrade certificates to gift you their certs. We've gotten first class upgrades through the generosity of a friend's elite status.

 

[Luvtoride]

You said if they don’t upgrade all 3, you “wouldn’t take a partial”- how do you decline a partial upgrade? It all seems to be automatic in the system ahead of time if you request the upgrade online.

We are traveling with our 13 year old granddaughter so separating us would not be good.

We are not expecting a complimentary upgrade. I’ve already transferred a lot of miles +cash charged to my credit card (explorer) to pay for an upgrade from the waitlist.
If it works, we will be happy. If not, we will still get to Naples
for our trip.


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[Sandy VDH]

I am 1K and get an upgrade around 20% of the time. It is pretty bad at getting upgrades. They offer options right up onto boarding to SELL upgrades instead of giving them away.

I have boarded the plane in coach and while on the plane an upgrade came through just before the plane door closes. And that is at 1K. I think Silver is going to be rough going getting an upgrade, let along have one clear in advance.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Wow 20% upgrade for 1k means the rest of elite odds are same as lottery. That's even lower than I thought.

I now fly coach extra legroom cross country and pay for PE or book with points upfront for intercontinental.

Also PE on Norse or French Bee to Europe avoids all this race to the bottom upgrade nonsense. Saves about $1000 over Big 3 too.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Business to Business city pairs and I find that upgrading is very difficult at 1K level. I have even tried using my Plus points options to move me farther up the list, as that is supposed to be prioritized over others.

If I travel to vacation locations I find it works better. Newark to Houston, Hub to Hub. Nothing.

I see lists some times and there 12 seats in first, and there are 35 people on the waitlist for an upgrade to the 12 seats. Of which 11 are booked and checked in, and its the first flight of the day. Not many upgrades happening on some of these flights. As 1K and using plus points I was 8 on the list.

 

[buzglyd]

Business to Business city pairs and I find that upgrading is very difficult at 1K level. I have even tried using my Plus points options to move me farther up the list, as that is supposed to be prioritized over others.

If I travel to vacation locations I find it works better. Newark to Houston, Hub to Hub. Nothing.

I see lists some times and there 12 seats in first, and there are 35 people on the waitlist for an upgrade to the 12 seats. Of which 11 are booked and checked in, and its the first flight of the day. Not many upgrades happening on some of these flights. As 1K and using plus points I was 8 on the list.

My only advantage as a Gold is I can select an economy plus seat at booking, I never expect anymore than that. I rarely fly United these days. Alaska has so many non stops out of San Diego and as a Gold I am frequently upgraded.

 

[wackymother]

I'm United Silver and we don't fly much, but the only upgrades we've gotten are the ones where you check in right at the 24-hour mark and you can upgrade from Economy to Economy Plus if there are seats available in Economy Plus.

We're flying Seattle to Newark next year and the cost to upgrade to first was...I can't remember, but it was a few hundred rather than a couple thousand. So I went for it. This will be the first time I've ever flown first. I think it's worth it for a flight that's almost six hours, right?

 

[VacationForever]

OP is asking about paid upgrades. My response above refers to paid upgrades.

 

[Luanne]

OP is asking about paid upgrades. My response above refers to paid upgrades.

Maybe I'm confused. If you are going to pay for the upgrade why don't you just book into the class you want when you purchase your ticket?

 

[wackymother]

Maybe I'm confused. If you are going to pay for the upgrade why don't you just book into the class you want when you purchase your ticket?

On some flights, United has offers where you pay more in cash or miles, or cash plus miles, to get on a waiting list for upgrades.

 

[Luanne]

On some flights, United has offers where you pay more in cash or miles, or cash plus miles, to get on a waiting list for upgrades.

So far I haven't seen that. I do get email offers to pay to upgrade to first class and there is usually something on the website when I check my trips. One time when dh and I were flying back from Maui I got a notice we could pay to upgrade to first. He was not feeling well and we decided the cost (kind of hefty) was worth it. Spoiled us though.

 

[vacation dreaming]

So far I haven't seen that. I do get email offers to pay to upgrade to first class and there is usually something on the website when I check my trips. One time when dh and I were flying back from Maui I got a notice we could pay to upgrade to first. He was not feeling well and we decided the cost (kind of hefty) was worth it. Spoiled us though.

If you use the app, you can always see the upgrade price in dollars and miles. Usually it is a “waitlist” price which will not clear but sometimes it is available.

 

[VacationForever]

Maybe I'm confused. If you are going to pay for the upgrade why don't you just book into the class you want when you purchase your ticket?

At the end of purchasing the tickets, at check out, there is an option for upgrade, with $ and miles required. The total of those is usually much cheaper than buying first class tickets or using reward miles outright. The request gets onto their "waitlist" queue. Sometimes they come through and sometimes they don't, depending on demand for first class tickets.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Now that we are lifetime Gold we get Premiim Econ at booking. I can tolerate that for 5 -6 hours. What I cannot tolerate anymore is sardine econ. I am too tall for that.

 

[linsj]

Now that we are lifetime Gold we get Premiim Econ at booking. I can tolerate that for 5 -6 hours. What I cannot tolerate anymore is sardine econ. I am too tall for that.

Same here, but I always book exit row for even more leg room. I'm so used to that I can barely tolerate prem econ. (I have long legs!)