What is the process to upgrade a United flight with $?

[bigbadbyrnes]

I'm looking for someone with experience using United's website or the app to upgrade a flight with $ after the flight has been purchased.


I understand you need to buy an 'upgradeable' ticket (economy plus, premium economy plus). Then leading up to the day of flight, a price will be advertised to you to upgrade from economy plus or premium economy plus to a higher fare class. This price varies day to day.

Can I get a fact-check?

Has anyone done this from Australia for flights BNE or SYD or MEL to LAX or SFO?

What is the price? And is this process correct?

thank you !

 

[bam71]

Offered to us a few years back, travelling UA from Sydney to LAX. We were in business, and they offered USD900 to upgrade to First. We declined. The offer was when we checked in a day or two prior to departure, as part of the check in process.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I'm looking for someone with experience using United's website or the app to upgrade a flight with $ after the flight has been purchased.


I understand you need to buy an 'upgradeable' ticket (economy plus, premium economy plus). Then leading up to the day of flight, a price will be advertised to you to upgrade from economy plus or premium economy plus to a higher fare class. This price varies day to day.

Can I get a fact-check?

Has anyone done this from Australia for flights BNE or SYD or MEL to LAX or SFO?

What is the price? And is this process correct?

thank you !

As someone who pre-COVID travelled almost exclusively on United metal, especially for long haul journeys including from LHR to SYD (via LAX) I think I can provide some advice in this area. Depending on your frequent flyer status with United you've got the following options:

• Anytime Upgrade: Go into the Manage bookings page of your trip and you should see a banner somewhere with the current offer to upgrade from economy to a higher cabin (i.e. Premium Plus or Polaris Business class). These offers fluctuate regularly so keep an eye out and have a price in mind so you're ready to pull the trigger when you see an offer you want. Case in point I was flying AKL to SFO on a dirt cheap United economy ticket and the upgrade offer there was $999 USD. If you choose this route you should earn PQPs towards United frequent flyer status. These upgrades will clear right away.
• Upgrade Offer at Check-In: A special case of the anytime upgrade are the upgrade offers you may receive from United during check-in. Often these offers tend to have the best value since at that point United has a pretty good understanding of how many Polaris seats would otherwise go out empty. Indeed, there is a whole thread on FlyerTalk dedicated to the insanely cheap offers people received during check-in. I've upgraded from a $350 USD economy return ticket on LHR > YYZ for around $500 USD to Polaris business class.
• Mileage Upgrade: If you have a number of United miles you can use them to request an upgrade. Again you'll go into the manage booking page for your trip and click the link to request an upgrade. The number of points required depends on the fare class and the origin/destination. For instance, in January 2020 I was flying from LHR to SYD (via LAX) on a $900 USD return K fare. The number of points required to request the upgrade was 35,000 miles + $650 USD copay. Depending on availability the upgrade could clear right away or it could clear later. For the LHR to SYD trip I took both segments (LHR > LAX and LAX > SYD) cleared into Polaris business class at check in. Sometimes they won't clear, in which case you get your points and money back.
• PlusPoints (formerly Global Premier Upgrades): If you or someone you know is a United Platinum, 1K or Global Services member they can use their PlusPoints to upgrade your flight. Upgrades are handled similar to Mileage upgrade except there is no co-pay or miles to pay out.

Notes:

• You need to be travelling on a ticket that is upgradable. In other words if you bought yourself a Basic Economy ticket you bought yourself a seat at the back of the bus and that's the way it is!
• For Mileage and PlusPoints upgrades the likelihood your upgrade request will clear will depend on a number of factors including (in no particular order): your United/Star Alliance frequent flyer status, the type of fare you booked (i.e. a full fare Y ticket will be ahead of a cheap K fare ticket I would normally book), when you requested the upgrade, whether you hold a United credit card or the organization you work for has a special agreement with United.
• If someone else is making the upgrade on your behalf using PlusPoints or Milage Upgrade, the higher or your United frequent flyer status or their frequent flyer status will determine upgrade priority

Hope this provides marginal value

-RooFlyer88

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

As someone who pre-COVID travelled almost exclusively on United metal, especially for long haul journeys including from LHR to SYD (via LAX) I think I can provide some advice in this area.
Hope this provides marginal value

-RooFlyer88

Very helpful, many thanks. So much value, in fact, I'll make a $15 donation to the charity of your choice for this - let me know your preferred charity.

Do you have any idea what the likelihood, and price, would be for upgrading from Premium Economy Plus to Polaris? I suppose I'm asking unanswerable questions at this point

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Very helpful, many thanks. So much value, in fact, I'll make a $15 donation to the charity of your choice for this - let me know your preferred charity.

That's completely unnecessary but certainly welcome. As someone who suffers from Crohn's disease I would appreciate it if you could donate to the Crohn's & Colitis Australia. Hopefully one day we find a cure to Crohn's and the other autoimmune diseases that many millions are suffering through!

Do you have any idea what the likelihood, and price, would be for upgrading from Premium Economy Plus to Polaris? I suppose I'm asking unanswerable questions at this point

Do you have a specific date and flight? I can look it up on ExpertFlyer and through some UA tools I have access to, to try and give you some insight here. Also, are you seated in Economy Plus (Regular Economy class with extra legroom) or Premium Plus (United's Premium Economy product)?

-RooFlyer88

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

I have not actually booked as yet, but am planning to buy the Premium Plus product - it's about $5k return atm.



edit: flying BNE SFO 16/5/23 returning 4/6/23. Only interested in direct flights

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I have not actually booked as yet, but am planning to buy the Premium Plus product - it's about $5k return atm.

View attachment 288723

Thanks again for the donation!

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Crikey is that expensive! I remember back when I flew from LHR to SYD (via LAX) on United that $1200 AUD return was dear! My recommendation would be wait for prices to cool down. Ideally you want to find Economy fares K class. And in case you're wondering, right now you can spend less than what UA is charging for Premium Economy to fly business class from BNE to SFO in Philippines airlines. Mileage can be credited to ANA Milage club which can be quite a lucrative program:


I cannot comment on the quality of Philippines airlines business class, I will leave that to my esteemed colleagues to comment on.

Anyway to answer your question, on this day specifically we've got J9, C9, D9, Z9, P9 meaning basically the business class cabin is empty (P fare is the deep discount economy fare). So there is a chance that you may get a reasonable upgrade offer. One thing you can try is to go through with the booking and see what upgrade offer is provided during booking. In addition, United has a 24 hour refund policy meaning you can book the flight and see what the upgrade offer is after booking and if you don't like it you can cancel it out.

It's a cough shoot what the upgrade offer will be. It can range anywhere from being peanuts to simply being the fare difference between the fare you paid and what business class is selling for (or somewhere in between). Mileage upgrades can be cost effective but if the upgrade doesn't clear and you ended up buying points to make the upgrade request, you're stuck with points on a frequent flyer program you may never use.

Another option to pursue, especially if you have Virgin Australia miles laying around is to simply book the business class ticket using points to make a business class award booking. Checking their site on May 17 you can fly Singapore airlines between BNE and SFO (connecting in SIN) for 139,000 Virgin miles + $135.51 in taxes & fees:

If you have Qantas points, there are certainly some business class awards you can book there as well:


As you can probably tell I'm a huge fan of booking these tickets with points when possible since it eliminates the waiting game. Once you've got the ticket booked as business you are set. Now I know you might say, well what if I am not swimming in points? No worries! Often times it can be quite cost effective to buy the miles you need and proceed to use them to make the award booking, particularly when the airlines run sales on frequent flyer miles and you have some business class award routings that are available. Case in point I spent $2800 CAD to buy 160,000 Air Canada miles, transferred over a further 60,000 Aeroplan miles from my AmEx card and then booked SYD > MEL > AUH > ZRH, ZRH > LIS > YYZ, LAX > TPE > ICN, ICN > SYD all in business class class. That ticket would certainly cost many multiples of what I paid out of pocket.

-RooFlyer88

 

[bam71]

Aren’t you doing your homework!

 

[bigbadbyrnes]

Another question, RooFlyer, if I may;

I'm doing
BNE - SFO - LAX
then
LAX - LAS
then
LAS - SGF
then CLE - SFO - BNE

Is there an advantage to booking a 'multi city' routing for my USA trip which includes the internal US flights?

I wish to know;
1.) Will I still get an opportunity to upgrade each leg individually even if purchased on one large itinerary?
2.) Do you get looked after better if there is a delay and you miss a flight?
3.) If you're doing a connecting international like CLE SFO BNE will they check the bags through to BNE?

With my CLE - SFO - BNE run, there is only a 2hr 23min (arrive 9:12 pm, depart 11:35pm) gap between flights, which could get gobbled up by delays. I would expect if this is United's "fault", they'll be more likely to re-ticket me onto the following day's flight etc.

I'd be flying SFO BNE in Premium Plus so would have access to priority lines, so if things run on time, the 2hr23m should be ok. But it's been years since I've flown so I'm uncertain.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Another question, RooFlyer, if I may;

I'm doing
BNE - SFO - LAX
then
LAX - LAS
then
LAS - SGF
then CLE - SFO - BNE

Is there an advantage to booking a 'multi city' routing for my USA trip which includes the internal US flights?

I wish to know;
1.) Will I still get an opportunity to upgrade each leg individually even if purchased on one large itinerary?

Yes. The follow portions of your trip should be upgradable using points:

• BNE - SFO - LAX - ~30K miles + co-pay (could be lower if you're on a higher fare)
• LAS - LAX - 12.5K miles (no co-pay since domestic)
• LAS - SGF - 12.5K miles (no co-pay since domestic)
• CLE - SFO - BNE - ~30K miles + co-pay (could be lower if you're on a higher fare)

2.) Do you get looked after better if there is a delay and you miss a flight?

Since it's all on one ticket then yeah. Additionally, if your trip to to LAX, SGF are delayed, you should have some latitude with United in changing around the itinerary.

3.) If you're doing a connecting international like CLE SFO BNE will they check the bags through to BNE?

With my CLE - SFO - BNE run, there is only a 2hr 23min (arrive 9:12 pm, depart 11:35pm) gap between flights, which could get gobbled up by delays. I would expect if this is United's "fault", they'll be more likely to re-ticket me onto the following day's flight etc.

I'd be flying SFO BNE in Premium Plus so would have access to priority lines, so if things run on time, the 2hr23m should be ok. But it's been years since I've flown so I'm uncertain.

From the United States, yes bags will check through to your final international destination (vice-versa it's not the case).

-RooFlyer88

 

[UP4014]

I've managed to upgrade at check in with UA often for a good price. Have never tried via the web or phone.

 

[frequentflyer91]

Has anyone flown United recently as virgin platinum and managed to score any upgrades? Current upgrade showing for business is $3500 USD (insane) so hoping it reduces in the check in period. Flying in 3 weeks and looking like a 50% full flight

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Has anyone flown United recently as virgin platinum and managed to score any upgrades? Current upgrade showing for business is $3500 USD (insane) so hoping it reduces in the check in period. Flying in 3 weeks and looking like a 50% full flight

I haven’t since United discourages such behaviour (remember flying one million miles with United gives you lifetime Premier Gold status). Upgrade offers fluctuate on the United site everyday. I’d recommend checking daily for offers then check during check in to see what the offer is. You need to have a budget in mind and stick to it. For me $1000 USD to upgrade to business on a TPAC is a decent deal.

 

[frequentflyer91]

I haven’t since United discourages such behaviour (remember flying one million miles with United gives you lifetime Premier Gold status). Upgrade offers fluctuate on the United site everyday. I’d recommend checking daily for offers then check during check in to see what the offer is. You need to have a budget in mind and stick to it. For me $1000 USD to upgrade to business on a TPAC is a decent deal.

thank you, currently showing $3000 USD for business upgrade which I can't justify. Managed to get economy plus for $120 USD... couple extra inches of leg room will be worth it for the 14 hours ahead of me.

Hoping when checking in tomorrow there might be an even better offer for business!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

thank you, currently showing $3000 USD for business upgrade which I can't justify. Managed to get economy plus for $120 USD... couple extra inches of leg room will be worth it for the 14 hours ahead of me.

Best Economy+ seats are the over wing exits which effectively give you 50+ inches of legroom and allow you to exit your seat without asking your neighbour to get up.

 

[Edge]

Any difference in upgrading whether you book via United or via VA (VA flight number)? Flying in a few weeks, need to book soon.

 

[HughesyL]

Thank you. Such an interesting thread! I'm flying a TPAC UA flight tomorrow. Current upgrade to Business Polaris is $900 USD. Is that good? There are 13 seats available. Should I just wait to check in tomorrow (any chance of a better deal)? $900 USD seems pretty reasonable to me! (First time poster)

 

[bam71]

Hopefully you grabbed it!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Thank you. Such an interesting thread! I'm flying a TPAC UA flight tomorrow. Current upgrade to Business Polaris is $900 USD. Is that good? There are 13 seats available. Should I just wait to check in tomorrow (any chance of a better deal)? $900 USD seems pretty reasonable to me! (First time poster)

Always a chance of a better deal but also equally as likely that someone will bite and the price will go up. Also realize too United will release some of those seats as business class awards. This is what happened to me back in July flying back to Australia from San Francisco. Literally 3 days before I return I check Virgin Australias site and low and behold I could book my partner and I on the nonstop flight to Sydney for 95,000 points each in business.

Is $900 worth it? It may be! If you’re talking about a 15 hour flight then you have to ask yourself what is the value of waking up rested when I arrive? If you are chasing status with United you’d also want to ask, how much is 900 PQP worth towards earning frequent flyer status on United?