Comments on: Who says airlines don’t listen? United makes big change to Mileage Plus

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:18:04 +0000

United’s flights are booked to ridiculous levels. Denied boardings are the rage all over the place. Thank you, incompetent inventory management. Of course, this doesn’t mean that United is actually charging appropriate FARES for these overbooked flights and making any money. Too many people are still paying too little to actually cover the costs of their own flights.

500-mile upgrades have the LOWEST priority, because you only request the upgrade and they do not “activate” until a few days before the flight. Using miles and regional upgrades allows you to confirm upgrades at ANY time after ticketing, based on availability, of course.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:01:56 +0000

I’m a 1K on UA and have been pretty lucky with the upgrades domestically. Actually, all of the upgrades that I’ve requested have gone through.

I’ve done JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO and IAD-DEN all in business.

Is it because I used regional and 500-mile upgrades instead of just miles?

Do these types of upgrades take priority?

By: Karen Fawcett

Karen Fawcett — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:20:13 +0000

Janice — I am beginning to believe it’s nearly impossible to get upgraded on United domestically. I flew from DC – SF – and Sydney and back. Paid a fare so I’d be able to upgrade with 60,000 miles.

Reserved with an agent to be certain I would be able to fly BIZ on the Sydney portion. When I checked in for the flight to DC, I was told I was number 16 on the upgrade list and there was only one seat available. Fourteen of the passengers in the back of the plane were Global Service or 1K members.

While we weren’t looking, United upped the fee from $200 to $250 to fly a small dog or cat in cargo. United appears to be doing well. I’ve been flying them A LOT and I haven’t been on a flight within the US that hasn’t been totally sold out. Oversold for that matter.