A United Premier 1K flyer complains that United took away his first class upgrade so a Global Services flyer could take his seat, but it seems that the real problem was that he failed to properly check in for his flight. Let’s explore what happened because this is a recurring problem at United that could impact you and it’s not exactly intuitive.
United 1K Flyer Says He Lost First Class Upgrade To Accomdoate Global Services Traveler… But That’s Not What Really Happened
Premier 1K is United’s top published status tier (it requires 18,000 Premier Qualifying Points [PQPs] and flying 54 Premier Qualifying Flights [PQFs] or simply 24,000 PQPs where one PQP is equivalent to $1 in spending on your airfare and government taxes do not count toward that). Meanwhile, Global Services is United’s invite-only status that requires big spending (often in excess of $60,000/year on tickets) in order to receive an invitation. In terms of upgrade pecking order, Global Services trump 1Ks on any waitlist, but a Global Services member cannot “steal” a confirmed first class seat from another passenger.
But what happened here?
A 1K flyer traveling from St. Louis (STL) to Houston (IAH) claims that he lost his first class seat to a Global Services member.
Got to airport super early and checked my bags. I had already checked in on line earlier in the day and had my boarding pass out when approaching security (even though I didn’t end up needing it). While I waiting I decided to throw some Plus Points at the flight as it had been a long day. There was no waitlist as it was a confirmed upgrade. I was put in 1F and I received an email confirmation.
Many folks have PlusPoints expiring later this month and therefore are using them on short routes like St. Louis to Houston, a 667-mile flight where it normally would not make sense to waste PlusPoints on. PlusPoints are a parallel currency used to confirm upgrades at a rate of 20 points for a domestic upgrade or 40-80 for a longhaul upgrade. These points are awarded to United’s top-tier flyers.
As departure approached, the traveler was confused why he had not received a text message that boarding had commenced (United sends this out automatically if you add your mobile phone number to your reservation).
35 minutes before the flight I found it odd I hadn’t received a “we’re ready to board your flight” text so I opened the app. I had no boarding pass and the check in option was gone. I was sitting next door to my gate at a restaurant so I grabbed my things and called the 1k line who told me to ask the gate agent.
At the gate, he was told he had not checked in for his flight:
Approached gate agent and explained and she said “you should have checked in. We gave your seat to a GS” I said I did check in and she said well i can put you in 10d. I said well I all ready had 10c how about you just put the GS in 10d? To which she replied I can’t tell a GS to move! Long story short I flew home in 10d. Thanks United. Didn’t realize 1k was so lowly that were disposable.
It is understandable that he was upset, but he’s upset for the wrong reason. The gate agent did not give his seat away to a Global Services member in any nefarious way.
Rather, when he applied the Plus Points to confirm his upgrade from economy class to first class, he neglected to re-check in. I’m also curious why that is necessary (when United’s tech is typically very advanced and user-friendly) but it is…and therefore he was booted from his seat because he was marked as a no-show…even though he was right there and even though he had checked in for his flight earlier and checked baggage.
So the point of this post and retelling this story is to remind you that if you change your United reservation either by upgrading or choosing a new flight, make sure to check in again…otherwise, you may think you are checked in but not actually be checked in and lose your seat.
This is a technological hole that I’d like to see United patch, but in the meantime, just go through the check-in process again when you make a change to your flight.
Sorry but that’s totally on the passenger.
If you already had a boarding pass and upgraded after did he not check to reload his boarding pass with the new seat assignment?
Or did he just hope to get on the plane with the wrong seat number?
The app won’t refresh the boarding pass until he checks in again.
Sounds like he wants to blame UA for his own carelessness.
Easy to board with old BP. If scan it, it simply goes beep. Alerts you of new seat assignment.
No other airline (even DL with its craptastic IT) undoes your checkin like UA.
I’m a United flyer but not with high status. I’ve done upgrade offers where I can pay for it, and my original seat number is changed to the new seat number on my boarding pass. I’m surprised that the plus points upgrade has a loophole that requires a second check in!
Exactly
I get it, but once you open the app after that change was made, it clearly says it’s time to check in…
Who doesn’t want to see their boarding pass with the correct seat assignment after an upgrade? Wasn’t getting notifications? Check the app… it’s going to say time to check in… Already in the airport, and think something is wrong because you’re not getting notifications, open the app or see an agent…
I agree with @Pete : Sounds like he wants to blame UA for his own carelessness.
@Matthew … Please avoid the dramatic jargon : First paragraph : “…problem at United that could IMPACT you…”
You DO MEAN : “…problem at United that could AFFECT you…”
IMPACT would be if a meteor impacted the earth , -or- Rocky’s left jab impacted Ingemar’s jaw .
AFFECT is correct , as there is no “impact” or “blow” expected .
Oooo … “The change of seat ‘Impacted’ the 1K so severely , he had a black eye . Did it hurt ?”
Are you OK bro?
From the Oxford English Dictionary – the second definition of the verb form of the word “impact”:
“have a strong effect on someone or something.”
Get off your high horse and comment something useful.
@mmgfarb … So , where is the “strong effect” ?
@mmgfarb … changing a seat to another is a “strong effect” ?from
From 10C to 10D is such a “strong effect” ?
Is this a joke? Please learn that there are other ways to use the word ‘impact’ than a friggin meteor.
Can’t believe illiterates like you think you can correct the language of others.
So , moving from 10C to 10D is such a big deal ? Such an “Impact” ? Ha-ha .
Get off your semantic high horse. You’ve already moved the goalposts once — from your insistence that the impact be physical in your original comment to some vague notion of how major the effect should be now.
Even if we accept your quibble, while the failure to re-check in did not have a particularly strong effect on the traveler in the story, it could have had a major effect if, for example, the flight were fuller and all seats had been released to standby passengers, or if the traveler had missed their flight due to the lack of status texts. And MK’s post talks about potential impacts, not limited to the story in question.
He did lose his plus points. Kinda a black eye. Anyhow, such a frequent flier should be savvy, but the process is counter intuitive and should be more friendly *given these are your bread and butter customers*!
I learned a similar lesson last year. My first flight was delayed and called the Platinum help line to book me on a different but tight connection. She cleared me into J which was a bonus. When I landed and hustled over to the connecting gate just as boarding was about to end, I got out the United app and didn’t see a boarding pass. The GA informed me I didn’t have a seat on the flight after all, as I hadn’t checked in after my flight change.
Obvious disappointment, I would have thought the call center agent would have taken care of that for me, which has always been the case in the past. Just a reminder than any time you call in for a change, specifically ask the agent to check you in, or confirm it on the app.
Was his name Ken?
Yes. He is my father.
That’s pretty frustrating. I get it. Tech shortcomings shouldn’t fall on the passenger.
And Who ought tech shortcomings fall upon , if not the passenger ?
I was about to remark that this is why you want a paper pass, but when you are making a last minute upgrade that doesn’t apply. 🙂
Perhaps should add that you don’t have a boarding pass, really, until you can see and capture it without it being yanked: Screenshot or print it out.
General observation that apps are becoming more essential particularly if you’re a FF.
wonder if it was a CC and not a GS?
I’m a GS and I always pin my boarding pass to my
screen to keep an eye on boarding time.
If you’re not checked in it would be apparent.
It’s sad that UA does not allow AC SEs to board with 1Ks. They used to Yearscago United matched SEs with GS status)., but stopped after the pandemic. All we get now is “premier access” the same as any other AC status holder.
If you don’t want an airline that blames you and gives your first class seat away to a passenger better than you then fly AMERICAN. Nobody is better than you. What terrible service United has with their 40 yr old 767s and trump force one pencils.
It’s weird that status is such a flex.
The correct use of the word “impact” aside. Thanks for the heads up. Thank you!
Yes, that is what happens. GS has priority, especially over upgrades.
As I have no status on any airline, this situation will not impact me at all.
I agree with everyone that if you make a change to your seat/itinerary, then it is on you to make sure that change is reflected to your liking, as in, make sure your electronic boarding pass refreshes/reloads, and if it doesn’t, or if using paper passes, then get the gate agent to confirm / print for you.
i had no idea thanks for posting Not obvious to me
Sorry – I have to disagree with most people on here. 1K for years; I get upgraded all the time. You absolutely do *not* need to recheck in.
If you load the boarding pass from app to Apple Wallet, you need to refresh it to get your new seat (if it does not automatically).
If you are using the boarding pass in the app, usually it updates but occasionally you have to refresh the app. Much depends on your connectivity at the time.
The *only* you need to recheck in, is if you change to a different flight (which I also do all the time).
There is some glitch here or something United did that is a one-off.
This is not standard practice nor the way the app usually functions.
There will always be one-offs, and that there is any entire article devoted to one-offs in a company that flies millions of people, is kind of silly. We are not tech support. We do no really need to know about this situation anymore that a person at even the best restaurant will occasionally have something go wrong with their meal or dining experience.
Yes, I agree totally with the preceding comment. The change of seat for the same flight on the same date, does not require you to check in again with United. This traveler used plus points for the upgrade but it’s the same when UA upgrades your seat from the upgrade waitlist an hour before the flight. Your boarding pass, as noted, simply gets updated in real time in the app. If you board with a paper boarding pass, the adjusted seat will appear when you scan the pass at the gate. As noted this was a glitch. Glitches happen. Check your app after a change is made.
Can people not read?
“I opened the app. I had no boarding pass and the check in option was gone.”
Saying the customer should check in again when that wasn’t an option is bizarre. Clearly some sort of glitch between the backends and the app. If the customer needs to take some action, there should be a clear call to action. Thankfully they still got where they needed.
The check in option was gone after boarding had commenced and the traveler’s seat had already been given to the GS passenger. Since the traveler’s check in was undone at the time of upgrade and he remained un-checked in when boarding commenced, the GA gave away his seat. When his seat was given away, the check in option disappeared. The traveler makes no claim to have checked the app prior to his seat being given away. Presumably, if he had gone into the app shortly after upgrading, the check in option would have been there.
It’s still a bizarre nuance of the IT system that shouldn’t exist, but your read of the story also misses several important nuances.
Exactly.