The whole “dress up nice” or “flirt” to get an upgrade scheme is a fool’s errand, but being seated in an oversold cabin greatly increases your odds of a “free” upgrade to the next higher cabin. But why did a spouse with (lower) Premier Silver elite status get upgraded on a United Airlines flight instead of the Premier Platinum hubby? I have a theory.
United Premier Silver Upgraded. Premier Platinum Skipped Over. Why?
I enjoy the United Airlines subreddit on Reddit, which brings together a lot of experts while also occasionally offering an interesting question. Like this one:
“Hi, wondering if there was some random algorithm that upgraded my husband (Premier Silver) to Polaris ten minutes before our flight (free upgrade) and I was not upgraded (Premier Platinum). We were on separate reservations, so I can see how we were not upgraded together, but does it make sense that he is Premier Silver and I am Premier Platinum but did not get upgraded? We are flying EWR-GVA. Our tickets were also booked in Premium Plus seats.”
It’s an interesting question. The couple was flying in Premium Plus, which is United’s premium economy cabin, from Newark to Geneva. Complimentary upgrades are not offered on this route. Unless you use PlusPoints or miles to upgrade, you’re not going to receive an upgrade.
That is, unless you receive an operational upgrade. The traveler who asked the question also noted that United overbooked the cabin by two seats. In fact, United often greatly overbooks its PremiumPlus cabin, knowing that most of the passengers who book PremiumPlus are on the waitlist for an upgrade to Polaris business class.
But sometimes it does not work out and everyone checks in for the cabin, resulting in an oversell situation. In that case, United (and this is true for other airlines too) will generally upgrade to business class a passenger, or in this case two passengers, at no cost.
The rules and pecking order for this are opaque, but generally higher-tier elite status members would get the upgrade before lower tier members. But that does not always occur and that is my theory for what occurred here. United needed the seat where the Premier Silver was sitting. So rather than play musical chairs, he got the upgrade, even though his spouse did not and had a higher elite status.
That’s the nature of these upgrades…they are not always fair and inherent in the concept of operational is that they are given at the discretion of the airline due to operational needs.
CONCLUSION
While this upgrade story would have been a technical glitch had it occurred on a domestic flight with complimentary upgrades prioritized by premier status, here the upgrade occurred on an international flight in which both the Premier Silver and Premier Platinum had no expectation of an upgrade.
If you want to maximize your chances for a “free” upgrade your smartest move is to book a seat in an oversold cabin. But even that guarantees nothing. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to who gets the upgrade in an oversold cabin. But it’s unlikely to be the one who is best dressed…
image: United Airlines
Delta probably would have downgraded the passengers.
Instead of a PE seat with economy service, they’d give you an economy seat with economy service
“In fact, United often greatly overbooks its PremiumPlus cabin,” I guess I’m a slow learner but I certainly had my eyes opened to this on recent flights between EWR – NRT and back. Can’t say I blame UA. You see what they are getting for PE seats on overseas flights. It’s crazy.
What were they selling PP for on EWR-HND. On my recent HND-LAX flight they were only selling an upgrade for $300 which seemed like a really good deal.
Could it be that United wanted to include both levels, silver & gold to ensure a silver level will be able to get an upgrade every once in a while?
Doubtful. Could have just been a lazy gate agent who took the name at the top of the list.
But did the husband allow his wife to take the upgrade instead of him? Is there still hope in this world?
Why should he?
As a DM on Delta I am always scratching my head on how their upgrade system works nowadays. I always way below in their list. Sometimes in the lows 30’s which is a total joke. I also noticed someone that works with me is always ahead of me for upgrades. Not sure why as we usually buy tickets at the same time for the same or very similar prices, he is a DM like me but not a Million Miler. We both have Delta Reserve cards so I have no idea what the criteria is. I simply gave up.
Might be time to give up on Delta too, a total joke of a “loyalty” program.
I live on a Delta hub and to be honest, the overall Delta experience still beats UA and AA so don’t have many choices here.
AA is a far superior airline with a far superior loyalty program. They do not monetize their first class as much as United and Delta, so upgrades are way easier to get. I know someone who was able to get 70% upgrade rate as a platinum. If you are an Executive Platinum, your upgrade rate will be at around 90% if you play the game correctly.
Did you have your DM status due to status extensions…or did you earn it each year? I earned DM by MQSs and MQDS in both 2021 and 2022 (rollover MQMs didn’t get me it). They were prioritized over those that got their status extended.
The lowest I was ever on a list last year was #17…but that was out of 101 on the FC upgrade list…and my fare class was H.
Since the spouses were on separate PNRs, could the Silver spouse have had a higher fare class than the Platinum spouse?
Higher status trumps fare class. If I am 1K and in a W fare, and there is a Platinum in a Y fare (the highest economy fare) the 1K would still queue ahead. That doesn’t matter in this case though and this wasn’t going off the upgrade list, it was just because the cabin was overbooked so the priority list didn’t matter. Matthew is probably right that it was either the first person that was on the list for the gate agent to upgrade or they needed that specific seat.
Not for operational upgrades. There is no published order. It will vary agent to agent, airport to airport.
Back in the old days when UA had a NRT hub, they almost always did their operational upgrade by fare class. My wife flying NRT-HKG as a Premier Exec (the old 50k tier) got an operational upgrade and I didn’t as a 1k, because I had a lower fare class.
Noticed it all the time when I lived in Tokyo when at NRT when flying to SEA – never once got operational upgrades because I was on deep discount economy fares as a 1k. On the return flights from SEA to NRT, got operational upgrades over 50% of the time as a 1k.
If they were booked on separate reservations, perhaps his fare code for Premium Plus was higher than hers (O > A > R).
Both R class.
I remember getting upgraded with United on a red eye from SFO (yes!, SFO) to IAD when I was Silver. That’s because I (was forced to) paid full fare (fare code Y), hence a confirmed upgrade a few days prior to my scheduled flight.
Premium Silver member probably had to buy a higher fare ticket for Premium Plus seat because Premium Platinum gets Premium Plus seats at basic economy price as a perk of being Platinum. Maybe United gave upgrade preference based on fare class.
Nope. They were booked in the same fare class.
Wait, is that correct that Platinum gets PE seats at BE price? I am 1K and I’ve never seen a PE seat listed same price as BE. Are you thinking of Economy Plus?
Prices fluctuate rapidly and sometimes in ways that are not clear.
I used this to my advantage flying on JAL and Cathay from Australia via Asia to the US. I did this every month for two years in 2018 and 2019 before I moved to the US, and always in premium economy. I am exec platinum with AA so my oneworld status drove any operational upgrades. I would get upgraded on two legs out of four every trip – When Y is oversold they bump up into PE and some poor PE people have to be bumped to J when there is room. Awesome 😉
Matthew,
MVP 100K with Alaska here.
You’re not alone. Last year, my daughter (also 100K at the time) saw Golds routinely upgraded ahead of us. When I inquired (yes, politely, because I’m fully aware it’s a nicety and not a promise), I was given the runaround by the gate staff. It was nothing more than a litany of excuses…which is one of the reasons why I’m done with AS after this year.
In 2018 I was Global Services and my then GF, now wife, had no status. Flying DEN-LHR we both were upgraded to Polaris. On the flight home neither of us cleared an upgrade. Once we boarded, the gate attendent came to our seats and offered her to move up, not me.
My consolation was that the purser did bring me food and treats from up front.
I dropped from BA bronze to nothing status for a while a few years back, and yet whilst being both bronze and silver for several years never got upgraded once. This time flying LHR – JFK in premium was I upgraded to business between check-in (still had my premium seat assignment) and the gate (my seat on the app showed a different seat when I was waiting in line at the gate). Whilst being a solo traveler may have made it easier I’m sure there were plenty of BA Gold/Silver on that route that could’ve been ahead of me for elegiblilty. Maybe they were trying to tempt me back haha. Sometimes these things don’t make sense.
I’ve gotten op-ups the other direction on LX with no status beyond the M&M card. It’s been about a decade, though.
There’s a marketing case to be made for giving an op-up to an exclusively Y/PE flyer who fits the J-cabin demographic. If they get a taste, they’re more likely to buy it in the future. If they think their FF status has something to do with it, they’re more likely to keep flying with you.
Higher-tier elites are already on the hook for regular benefits. Intermittent reinforcement works on the others.
But the house always wins.
Similar thing happened to me. I’m Platinum 1k, wife was Gold, and we were both on the same reservation, but she got upgraded to business 2 days prior to me, who got cleared just before boarding. I was actually #1 in the upgrade list, but my wife in #2 cleared, then someone in #3 cleared but not me. Was odd. I called United to ask why that works happen, and they told me the other two passengers ranked higher than me, which didn’t make sense at all.
Had the same thing happen to me (UA Plat). Flew FRA-IAD in PP, got upgraded at the gate to Polaris without being waitlisted. There were several 1Ks in the PP cabin who were not upgraded.
Later saw an elderly lady with crutches sitting in “my” bulkhead seat. So they probably needed a solo traveler at the bulkhead.
Side note: I was connecting at IAD and the system at the Polaris lounge initially denied access, most likely because the fare code was still PP. Agents were confused because my boarding pass clearly stated Polaris, and let me in.
Another option was that PP was full but not oversold, and economy was oversold, but business was available. Additionally, there were not enough people in PP left who has requested an upgrade via PlusPoints or miles. A gate agent just picked an arbitrary person in PP to upgrade to make room in PP for the economy pax.
I’m not sure this would happen at a US hub. At an international hub, who knows if the gate agents were even United employees, or contractors or shared resources from the airport.
I had an Op Up with QR and questioned the gate agent. For QR fare class matter more than status, I was a OW Sapphire and was upgraded ahead of an OW Emerald because I was on a higher fare class than the other dude
Interesting story. Have to wonder why a husband and wife would book separately if one is Silver and one is Platinum. It wouldn’t have changed this upgrade result here, but you’d think the Platinum member would book both tickets for the other perks.
I’m not sure they booked separately. Also not sure if it was husband and wife. May have even two men.
How do you “know” a PE cabin is oversold? Is it just that there are no seats available to select? Thx.
Gate agent said.
If this were domestic, I believe a Y fare silver will trump even a 1K below M.
Hey Matt – there are no lazy gate agents.
And at AC gate agents are told to follow the onload list.