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Home » United Airlines » Why Did United Premier Silver Get Upgrade Ahead Of Premier Platinum?
United AirlinesUpgrades

Why Did United Premier Silver Get Upgrade Ahead Of Premier Platinum?

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 31, 2023November 13, 2023 37 Comments

a woman sitting in a chair with headphones holding a cup of coffee

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

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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37 Comments

  1. Derek Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 12:44 pm

    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

  2. david Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 1:02 pm

    “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.

    • Jared Houser Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 2:42 pm

      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.

  3. CK Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 1:21 pm

    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?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 1:46 pm

      Doubtful. Could have just been a lazy gate agent who took the name at the top of the list.

  4. Shane Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 2:39 pm

    But did the husband allow his wife to take the upgrade instead of him? Is there still hope in this world?

    • Gregg Reply
      April 2, 2023 at 12:22 am

      Why should he?

  5. Santastico Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 2:43 pm

    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.

    • Jared Houser Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 2:51 pm

      Might be time to give up on Delta too, a total joke of a “loyalty” program.

      • Santastico Reply
        March 31, 2023 at 4:13 pm

        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.

        • Basetarch Reply
          March 31, 2023 at 9:52 pm

          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.

    • Mark Reply
      April 1, 2023 at 8:13 pm

      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.

  6. Edward Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 2:46 pm

    Since the spouses were on separate PNRs, could the Silver spouse have had a higher fare class than the Platinum spouse?

    • Jared Houser Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 2:55 pm

      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.

      • Jason Reply
        April 3, 2023 at 8:46 pm

        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.

  7. Brian Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 2:47 pm

    If they were booked on separate reservations, perhaps his fare code for Premium Plus was higher than hers (O > A > R).

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 10:57 pm

      Both R class.

  8. simpleguy Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 4:19 pm

    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.

  9. sm Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    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.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 31, 2023 at 10:57 pm

      Nope. They were booked in the same fare class.

    • Paul Reply
      April 1, 2023 at 12:34 pm

      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?

      • Matthew Klint Reply
        April 1, 2023 at 12:51 pm

        Prices fluctuate rapidly and sometimes in ways that are not clear.

  10. Rich Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    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 😉

  11. Steve Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    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.

  12. Danno Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 8:27 pm

    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.

  13. Tom R Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 11:12 pm

    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.

  14. Bubba Reply
    March 31, 2023 at 11:41 pm

    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.

  15. Duane Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 1:40 am

    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.

  16. Alex Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 5:44 am

    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.

  17. John H Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 7:17 am

    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.

  18. JW Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 7:26 am

    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

  19. Sal Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 11:28 am

    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.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 1, 2023 at 11:38 am

      I’m not sure they booked separately. Also not sure if it was husband and wife. May have even two men.

  20. Paul Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 12:37 pm

    How do you “know” a PE cabin is oversold? Is it just that there are no seats available to select? Thx.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      April 1, 2023 at 12:51 pm

      Gate agent said.

  21. EN Reply
    April 1, 2023 at 3:13 pm

    If this were domestic, I believe a Y fare silver will trump even a 1K below M.

  22. Dave Reply
    April 2, 2023 at 2:07 am

    Hey Matt – there are no lazy gate agents.
    And at AC gate agents are told to follow the onload list.

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