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Home » United Airlines » This Billboard is an Inside Joke for United Flyers
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This Billboard is an Inside Joke for United Flyers

Matthew Klint Posted onOctober 23, 2017November 14, 2023 7 Comments

This post is a little geeky, but I could not resist.

I spent a couple days in Bangkok  last week and everywhere I saw this ad–

a poster on the wall of a subway station

a man holding a phone

It’s apparently James Jirayu, who is a Justin Beiber-like figure in Thailand, as the face of the Oppo R9s. Oppo is a Chinese smartphone brand and R9s are the new model.

But for frequent United flyers, the billboard takes on a whole new meaning…

“R” is the booking code for upgrade space on United. If your flight has “R” space available, you can use miles or other instruments like regional or global upgrades to confirm your upgrade.

Fare buckets are limited to nine seats (i.e., there may be many more seats than nine available, but the system will never show more than nine in one fare class).

Consequently, when you are looking for upgrade space the best thing you can hope for is R9, meaning at least nine confirmed upgrade seats are available.

Thus, this ad takes on a whole new meaning–

a large billboard with a man on it

It’s not just R9…it’s  the “Now, it’s clear” catchphrase to go along with it. Of course Oppo is presumably referring to a clear cell phone signal, but come on…”R9s Now, It’s Clear” is music to the ears of every United flyer. We love our R9s and we love our upgrades clearing.

Ok, thanks for humoring me.

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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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7 Comments

  1. Anthony Reply
    October 23, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    The dream of very UA flyer with instruments and Expert Mode

  2. Sexy_kitten7 Reply
    October 23, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    LOL I didn’t get the joke until you explained it. As a lowly Silver I would prefer I9s 😉

  3. Greg Reply
    October 23, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Matthew – I’m as geeky as they come about flight bookings, and was a travel agent in college 25 years ago, so I say this with love and respect, but this was a jet lagged cry for help…

    • emercycrite Reply
      October 24, 2017 at 9:05 pm

      Yeah this was a really random post.

  4. IADDan Reply
    October 23, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    As a 1k, I like to see R0 RN2…..makes me feel special lol

  5. WR Reply
    October 23, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    You obviously didn’t spend enough time at soi cowboy

  6. UA-NYC Reply
    October 24, 2017 at 10:23 am

    @IADDan – you will never see RN>R, sorry to be a buzzkill. ONCE in a blue moon, IN>I.

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