Yesterday United announced it will be implementing a complimentary upgrade scheme starting in Q2 next year. The changes will bring UA’s domestic upgrade program closer to those of Continental, US Airways, and Delta.
Details:
First, this was posted on FlyerTalk yesterday afternoon:
Hello all,
We want you to be among the first to know that Mileage Plus will be introducing Unlimited Domestic Upgrades in the second quarter of 2010.
All members that have premier and higher status will enjoy unlimited domestic upgrades that will include Hawaii, which most of our competitors don’t do. You will no longer need to request an upgrade; you’ll automatically be on the list, making it much easier for you to enjoy a more comfortable flight.
With our exclusive Economy Plus seating, new unlimited amount of domestic upgrades and systemwide upgrades that typically have the fewest restrictions compared to our U.S. competitors, you now have the industry’s most comfortable seating.
Stay tuned for an e-mail from Mileage Plus tomorrow explaining the program in detail.
Happy Upgrading!
Robert Sahadevan
VP – Mileage Plus
Today, we received more details from UA (see: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,53214,00.html). Most disturbing, is that CR-1s and e500s will be phased out (http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,53216,00.html).
I don’t like the changes. Though complicated, UA had a great upgrade system which allowed me to upgrade almost every flight I desired to upgrade and the option to upgrade family and friends when I was not traveling with them.
I appreciate that I will probably be upgraded on every domestic flight now, will still receive systemwide upgrades, and may even get reciprocal upgrades on US and CO (I have a hunch that is coming…), but there are many details left unanswered.
For example, UA has said that one traveling companion can also be upgraded under the new upgrade scheme. But it has not specified if the companion upgrade will clear at the same time as the status member or whether it will clear like CO’s system, where the companion upgrade clears after all elite upgrades have been cleared.
Also disturbing is that p.s. flights are not included in UA’s new upgrade program. That means once the confirmed regional and e500 upgrades run out, miles+co-pay will be the only way to upgrade these flights unless you want to burn a systemwide upgrade.
I will reserve further judgement until we learn all the details, but I do not like the sound of these changes.
Count me as confused. I thought this was a win for you. How about you come up with a fancy grid that compares the old system to the new?
@Hunter: Now that the details have come out, it appears these changes are not advantageous. CR-1s were a huge benefit…
I’ll work on that grid.
I’m gonna need that grid… and an explanation of what CR-1s and E500s are. And you’re telling me you can’t get to business if it’s a PS flight?
But you do get Hawaii…
@ Hunter: Correct. Hawaiian flights will be upgraded (UA just uses two-cabin domestic aircraft) but p.s. flights will not fall under the new complimentary upgrade program. You will have to use miles+co-pay or a systemwide upgrade.
Right now, elite MP members earn 4 e500 upgrades (each one good for 500 miles of travel) every time they fly 10,000 miles. 1Ks and UGS additionally get 2 regional upgrades (CR-1s) per quarter, provided that they fly 10,000 miles in that quarter.
So we are moving from a rather complicated e500+regional upgrade program to one like Delta’s.
In one sense, the change is good for flyers like me, who will likely always be upgraded now on (non p.s.) domestic flights. The bad news is that I will no longer be able to sponsor upgrades for friends/family not traveling with me unless I use a systemwide upgrade or miles+co-pay.
Right now, say you booked a United flight from JFK-SFO and wanted to upgrade at the time of booking. I could apply one of my confirmed regional upgrades to your itinerary, immediately upgrading you if upgrade space was available. Next year, that option will only be available by using 15K miles +$50 (higher on Hawaiian flights), or using a systemwide upgrade, which are much better spent on international flights like LAX-SYD.
OK, maybe I’m the only one who cares about Hawaii. But the fact that they don’t use a p.s. aircraft on that sucks…
Anyway, I’m working off the assumption that a 500 gets you 500 miles worth of upgrade, and they can be combined, and that CR-1s will get you the whole trip. It seems complicated.
You now seem to have a better system, with the possible exception of the p.s. thing. I don’t ever actually USE miles, so that’s just me – but I wouldn’t mind using miles on p.s. flights. The copay would piss me off.
You get: Hawaii, real systemwides for international, no p.s. and a crappy system to get p.s. upgraded. Your upgrade window isn’t great, but OK. It seems like UA is treating these transcons (read: p.s.) like DL treats international flights and trying to drive revenue. I’ll trade my transcon upgrades in a BE equipped aircraft, though, for your true systemwides.
@Hunter: The bottom line is that this new upgrade scheme will work out great for me personally when I am flying, but not for my relatives who now call on me when they travel expecting an upgrade. Perhaps that’s a good thing…
To clarify, you are correct that e500 mile upgrade “coupons” can be combined. p.s. flights are only between JFK-SFO/LAX, so all other transcons will be upgradeable and even flights like UA1 from ORD-HNL will be upgradeable.
Last question – maybe: Is there non p.s. service between JFK and SFO or LAX?
Tell your family to suck it up and start earning on their own.
@Hunter: All p.s. service between JFK-LAX/SFO. But you can fly through LGA, EWR. If you need to go to JFK, you can route through IAD to avoid p.s. service.
I know this blog post is old, but i feel like I have to address my grievances. I did know that the unlimited domestic upgrades DID NOT apply to United’s Premium Service from jfk to sfo and lax. I have been upgraded with unlimited domestic upgrades on flights from jfk to lax, so I don’t understand why all of the sudden, my flights from jfk to sfo are not. This makes no sense to me. I write a travel blog and have actual visual proof of being on the unlimited domestic upgrade request list when flying from jfk to lax on United premium service. Check it out: http://hilarioustravel.blogspot.com/2010/08/shittalkn-mushrooms.html
@Aaron: Nice blog post. Like the humor. It seems to me that because of the relatively large premium cabins and smaller Y cabins, a lot of op-ups occur on this route. Some have even shared that the RCC agents will upgrade passengers for free. But the rules say that p.s. flights are excluded. That’s what regional upgrades are for!
I will concur with Matthew is saying. The PS flights are notorious for Op-Ups. These are not part of the unlimited upgrade scheme, but merely upgrades of folks because they need seats in the back. I myself have found myself in First on a few occasions because of this.
Re: co-pay with miles: “For elite members: Co-pays will not be charged when using a Mileage Plus Upgrade Award on flights within the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada. When traveling in other regions, a co-pay may be applicable.” (see: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,53079,00.html)
@Michael: Thanks for adding that link. The post above, that happens to be my first blog post on upgrd.com, was made over a year ago when elites were not exempted from domestic mileage co-pays.
Well If Aaron and Fooz hadn’t of commented on it today, I wouldn’t have assumed it was current. I actually read the date but I forgot what year it was. It is Nov, I usually catch on about now.
Thanks for the shout out to my blog! Yeah, I guess I had never considered that they were op-ups, I just assumed they were unlimited domestics. Especially since my name would appear on the upgrade request monitors at the gate. All very confusing. And you know what is really funny? I called United and they had NO IDEA why I had been upgraded on P.S. flights before. They’re useless on the phone. Anyway, I’m flying back to JFK today and blew the 15,000 for an upgrade… I just…. can’t… help …. my self!