After my final FTU speech yesterday, I flew home from Chicago to Los Angeles, a 4hr flight.
Being one of the busiest travel days of the year, my flight was about $200 one-way…more than I usually pay for Chicago to LA, but well within the realm of acceptability. My flight was operated by a 737-800 and I assigned myself a bulkhead window seat. The bulkheads on these aircraft have generous legroom and cutouts, allowing for a legroom experience that approaches first class.
We’re at the time of year where many United elite travelers have expiring upgrade certificates and a 1K friend had sponsored a regional upgrade (RPU) for the flight home. There was no “R” space so the upgrade never confirmed in advance.
At check-in, I was offered an upgrade for $159…a very attractive offer. It is not totally clear how United arrives at its upgrade pricing, but it seemed in this case the $159 was the difference between the cheapest currently avialble economy class fare (more than what I paid) and the cheapest available first class fare. There were two seats left and I was already #3 on the upgrade list, so it seemed like I’d have to pay the $159 if I wanted the upgrade.
But everything in life is a cost-benfit analysis, right? I thought about where that $159 could go. New plants for our garden at home? A nice dinner with my wife? Into Augustine’s college savings account? Thankfully, the problem was not that I could not theoretically afford all of the above. The problem was I simply could not justify the (reasonable) upgrade cost.
I did want lunch, but my preference was for a cheeseburger…$9.99 in coach. Why pay $159 for that? A wider seat would have been appreciated, but it was a short flight…EconomyPlus was fine.
So I passed on the upgrade.
CONCLUSION
There are all sorts of calculations that go into whether to upgrade or not. Yesterday, I simply could not justify the upgrade. What would you have done?
Busiest travel day of the year? Huh? Where did you find that statistic?
I saw a week from yesterday (next Sunday) is expected to be the busiest travel day of the year.
Indeed, I was wrong.
Kind of depends on how much I’ve spent/intend to spend on the trip. Since I don’t work for myself, I can easily delineate between personal and business expenses. If I was on the return leg of a work trip where I didn’t really spend much of my own money–sure.
i’ll totally take it in a heartbeat, even with zero extra RDM or PQM. That’s a very great deal esp for the longer flight time of the westbound nature of your flight.
I’ll use it to reward myself once in a while instead of worrying about the ROI on the cheeseburger.
I upgraded for about $249 or something on a DC to San Francisco flight and that was totally worth it. In general I ask how much I’m paying per hour for the flight and if it’s ballpark under $40/hour I’ll consider it.
Probably would have done the same thing. 4 hour flight can go by pretty fast in bulkhead/exit rows versus others.
The factors that would have made me choose otherwise possibly…NOT sitting in bulkhead or an exit row or the need for more EQM to help status
If you already had a bulkhead – yeah, doubt I would have paid for the upgrade, either. If I were in a middle seat in “deep coach” as you call it, though, then I’d probably pay. Guess it also depends on how tough a day/week I’ve had.
That sort of upgrade prospect is why I stopped flying United.
The bulkhead window on the 738 is a pretty nice seat. I would have been right on the bubble (with recent awful F meals I was served on this exact route weighing against).
If you do decide to go for the upgrade when it’s based on differential pricing, be sure to call and upfare so you get the extra PQD and RDM rather than taking the offer on the App.
United 737 fleet is my least favorite, I wouldn’t have paid either. I favorite seat on United’s 737s are the Exit row.
I would not pay to upgrade unless I had a logical reason to do so. For me, arriving in comfort isn’t one. I need to have something important to get to that I need to be well-rested for. Domestically, I think $0 is an appropriate value for an upgrade, a complimentary upgrade is the way that I would find myself in first class. Thats my two cents. Matthew made the same decision I would have made, and would make in any situation unless I had a very good reason to need to upgrade.
These days anything over 3 hours I will fly first class if it’s available because I need more space to relax and nap than I used to as I get tired much more easily than I did 20 years ago. For a young person I would understand there are other considerations. In matters of travel these daysI let me heart rule over my brain and I’ve never regretted it.