Hey, Bill, I'm booked on Mar 8 from LAX to SYD. I've paid for an upgradeable ticket using SWUs. Looks like plenty of biz class seats left (15-20 in each direction) so I guess I'm wondering why I haven't yet been upgraded! What do you think my chances are?
Carol

If you are on Delta lately they have been holding back releasing seats until the last minute on the hope they can sell them for real money. You are still 2 weeks out. Sit tight and cross your fingers; they have been known not to release any Z seats and depart with empty seats up front.

I'm very hopeful, nofly. Waiting patiently. Bill was soooo right about 2 seats that became available (suddenly) on my recent BKK-NRT-ORD trip and I got one of them at the gate. I hope he will see this thread and jump in.

hi carol, i've noticed that ua is very slow to release upgradeable seats. i think they think they can sell these expensive tkts up to the point of departure.

since you are a 1k heavy, you have an excellent chance of being upgraded, perhaps by the end of the week.

Thanks for that, Ken. I rather feel the same way. "1K heavy"... is that what I'm now referred to??? haha

I talked to the UA 1k person, told her I was "1k heavy"... she laughed... and then told me that my chances are very good because there are 17 seats available and only 7 requests for upgrades, for which I should be just about at the top of the list. I sort of thought so...

Glad it is not Delta!

Hi Carol. I took a look at the seat map on Sunday night. Tonight it shows 16 available. Ken is right you do have an excellent chance.

Good to know that there are only 7 requests. Your place in that line depends on how many of the other 6 booked before you (if any). You might actually want to see the number of seats go down, figuring that it went for an upgrade to one of the others ahead of you.

They are still selling W fares ($1700) and K fares ($940).

I think I know what a W fare is. What is a K fare? Should it not be more expensive than the W fare?

YBMHQVWSTKL is the order of economy fares from highest to lowest. It is a sign (to me) of low demand on that route in your timeframe that they are still offering one of their lowest fares. This is certainly different from your Dec/Jan trip to BKK.

I assume you got a W fare this time?

Yes, I got a W fare. Thanks for the explanation (as always). According to the UA 1K rep, this is a high-demand route, so it is surprising! Very different from my Dec/Jan BKK trip.

April BKK ticket is considerably cheaper than Dec (and still upgradeable to biz... but waitlisted). Fingers crossed, as always.

It looks like the number of biz seats LAX-SYD on March 8 is dwindling!!! What say you, mrwunrfl?

Just looked at UA... all the upper deck seats are taken on my LAX-SYD leg, and there are maybe only 8 seats left on the seating chart in biz. Fingers are crossed very tightly!!! I really need to be able to sleep and then wake up refreshed enough to read/proof yet another manuscript during my vacation (waaah) and will need power for my laptop. Biz has power, economy does not. And yes, I have that special airline adaptor.
Carol

OK... only ONE seat left in biz from LAX to SYD. Brainstorming... I called 1K UA and changed my flight to SYD and am now flying via SFO instead of LAX. There are still quite a few revenue seats left in biz if I fly from SFO... so crossing my fingers once again!!!

This morning there are 3 seats in C on the LAX flight and 12 on the SFO flight. Should say <u>at least</u> 3 and 12.

Interesting that you changed to use SFO, considering that one thread that you had on deciding between LAX or SFO. IIRC, my reply to that question was that the first consideration would be the availability of seats for upgrade. The question about which flight might have better ug availability would be better answered on flyertalk.

So, now it is truly last minute as far as people purchasing tickets. It comes down to your position on the waitlist. Did you check on that before/after you switched flights?

You position on the ug waitlist is still based on your status and the date when you requested the upgrade (relative to other 1Ks). I think all the 1Ks clear before lower status, even if a Premier Execs requested an upgrade earlier. That holds until about 4 hours before departure when the fare paid is the determining factor. Am not clear on whether status is involved at that point. You can find a better explanation of this at flyertalk.

Good luck.

Bill...

Yep, I see that there are (at least) 3 LAX and 12 SFO seats today.

You are so right about the "real" choice between flying via LAX and SFO being the availability of upgrade seats! When I called 1K to ask about my upgrade chances about two weeks ago (and there were 15 seats at that time) the woman with whom I spoke would not tell me (she said she could not tell me) where I stood on that wait list. Was she fibbing???

Anyway, I still do not like SFO all that much! But I like having a 3 hour layover versus a 7 hour layover. We'll just see how it all turns out, I guess. Still crossing my fingers.

At this point, I'm coming back by way of LAX, not SFO.

Carol

<i>Was she fibbing???</i>

It's my understanding that they're not supposed to tell you placement on the waiting list--probably in large part because that can change at any time (have you ever watched the monitors at the gate?). I've had some phone agents give me a general opinion of my chances, but I've never had a phone agent tell me my position on a waiting list.

mrwunrfl, I don't have any recent experience with this (fortunately, all my recent international upgrades have cleared when requested), but I've seen a few recent discussions on flyertalk speculating that the FIFO approach to clearing upgrades is gone and they're now doing it by status and then fare basis, even before the flight goes to departure management. I guess that's good for some, but challenging for those of us who fly with others of different (or no) status. A lot of things seem to be changing, so who knows...

Good luck, Carol. I hope you find out before the flight. I hate waiting until the gate to clear.

I just checked, and my upgrade from SFO to SYD came through!! Yippeee!! I will probably be upgraded from ORD to SFO but that one might wait until the gate to be offered. Right now, I don't care. It's the l-o-n-g flight that I'm glad is now going to be in biz class (downstairs, not in the upper deck).