We are flying to Asia next month on United and have paid extra for the United Economy Plus for more room. Was wondering as we get closer to the flight time whether the airline may give us the opportunity to upgrade to business class at a lower price than it is now? Have checked the seating for the flight off and on and still appears to be quite a few business class seats unbooked. Thanks!

We frequently upgrade to biz class on UA. It seems that the last couple years whe we upgrade the price UA offers at check in is the same that is offered early on. We have always gotten the upgrade at check in.

I've upgraded in Australia and not only did I not get any specials, I had to pay a fee to change my ticket! I thought that unbelievable that at the airport an hour before we take off I had to pay that fee. Surely the chances of that seat being sold to someone else at this late stage were very limited so they should of just been happy with me paying the difference between economy and biz. Sorry, my post doesn't help you in the US. I just wanted to rant about the topic.

I've been successful at getting my upgrades to/from BKK from ORD. I use special upgrades that I earn as a 1K with United. The upgrades I tried to get for a March Europe trip did not clear though. My BKK flights all seem to be incredibly FULL. Surprised you could get buy-ups at check-in.

Good luck! Hope it works out for you, flobow.

BTW, I'm told (on flyertalk.com) that looking at the open seats is not the best way to determine how much space is available. You need to look at the listing of fare buckets and their availability. What you want to see is R/RN availability (R2/RN2).

@simpsonc -- hi there! can u pls. explain how u look at those fares. I've read that before, but never quite got where u look. Not happy to hear your upgrades didn't clear in March. R these upgrades that are free due to your status with UA or ones that u pay for with $ and miles? My upgrades are not free. thanks

Good morning, yestravel. When looking at flights on the UA site, on the right side of the listing is the "view seats" or something like that. Above that is a link to "fare codes" or similar listing. This is where you can see all the various letters and numbers that show availability. Nine is the highest number you will see... ex: A9, C9, J9, Z6, P4, etc. For upgrades to clear you need R/RN to be higher than zero.

Re: March. I was #1 on the list for upgrade, but all biz seats were taken at that time. I do not pay for GPUs (global premier upgrades) other than requiring at least a W fare. I earn them by being a 1K. Only 1Ks get GPUs. The two that did not get used in March were replaced in my FF account. We will try again to use GPUs to Europe later on this month. Fingers crossed that it works this time. We paid "H" fare, so higher than the "W" required.

@simpson - Thank u so much -- great explanation. I will take a look.
Boy! u sure get around. I envy u. I fantasize about being a 1K'er -- I'm lucky to get to Premier Silver.

yestravel... you'll maybe get there some day. Keep travelling. I just spoke to UA and managed to get one upgrade so far for this upcoming trip. I saw 'R1' this morning and made the phone call right away. Now, hoping I can get an upgrade for DH in the next few days.

simpson-followed your instructions and the following is showing:
F5, FN5, A5, ON2, J9, JN9, C9, D9, Z9, ZN9, P9, PN9, R3, RN3, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9

So if I am reading this corectly based on your explanation looks like a lot of seats are still open, correct with about a month to go from take-off?

What you think the chancesd of a possible upgrade are? Thanks!

So

Looks pretty wide open to me! Can you go into your reservation and click (near the bottom) on "upgrade"? It will take you to the cost of a complete upgrade, but if you click at the top on the miles tab, it will show you the going rate to do a buy-up. I have no experience in predicting whether that price will go up or down. The miles needed will remain the same.

Flobow, have you ever looked at flyertalk.com? It's a wealth of information, although it sometimes takes some doing to get the answers you need. You can go into the miles programs and get into the United threads, which would be the place to find your question.... which has been asked (and asked).