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United upgrade experts

Posted by LovetheChief User icon on August 26, 2026, 08:41:02

I’m silver status. Have been for years and years. In the last 9 months I’ve been upgraded to first class in the domestic 48 6 or 7 times. I’ve somehow gone from middle of the upgrade list to the top. I don’t really fly that often, maybe once a month. Maybe. How’d this happen?

I’ve been silver for years too and that’s only happened to me 3x I think

Posted by snipes824 User icon on August 27, 2026, 09:18:52, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

All smaller routes on off peak times.

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Welp, I jinxed it. Only first class for the second leg, ORD to PIA. Hard life.*

Posted by LovetheChief User icon on August 27, 2026, 04:27:18, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

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thoughts and prayers

Posted by IlliniSax05 User icon on August 27, 2026, 07:52:35, in reply to "Welp, I jinxed it. Only first class for the second leg, ORD to PIA. Hard life.*"

Why do you hate me, Sammich?

MAJOR UPDATE: "Maybe you're not such a bad egg, Lisle-y"
-Sammich, 1/15/2011

I’ll rule out handies in an airport bathroom

Posted by timmer User icon on August 26, 2026, 14:53:18, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

Maybe your good looks?

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(for rent)

weird. I'm 1k and i feel like upgrades are much harder to come by now. there's been a clear shift.

Posted by cpsteine User icon on August 26, 2026, 12:27:58, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

first class several years ago was at least half upgrades. it was a perk for an airline's best customers. but now people are simply buying more of these seats. and the delta between coach and first class, price wise, has also risen. we flew to and from Europe this summer, just my wife and I, and I was very strategic in the days and flights I selected to maximize upgrade potential. I also paid for seats in premium economy, and I put upgrades on both our flights. we were *not* upgraded in either direction.

going back 4+ years, i have been able to engineer upgrades to europe 75% of the time. but my hit rate now is far lower, and my status is the same if not higher, compared with those previous years. In the case of this summer, I watched upgrade list closely. people weren't moving on it, but business class seats were getting gobbled up. so those seats were being purchased at $6k-$8k per seat, per way. airlines are monetizing those seats in front of plane like never before.

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I’m going to India in October and found Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seats for $3800 round trip

Posted by ATL User icon on August 26, 2026, 15:54:08, in reply to "weird. I'm 1k and i feel like upgrades are much harder to come by now. there's been a clear shift. "

so sometimes you can find bargains up front too.

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first class several years ago was at least half upgrades. it was a perk for an airline's best customers. but now people are simply buying more these seats. and the delta between coach and first class, price wise, has also risen. we flew to and from Europe this summer, just my wife and I, and I was very strategic in the days and flights I selected to maximize upgrade potential. I also paid for seats in premium economy, and I put upgrades on both our flights. we were *not* upgraded in either direction. I watched upgrade list closely. people weren't moving on it. those seats were being purchased at $6k-$8k per seat, per way. airlines are monetizing those seats in front of plane like never before.

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“We are old and tired and just want to be taken care of.” - Republican voter, Dec. 2024.

no idea on exotic airlines like virgin. but evolution at united (and AA, delta, i assume) is clear*

Posted by cpsteine User icon on August 27, 2026, 14:38:02, in reply to "I’m going to India in October and found Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seats for $3800 round trip "

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so sometimes you can find bargains up front too.

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With United auto upgrading people, it also meant less people needed to spend miles on upgrades.

Posted by Carl Spackler User icon on August 26, 2026, 13:24:27, in reply to "weird. I'm 1k and i feel like upgrades are much harder to come by now. there's been a clear shift. "

Which means frequent fliers are also sitting on a mountain of miles they don’t know what to do with.

The policy changed a long time ago, but it should lead to just continuing giant balances of miles.

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getting upgrades on miles is hard, as anybody with a lot of pluspoints is ahead of you*

Posted by cpsteine User icon on August 27, 2026, 14:36:22, in reply to "With United auto upgrading people, it also meant less people needed to spend miles on upgrades."

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Yeah, I tend to either buy it (thanks work travel to Europe) or just laugh at the wasted PlusPoints*

Posted by Dilbert User icon on August 26, 2026, 12:59:51, in reply to "weird. I'm 1k and i feel like upgrades are much harder to come by now. there's been a clear shift. "

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Seems odd, but could just be a function of flight days and times. *

Posted by Dilbert User icon on August 26, 2026, 11:38:58, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

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flying to smaller, less busy airports*

Posted by Poldark User icon on August 26, 2026, 08:45:58, in reply to "United upgrade experts"

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Social Misfit who wants to coach Illinois women's basketball.

"The only thing the DSA hates more than Republicans is Democrats."

Miami, KC, Denver, Houston and today, Philly*

Posted by LovetheChief User icon on August 26, 2026, 11:10:37, in reply to "flying to smaller, less busy airports*"

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