When United first announced unlimited domestic upgrades earlier in the year, I was pretty pessimistic about it. I had a pretty good upgrade percentage before as a 1K, and I was scared that the new program would ruin that. Why? First of all, a lot of people didn’t know how to use their upgrades efficiently. The system was so complicated that those that were “in the know” could do very well, while the more clueless people didn’t do so well. Along the same lines, I’m betting there were a lot of elites that had no clue they even had upgrade instruments, while they’re now getting upgraded on nearly every flight.
While the Premier member flying mostly hub-to-hub is probably a bit disappointed that the upgrades don’t seem to clear an “unlimited” number of times, I’ve been pretty damn happy. I’ve cleared a complimentary upgrade on every single one of my domestic flights — that’s 46 flights since the program started. Not only that, but my math brain gets to rest as I no longer need to figure out the most efficient use of 500 mile upgrades.
So as a 1K I couldn’t be happier. I’ve even cleared all three Airbus 319 transcon upgrades, including last night’s flight from Seattle to Washington Dulles (right after a long weekend). And I’m thinking upgrades will become even easier next year, as there won’t be six months of double elite qualifying miles this year.
Am I just insanely lucky, or does anyone else have similar luck?
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