Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was curious about how these United upgrades work.
We are planning a Euro trip next year and the most favorable flights at the moment appear to be on United/Lufthansa. It’d be great to be able to book in Coach and upgrade using vouchers, but I’m not sure of the process and availability of using on partner airlines.
these can ONLY be used on UA metal… no codeshares. additionally, you have to book an eligible fare bucket to attach the upgrade. discount economy is ineligible for the upgrade as are some other economy fare buckets. and then of course, you have to find availability. might be difficult with 3 passengers. ymmv.
They’re not supposed to be bought and sold, but they appear to be around $400 each. Of course, if you can use them they can be worth a lot more, at least in terms of the Business v. economy fare differential. And if they’re about to expire, they’re worth a lot less.
To add to the previous post, the fareclass has to be W or “higher” on United, and upgrade space isn’t always immediately available.
Anyway, Flyertalk is probably your best source for information about GPUs (and pretty much anything flying related). Here’s a thread specifically on GPUs:
Regarding the Fare Class, when I search flights on united.com, I see class T for lowest fare economy and class Q for flexible economy. How to tell if either is greater than W?
Basically everything listed after “W” in the chart is not eligible for an upgrade (i.e., S, T, L, K, G, N)
Here’s a more detailed unofficial chart that you can sort by “pecking order” - W is 18th on this chart, and all below would not be eligible to use a GPU on an international flight (you can use them to upgrade any domestic flight).