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United miles and cash upgrades: Cash turns out to be king for a last-minute Polaris business-class upgrade
03.05.2024 - 19:09 / thepointsguy.com
I'm a frequent United Airlines flyer. I pretty much have to be since I live near Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — a United hub where most of the gates in the airport belong to the legacy carrier.
As such, I have lots of miles from United's MileagePlus program, and I qualify for Gold status. I'm also the plus-one of a United Million Miler, so I have companion 1K status, too. This companion status is wonderful for free checked bags, complimentary extra-legroom seats and domestic upgrades when space is available. What I don't have, though, are PlusPoints — the best way to get a guaranteed upgrade on an international flight.
Related: The ultimate guide to getting upgraded on United Airlines
Instead, with only miles in hand, United offers a system of more or less "bidding" on an upgrade; both a dollar amount and a mile amount are assigned to an upgrade, and then you're relegated to a waitlist to see if you'll get the paid upgrade. Even though 1K status sometimes moves me up the waitlist, that doesn't always work for me.
For example, I was flying home from Johannesburg in a coach seat last year, and I attempted to upgrade to Polaris for $500 and 30,000 miles. (Even though the upgrade isn't confirmed right away, the cash and miles are automatically deducted — which I usually like to think is a good sign. You get them refunded later if the upgrade doesn't go through.)
My upgrade didn't clear on that flight, even though the flight looked mostly empty when I checked the week before. After a week on safari, I came back to find my seat still in the back of the plane, a situation that has made me wary of United's upgrade waitlist option.
Related: Complete guide to United's revenue, award and upgrade fare classes
This was front of mind on a flight home from Paris last month after a Viking river cruise on the Seine. To upgrade to Polaris, I saw an option that would add me to the upgrade waitlist for 20,000 miles and $550; honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to cough up that much. I'd have been happy with either the dollar amount or the miles outlay, but doing both for an unconfirmed seat didn't sound great. Plus, United wasn't offering a straight-up miles redemption option. For a seven-hour flight, I thought I could ride it out in the back.
That was before my flight was delayed. On my way to my airport shuttle, I saw my outbound flight was already experiencing a two-hour delay. That meant I'd be spending at least four hours in the airport before my international flight. Suddenly, the thought of an upgraded flight was much more appealing.
So, I decided to ask the check-in agent about upgrade options when I checked my bag.
Would it be possible, I ventured, to upgrade to Polaris? First, she looked at
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