Do United or American sell upgrades at check-in?

[dabear]

We've flown some foreign airlines and were able to buy a last minute upgrade from PE to Business class at a reduced price. In the past UA and AA did not offer for sale unsold business class seats . Has that changed?

[goletans]

We've had offers from UA and AA to upgrade as the departures approach, but we were not given a better price, so did not take the offer. We have requested the wait list for an upgrade, but never cleared the wait list.

[fbgd]

29 minutes ago, goletans said:

We have requested the wait list for an upgrade, but never cleared the wait list.

 

Waitlist? If you have status on eligible domestic/shorthaul flights there's no waitlist for upgrades. You may get cleared up to 120 hours out from departure (on AA/UA) or by the gate agent in many cases.

Edited May 18 by fbgd

[goletans]

We were on the waitlist for a business upgrade on AA last week. Our names were listed on the monitor near the boarding door.

[CruiserBruce]

At least as it relates to UA, there is a bit of confusing info here.

 

First, while buying an upgrade at the gate is technically possible, its so rare as to not exist. Better the OP attempt to buy an upgrade a week or 2 (or even more) before the actual flight date. There are ways to do this by checking the status of your flight on the UA website, but to open all options, probably need to join UA's frequent flyer club. I have looked at this a number of times. Sometimes its discounted, but it seems lately its not. The front of the plane is full domestically virtually 100% of the time, and internationally well over 90% of the time.

 

What one sees at the gate is an ranked upgrade list for elites. About 100 hours prior to flight, UA determines who is eligible for upgrade based on their status, and sometimes adding in the fare they purchased. This list doesn't apply to non-members of United's frequent flyer club, and has nothing to do with purchasing an upgrade. As mentioned above, the highest level elites get upgraded about 100 hours prior to flight. Midlevel elites get upgraded 48-72 hours out, and lower elites get upgraded at 24 hours.  

[6rugrats]

You often are offered an upgrade when you purchase the ticket, though it's no bargain.  Usually, at least for UA, you can pull up your reservation and there is usually a blue circle with an arrow in it that says "upgrade cabin."   If anything is available, it will show you the price.

[6rugrats]

4 hours ago, fbgd said:

 

Waitlist? If you have status on eligible domestic/shorthaul flights there's no waitlist for upgrades. You may get cleared up to 120 hours out from departure (on AA/UA) or by the gate agent in many cases.

There is a waitlist for CPU on UA.  There are only CPU on domestic flights.  You must support upgrades for international flights with money/miles/PlusPoints on UA.

Edited May 19 by 6rugrats

[taxatty]

AA offers business upgrades online and on its app, but they're usually no bargain on international flights.