500-Mile Upgrades
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As of March 19, 2010, 500-Mile Upgrades will no longer be issued or available for purchase. General members may continue to use their 500-Mile Upgrades until their regular expiration dates.For elite members at the Global ServicesSM, 1K®, Premier Executive® and Premier® levels, 500-Mile Upgrades will be replaced by Unlimited Domestic Upgrades. Mileage Plus® will automatically request an upgrade on your behalf for any eligible domestic travel. Learn more
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500-Mile Upgrades may be used for a one-cabin upgrade on select booking classes within the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America (excluding three-cabin transcontinental p.s.® routes). Each 500-Mile Upgrade is valid for 500 miles of travel. |
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| 500-Mile Upgrades quick reference guide |
| Upgrade availability | Upgrade seats are dependent upon demand for paid premium fares and may not always be available. In general, many first or business class bookings do not occur until a week or two before departure, so upgrade seats may not be available until closer to your flight date. Upgrades may only be requested once your ticket has been issued. |
| Upgrade processing times, confirmation and waitlists | 500-Mile Upgrades are processed according to your Mileage Plus status. Upgrade requests made prior to these processing times will show up as Status: Pending in your itinerary. Upgrades will be confirmed if seats are available when your request is processed, otherwise, you will be placed on a waitlist. You can check the status of your request in My Reservations. If upgrade seats become available, the waitlist will be processed based on your elite status, ticketed booking class and time of request, in that order. If your upgrade request has not cleared by the time you check in, you will be placed on the Upgrade List when you check-in. Available premium seats will be allocated at the gate according to your Mileage Plus status and booking class. |
| Expiration dates | Earned and purchased 500-Mile Upgrades expire on the last day of the calendar month, 12 months after deposit into your upgrade bank. Flights upgraded using a 500-Mile Upgrade must be flown on/before the expiration date of the upgrade. Please note that beginning March 19, 2010, 500-Mile Upgrades will be replaced by Unlimited Domestic Upgrades for elite members at the Global Services, 1K, Premier Executive and Premier levels. |
| Valid carriers | Flights marketed and operated by United and United Express. For flights operated by United but marketed by another airline, upgrades are permitted on a standby basis at the airport only, subject to availability. |
| Valid travel regions | Within the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America
Effective March 19, 2010, 500-Mile Upgrades will no longer be valid for use on three-cabin transcontinental p.s. routes. You may use Systemwide Upgrades, Regional Upgrades or Mileage Plus Upgrade Awards to request an upgrade on p.s. flights departing on or after March 19, 2010. |
| Certificates required | • One 500-mile certificate per 500 miles flown • Multiple 500-Mile Upgrades may be used on longer itineraries • Flown mileage is calculated using the origin and destination of the complete itinerary, not individual segments unless upgrade is only available on selectsegments |
| Upgradeable booking classes |
• United Business (J, C, D) • United Economy (Y, B, M, E, H, U, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K) |
| Non-upgradeable booking classes and tickets |
• Booking classes Z and G |
| Upgrading companions | Permitted for one companion traveling on the same flight as the sponsor. Additional 500-Mile Upgrades required. |
| Transferability | 500-Mile Upgrades may not be transferred to another traveler. |
| Mileage accrual | Miles earned will be based on the originally ticketed class of service, not the upgraded class of service. |
Terms and conditions for 500-Mile Upgrades