| Upgrade availability |
Upgrade seats are dependent upon on 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, clearance and waitlists |
Sales 500-mile upgrades are processed according to your Mileage Plus status.
Upgrade equests 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 Itineraries.
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. |
| How to earn |
Elite members earn four 500-mile upgrades per 10,000 qualifying flown miles on United and United Express. |
| How to purchase upgrade kits |
Visit Travel Options by United. Upgrade kits contain four 500-mile upgrades each.
Purchased upgrade kits are non-refundable. |
| Expiration dates |
Earned and purchased 500-mile upgrades expire on the last day of the calendar month, 12 months after deposit into Upgrade bank.
Flights upgraded using a 500-mile upgrade must be flown on/before the expiration date of the upgrade. |
| Valid carrier |
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 Region 1 (United States, Canada, Caribbean, Central America and Mexico) |
| 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 select
segments. |
Upgradeable
booking classes |
• United Business (C,D,J)
• United Economy (Y,B,M,E,H,U,Q,V,W,S,T,K,L) |
| Upgrade service classes |
• United Economy to United First (on 2-cabin aircraft)*
• United Economy to United Business (on 3-cabin aircraft)
• United Business to United First (on 3-cabin aircraft)
• United Economy to United First upgrades are not permitted on 3-cabin aircraft
* Double upgrades from United Economy to United First are not permitted when traveling on 3-cabin
aircraft |
| Non-upgradeable booking classes and tickets |
• Booking classes Z and G
• Award tickets (booking classes XY, NY, XC for Saver awards and booking classes Y and C for Standard awards)
• Tickets already upgraded to United Business (booking class NC)
• Tickets purchased through Priceline and Hotwire, where the airline is not disclosed until after payment |
| 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. |
Information on Sales 500-mile upgrades applies until Unlimited Domestic Upgrades are in place on March 19, 2010. With Unlimited Domestic Upgrades, your upgrade experience will be even easier as you will have an unlimited balance of upgrades that will be automatically requested at purchase. Learn more about 
