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Complimentary Premier Upgrades are space-available, complimentary upgrades on select United- and Copa-operated flights. They are available to all Premier® members, as well as to a companion traveling on the same reservation as the Premier member. Learn more about Premier status.

Additionally, Premier members traveling on full-fare economy Y- and B-class fares may be eligible for instant upgrades as early as time of ticketing. Premier 1K® members are also eligible for instant upgrades when purchasing M-class fares.

Eligible flights

These upgrades are available on most United- and Copa-operated flights in the following regions:

See the upgrade regions chart for full details on upgrade eligibility, plus exceptions to the regions listed above.

Complimentary Premier Upgrades are available on all paid, published fares.

Confirmation priority

The confirmation windows for Complimentary Premier Upgrades, by Premier level, are:

Instant upgrades are confirmable at time of ticketing, if space is available. If a seat is not available at time of ticketing, these upgrades will be processed automatically starting at the five-day window.* Learn more about upgrade confirmation priority.

*On intra-Asia flights between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tokyo (NRT), Singapore (SIN) or Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), and between Tokyo (NRT) and Seoul (ICN) or Taipei (TPE), Complimentary Premier Upgrades, will begin to confirm at 24 hours from departure.

Companion policy

One companion traveling on a paid ticket on the same reservation as a Premier member is eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades on select flights, and may be confirmed with the same priority as the Premier member, even on the day of departure. If the companion is a Premier member, the upgrade will be processed according to the highest Premier status level in the reservation.

If a reservation includes three or more travelers, and only one is not a Premier member, the Complimentary Premier Upgrades will be processed according to the lowest Premier status level in the reservation. If two or more travelers on the reservation are not Premier members, it will not be processed automatically. In these cases, Premier members should call the Premier Priority Desk to request a separate reservation for themselves and the eligible companion.

Upgrading award tickets

Premier members who are primary cardholders for certain Chase-issued credit cards are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades when traveling on award tickets on United-operated flights. The following credit cards qualify for this benefit:

Complimentary Premier Upgrades on award tickets will be prioritized after the lowest paid fare class. This benefit does not apply to companions traveling on award tickets.

Other terms

• Complimentary Premier Upgrades are eligible for one-cabin upgrades on select flights from United Economy^® to the next cabin of service, from United Business^® to United First^®, or from United BusinessFirst® to United Global First^® on three-cabin aircraft.
• Only select flights operated by United or Copa are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades.
• When flying Copa, instant upgrades are only available on Y, B, M, or H-class full-fare Economy tickets.
• Upgrades are subject to capacity controls, which may limit the number of seats available.
• Upgrades are not available on flights that have already been upgraded, or on certain fares such as industry discount, Hotwire and priceline.com.
• The number of MileagePlus award miles, Premier qualifying miles and Premier qualifying segments earned are based on the fare class of the ticket originally purchased, not the upgraded class.
• Other restrictions may apply. Terms and other information are subject to change without notice.