United Plan B: Pretty Much The Most Awesome, Underutilized, And Underappreciated Thing Ever.

Just WOW! Thank You @Dan.

Excellent info Dan, thanks!
Although I take issue with that last line – which credit card can you open and get the 120k (soon 140k) miles for a round trip flight to TLV?

I booked a United plan b last May I had barely explained anything to the agent when he told me that he knew exactly what I was referring to. I cleared for business within the week.

sounds great but ppl like me work all day and dont have so much time to sit on the phone. maybe someone in the ddf can open a service of doing this for a $25 charge.

I heard this by your brooklyn seminar . Another reason why to attend seminar

Very well written.

Just one question – I don’t understand the 2nd to last paragraph –   “This Plan B process would also work for routes with global first class that has only coach or business saver awards available”

As opposed to what?

@yada:
🙂

@Ari:
Was talking one-way.

United gives 30K+5K for an added user. Plus you can SM to get matched for another 20K and $50.

Ink Bold and Ink Plus give 50K.

Freedom gives just 20K but with the 5x categories that will be 53K for $6K of spending.

Etc, etc.

@bbubbl347:
Yup, just depends on the agent.

@sounds great:
Even though it took me a few tries it was under 20 minutes of total phone time.

@Dan is the man:
Indeed.

@Hunch:
Thanks!
In other words for EWR-TLV you can book business if there is only coach space.
For LAX-SYD you can book global first if there is coach or if there is business space.

great post!

And if everyone will do Plan B, then it will be hard to get again….

Another great detailed post. I used Plan B this past November and thanks to your original post it all went perfectly. 🙂

@YosefG:
Thanks!

@Moshe123:
I think the complexity of it will keep it from becoming commonplace.
Complex deals are always the best, those who are serious are rewarded and those aren’t won’t kill it.

@sky121:
Great!
I know another DDF’er just did a successful Plan B from South America. Did you use it to TLV?

holy sh*t. this is just crazy!!! you just blew all the boarding area bloggers out of the water.

will the PR1 also work in the situation where my domestic leg is in coach because there were no saver business awarads. Can I force the gate agent to put me PR1. I booked LAX-PHL-MAD-FRA-IAH-LAX in business. My IAH-LAX is XN on UA. Can I ask the gate agent at IAH to give me a PR1?

Dan, I bought in the 2nd to last cheap tix to Israel last Saturday night, can I use United miles to upgrade from coach to business on that flight?

Awesome post.
When are you going to hold a seminar for all the airline workers and train them how to use their system.

@aegt:
🙂

@aegt:
Sure, just make sure you’re properly waitlisted. You may have better luck with the CS counter or in the club than with the GA…YMMV.

@Oompaloomla:
It’s very expensive to upgrade a cheap paid from coach to business.
You’d be looking at 35K miles AND $600 each way.

@ShmuliT:
😀

I love sitting in biz, but pushing so hard so I can sit there and acheinu bais yisroel are in the back? I do not feel right doing it.

I hope I get first class after 120, and thats what counts.

@anon
Your post doesn’t make any sense. Not one part of it.
Please think before you speak.

Does this mean you’re coming to israel to give a seminar? 😉

This isn’t new –other bloggers have posted about it and I remembered reading a thread about it.
It’s an interesting option and I’ve only tried it once for three tix (same itin). there are some downsides to be aware of:

you have to get the right rep. If not, trust me, you’ll spend quite a but of time on hold while they research or getting you bounced around to different reps who think you have nine heads. This was mostly a continental thing, so not all UA staff know or understand it.

You are not guaranteed the space. The airport bit is a pain if you have multiple connections and not all agent know what you’re talking about. (“You can’t upgrade an award.” Sigh)

If the ‘upgrade’ does not clear and your extra miles aren’t automatically credited back, good luck trying to get a rep to help you. Mine turned out to long frustrating conversations lasting hours (wait time and several reps) and most reps have no idea what happened or how to issue the ‘refund’ .

That said, it works when it works (which is cool). I remembered it worked out reasonably well but I also remembered thinking to myself that I won’t bother with it due to all the hassles involved (nor do I have any intention of going through it ever again even though I could when I flew UA since). IMHO, I had a much easier time looking for available award dates and booking space that way. Way easier, less work and follow up required, and knowing you have a guaranteed space. There are just a lot more bumps and frustrations for this “plan B” option that I wouldn’t wish on anybody.

In my case, only one of the 3 tix cleared., so I had mixed results. Good luck.

has this been successful for two passengers or is success much more rare?

I think I’m missing something. If you pay the business class rate in miles, why not just book the business class seat at that time?

Very detailed post with a great description. However what is the difference between a regular biz class award and plan B. Don’t you have to pay the 60k either way? What don’t I see?

@ anon

Your comment is a shaylah on your yachting.

Great post. I have tried many times to do this but have always been told exactly the same thing “this is not possible” I have spoke with agents managers etc.. and all have told me the same thing. This web support call back line is a big chidush and I hope it will work in the future. I certianly dont think that this post will in any way “kill” this meathod as most likely poeople will have to call back several times to get this done and I think most people will give up after waiting for 45 min on a phone only to have a manager tell you that this was only available with Continental and that their is no way for their system to even set this up

Thanks

Hey @Dan Ill be on the same flight ill be seeing you maybe, ill be in the back somewhere 🙂 but her I booked on those $400 tix 3 weeks ago, thanks for that tip!!

So the only part I’m still not clear on is this: what happens if the procedure, as outlined above, is followed to the “T” and, in the end, I don’t clear into business.

Do I have any recourse to get miles back or am I simply out those extra miles?

Would this work for a family of 5 or 6 or would it be a waste of time ? Meaning how many bizz seats is it feasible that will open up on a given flight… Thanks for the post…

Dan, Great Post!!!

Are you saying that you and a friend can access the lounges at any time 24-7 and drink to your hearts content!!!!! Why ever pay for a lounge or bar!

Is there any easy way to become a United Club cardholder other than being Elite/

I would rather sit in coach than deal with all of this 😉

@just come:
Was just a test to see that it can still be done, sorry!

@BOShappyflyer:
1. Never said it’s new or hasn’t been talked about before.
In fact I started off this post by referencing some of the times over the past 5 years that I’ve used it and talked about it.
2. The callback number is run by ex-Continental folk, shouldn’t take more than a couple HUCAs.
3. At the airport reference the gg code in this post if the agent doesn’t understand.
4. Callback line should work better for refunds as well if you don’t clear.

@magnus:
I and others I know have done it with 2 passengers.

@Elana:
This is talking about when that rate isn’t available.

@m:
Plan B works evn when there is no business saver award space available.

@Leo:
Enjoy Israel, but I’m not actually taking this flight. Already cancelled it.

@sbtinme:
Sure, reread the end of this post about the refund policy.

@lotofsimcha:
5 or 6 is definitely going to be tough, but it’s definitely possible.

@DAN FAN:
http://www.dansdeals.com/go/United1/
Click on the Club tab.

It says there’s a $395 annual fee for that card but if you SM them after getting it they will waive the fee the first year.
It also gets you 2 free checked bags, waived award expedite fees, and 50% bonus miles on every purchase.

@mh:
It doesn’t have to be as bad as it sounds. Some folks get this done on the first call and clear automatically.
YMMV!

If I only have spg points, and turn them into United points. I don’t see it being worth the points, unfortunately.

Dan thanks for the post. Will this work also if only one segment is on a United flight and the rest is on partners?

@coolfaye:
Huh?
United is only a full transfer partner with Chase UR points.

@yoelygb:
Read the last few paragraphs again 🙂

does the milageplus club card have all the benefits of the explorer card? car rentals and added award availability?
i canceled my explorer card and kept the club.
TYVM

dan.
in the past few weeks united didnt open the saver award in bussines class (because some travel agents abuse the system. so i dont thung that this ticket you have now on waitlist will be upgraded!!!!!!????

b’h
Dan,
great post…hopefully the mass does not blow this option.
anyway…what if you want to change your date after the res has been put in place?
does the new date need to be first available in the X/XN inventory
OR will united just allow to keep the old date in the record and waitlist the new date in I/IN?

if you wish you can email me the answer back direct

thanks for your great work

Im trying to book for a business class from ewr to tlv for feb. And all what im getting last 2 weeks is either 75k for economy saver or 150k for business saver ,how can I get coach?

@dov:
Yes.

@good morning:
Saver awards don’t need to open for this to work.

@barry:
The new date would need X/XN.

@ari:
Keep searching 2x daily and be ready to grab it!
Or just fly with a connection.

Dan,

May be i am ignorant but you are sying that United currently charges 40K miles for a one-way coach ticket or 60K miles for a one-way business ticket.

They have bunch of blackout dates for this amount of miles.
How do you go about that?

Does this work on domestic tickets as well (i.e. continental US to Hawaii)? I have only seen discussions regarding US to International destinations. Thanks!

Is there any way to Plan B on an upgrade ticket?

I was supposed to fly EWR-TLV 350p in K class on Tuesday but needed to push off until Thursday, which is almost full no thanks to Widereo so I was forced to pay over $1k to upgrade to B class. Once I was in B class I paid the miles to waitlist for and upgrade – how do I check or bump myself up on the list?

@zack:
Those are the saver rates. They open them at random times when they feel like it, you just have to keep checking.

@NYCFreqFlier:
Sure.

@Yuda1K:
Nope, sorry.
How much is the fare difference to just get a business class seat?

Thanks Dan.
well and clearly written.
Was always lazy to read through the DDF plan B thread.

Dan-

You reference that if you have the UNited Club Card you get “expanded” saver award selection. I clicked on your UCC link and I cant find that benefit anywhere. Can you put up a link where thats indicated?

@meshugener:
Thanks.

@bruce:
The Club and Explorer cards both give access to XN (expanded availability coach saver) class awards.

It’s an unpublished benefit.

Thanks Dan – great post. Do you know if Plan B works if I book an economy standard (not saver) award ticket? Thanks!

@Mike:
It will not.

Dan,

Will this work the same for a Domestic flight paying the First Class saver rate and booking a coach seat??

Dan
when you booked the plane-b ticket on your example test
what did the etkt-recipt show on it?
does it show XN or IN? and what does the award code?
can you please show me the etkt receipt(redacting any sensitive info)
if you wish you can send it to me as direct email…

@Dave:
Never tried it backwards.

@barry:
Class: X
Award Used: 60000/WB64

“Then notice how IN class is requested. I class refers to saver business class award space. IN is expanded saver business class award space for Platinums/1Ks/Global Services.”

What would be the class requested for Premier Gold folks?

@Paul:
I class.

@Dan:

You mean you went through this whole effort just to teach us?That’s pretty incredible.

@Dan:

So when I search for awards it’ll show up as expanded award? or it’ll just offer me more seats than had I searched without logging in with my card

Dan, thanks for nice explanation.

Do you know if this trick would work for award where one/two UA segments only available in coach? For example, I’m flying TPA-ORD (UA), ORD-MUC (LH) ; MUC-ORD (LH) ; ORD – TPA (U). For UA segments, only saver coach is available, LH segments are available in saver business. If I book this award as is, is it possible to call UA and request to be waitlisted for TPA-ORD and ORD-TPA segments?

Cost of cancel award ticket same day and redeposit miles?

is fee per person or per reservation (with 5 pax, for example)

cancel a week later, but 4 months before trip?

any way to wait list for partner connection of one segment ?

United doesn’t open up any more saver awards to israel ,they closed it due to abuse

i just got my united club chase card, and while its connected to my united miles i dont see that i am viewing any more or better award seats when i am signed in, do i have to call in to get better award availability as a united club card member?

I just tried the United elite line for Friday and was told that they “can no longer do this” :-/

@SFO to EZE:
They lied.

okay, so I took that last seat at 30k for Saver yesterday and now they are no longer offering Saver for either. I got a better rep who was onboard with the plan B program just now and she listed my existing Saver Coach award as an “IN class Reqeusted” but said she couldn’t take the additional 30k miles until it was confirmed. Any chance this is going to work? We are within 24 hours already:

Flight: UA819
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Fare Class: United Economy (X) – (IN class requested)

This only works on UA metal right?

@SFO to EZE:
Doubt it.

@Brandon:
Correct.

Thanks for the post, I just happen to find UA metal from FRA to SFO and booked a plan B. One ticket is I and other is IN waitlisted. Does it matter? I would assume that maybe the IN has a better chance of getting business than the I?

We (family of 3) are flying on business class award US-India. We are seating in coach on UA flight ORD-EWR (no saver business class seats available). I requested to be waitlisted on this flight and we are (I see “I class requested”). I asked CSR about our position on the list for upgrade and she told me that since we are “general members” we will be at the bottom of the list, even if we paid for the business class and seat in coach. She says that any premier member who will use miles to upgrade from coach to business will be ahead us. Is this true? I was under impression that we should be on the top of the upgrade list. Unfortunately, we will have a short connection at ORD after transatlantic flight, so I don’t know what should I do.

You repeatedly state that the United MileagePlus Explorer [MasterCard] will provide CDW overage in Israel. All I can tell you is that for at least a year, that has NO longer been true. Not only that, but when I look at the MasterAssist benefits that are provided with the United Card, it states EXPLICITLY that Israel is one of a very short list of countries that are EXCLUDED from CDW overage!! I have confirmed this with MasterCard International who actually ADMINISTERS this program. I suggest that ANYONE considering the user of MasterCard in Israel for CDW overage all up MasterCard International as someone there will be able to tell you WHICH banks will issue MasterCard that includes CDW coverage for Israel.

@Brandon:
IN has a slightly better chance.

@jk2:
She’s wrong, make sure they mark you as a displaced business passenger.

@Zvi Weiss:
On November 1st Chase started covering Israel on all of their cards.
Mastercard does not provide this insurance, call the number on your card for the correct department.

did a plan B yesterday
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1894.msg708344#msg708344

Dan, does this work with partner flights also?

Dan, thank you! Can phone representative mark us as “displaced business class passengers” or only airport agent can do it? Our flight in question is domestic one, after tatl flight from Europe on partner, so I don’t know if there is a united agents in this airport. I think when we reach USA it would be too late to do anything since our connection time is 2 hours.

I’d like to upgrade a revenue ticket to business using miles, but there isn’t W class available.

I’m waiting for W class to open up.
Can I use plan B in this scenari?

I can confirm this still works and automatically. I received an email that the upgrade was done and sure enough, it was. I would always follow-up with a call to have them confirm everything, but it does work. Thank you, Dan!

@Ted:
No.

@jk2:
Only at the airport.

@pointie:
Congrats!
Great to see these reports of it working automatically as it should.

Dan you are the best! I noticed you spelled out how to direct the incompetent agents at the airport to give you a security pass to access the club. I had this issue but with my AA executive card AA refused to issue me a security pass being that I was flying from a different airline and gate. The stupid supervisor said I need a boarding pass. How do I guide incompetent AA agents?

Is this only on united? Does AA have the same thing? Cuz I’m having trouble finding AA business saver awards…

Pardon my ignorance.
What is the advantage of a plan b
Over simply buying a 1
Way business with 60,000.
Like u did?

@Sara:
I’m not sure that AA has that policy.

@Josh:
Only United as far as I know.

@Alfie:
It’s for when business isn’t available.

Has anyone else experienced almost no saver awards on united’s direct daily flights from EWR to TLV even in Economy?

Dan, on a bit of a side note, you mentioned a code to tell agents in order to get a temporary pass to be allowed to use the united lounge past security even when not flying. Would this code work for me In JFK? And is that only for united or is there a way I can access the admirals club if I won’t be flying? Thanks.

@Sara:

American’s policy is different. It is detailed at this site: http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/airportAmenities/admiralsClubArticles/tsaSecurity.jsp

I currently waitlisted for X, is there anyway to get waitlisted for XN without the above mentioned ways?

I have the united club card $450 a year and have the expanded award but the Nyc-Tlv route is almost never available on saver for coach or business, this is since united stoped opening there TLV bound seats last minute.

I have American miles Amex miles, el al SPG miles can any of these miles be transferred over?

I find it very difficult lately to find any saver awards on both United and AA

Dan, Just did it, followed your instructions and booked a One Way EWR to TLV – I am in waitlist for Business Class.
60k + $2.50.
(I class requested)

Awesome!

Hi Dan, I have two questions, which probably have been asked before, but I could not find it 🙂

1) The waitlisted status shows “I class requested” (instead of IN). Is this a problem?
2) If business award has mixed availability – does it work the same way (assuming all flights are United)

United rep just told me that, as of August 7th, they don’t honor waitlisting for award tickets anymore. But I see the previous post on August 10th pulled it off. Any ideas?

It just took me about 5 calls (and 2 call backs), conversations with several United representatives, and ultimately a supervisor to research the process, and manually book and price the tickets. XN with IN requested is shown. Now let’s hope we clear the waitlist. 🙂 FYI, a really nice 20+ year Continental veteran didn’t know how to do this! It took someone with a very foreign accent and a lot of patience.

Thanks for the tip! My mom was on an international business flight, but they only economy saver for her connecting domestic leg. I was able to call in and get her waitlisted for the domestic flight. It now shows “I class requested.”

Kudos again Dan. Booked LAX-LHR two months out when saver economy seats were available but saver biz was not. ONLY AGENTS ON THE OLD CONTINENTAL CALLBACK LINE KNEW HOW TO CHARGE ME THE BIZ MILES (57,500) even though business saver was not available. It cleared two days later. I did the same on a return flight and while it didn’t clear until a week before we returned, IT CLEARED! You da man, Dan!!

Dan thanks for the post. My fiancé and I are planning to fly to Greece and Italy from Houston next summer for our honeymoon. Would this work to book two round trips with an open jaw? Some business class is currently available but only through partner flights. Might get complicated but what are your thoughts? Thanks a lot for your feedback!

@Dan how would baggage allowance work on a Plan B ticket?

pls stop repeating the united plan B as they will become aware and stop it it’s enough. tnx

worked like a charm for me, even tho they didnt let me do it the night before my flight, when I checked in the agent confirmed me in BF on flight 84 without even waitlisting me…

I read the whole post and if a business class ticket is booked using 60K points, where’s the deal? Does this process simply guarantee you better availability? Not sure I understand what the value prop is from this whole to-do?

What do you guys do? Fly around the world 24/7? Dan, I think your considerable skills would be put to better use elsewhere. Why don’t you focus on ending world poverty or global warming. Is it because you make a living doing this? Have confidence in yourself that you can make money out there without focusing solely on exploiting every loophole you can find.

I tried and tried and the most they would do was waitlist me without taking out business class miles . There was no talking to them.

I just did a plan b this past Sunday EWR – TLV. and worked perfectly.

I just called and they refused to deduct business class miles.

Any similar type of ‘Plan B’ that works on American?

@Where is everyone going?: Do you know how many people have jobs because of people like Dan flying all the time ? In the airports, on the planes, etc. & you want all those people to lose their jobs ? Shame on you.

@Alex L:
1. That’s right.
2. Yes.

@Is Plan B dead?:
Seems like the agent was wrong.

@Donor:
Congrats!

@Eugene Tunitsky:
Should work.

@kyle:
Good question, as a 1K I’ve never run into that issue.
I’d imagine if you don’t clear in advance that you’d only get the coach allowance.

@bella:
Are you joking?
This isn’t a scam or hack, the Plan B details are published on United.com!

I’d be more worried about the process being discontinued due to underuse then anything else.

@million miler:
Congrats!

@What Am I Missing?:
It makes business available when it otherwise is not.

@Where is everyone going?:
Why don’t you focus on making the world better and not criticizing others life choices.

@Jeff:
HUCA.

@Eli:
Congrats!

@m:
HUCA.

@joetraveler:
No.

Is there a way to switch AMEX points to United? Would that be a good use of AMEX points?
Is it worth trying Plan B for a “domestic” flight from Toronto, to say, San Juan?

Is the “I-Class requested” suppose to post immediately?
Just finished reserving some seats with what seemed like an agent that understood the process but currently my reservation doesnt show “I-Class requested” nor were any miles deducted, not even whats required for coach!
Ticket is confirmed with assigned seats.

1. in order to do it you need to be booked to TLV on economy, which i havent seen any availability from United. Unless this works with United with a stopover, bringing to the next question. 2.if i book EWR-FRA, FRA-TLV and only ONE segment has business, do i use up 60k? thanks

@CNoteZ:

k.. took about 15 mins to process through system, everything looks right now.. biz saver award miles deducted with “I-class requested” appearing! Fingers crossed!!! THANKS!!!

Dan, you are awesome! Thank you for reminding me about Plan B. I had an economy saver award flight SFO-TLV booked on United for 85K. The web support call back agent, Jim, knew immediately exactly what I wanted. He found a way to convert the economy saver award to a business saver award for an additional 55K miles + $100. The ticket now shows “(I class requested)”.

I asked two different agents about baggage and got two different answers. One said, you paid business so you get the business baggage allowance. The other said if you don’t clear, you are flying economy and only get that baggage allowance. Is there any way to find out the truth before flight time (9/7)? I am not Premier, so I could definitely use the baggage allowance.

@Steven:
You can’t do that.

@Nudge:
Availability typically opens within a month of a flight, just look at this month…

@CNoteZ:
Congrats!

@Guy:
They should’ve done it without a $100 charge.

Try looking at what this page says for baggage for your trip:
http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/CheckedBaggage.aspx

Awesome trick! I think your trackbacks do not work (anymore)? Just posted about.

Checked and as always… you are right. my 2nd question though, if i book EWR-FRA, FRA-TLV and only one leg has business, am i going to be charged 60k? also, if one leg is UA and the second leg LH, will this work? tks

Just wanted to clarify… if there are open seats in biz class during check in, and I request for “PR-1” status… at some point before boarding I should be upgraded? The only way I wont is if some other party with “PR-1” status is ahead of me? Will they ever NOT fill an open biz seat if there are “PR-1” requests? Thanks

Booked one recently: confirmed for BF (business), with GF (first) miles deducted and waitlisted. Had to HUCA several times (even with the “callback” link) to find an agent who understood. Many agents said it is impossible to deduct miles for a higher award if it can’t be confirmed.

Finally found one who “got it.” When she came back from on hold, she advised me that in the future, an easier way to do this is to find any date which has confirmable saver space in the cabin you are requesting, book it online, then call in to do a date change to your intended travel date.

This only works if:
a) you can find ANY date with saver space in your desired cabin AS WELL AS saver space in a lower cabin on your desired date (both of which I gather may be near impossible in some markets like EWR-TLV), and…
b) you are a Premier and thus eligible for free date changes on awards.
But if this is you, they will waitlist you for the date you want and confirm you in the lower cabin. And it somewhat avoids the need to find a knowledgeable agent.

Hey Dan…

Last question I promise!
My itinerary has four of us set up for Plan B… if we have to go to the airport to set up the “PR-1” status, do we ALL have to be there? I plan on getting there 24hrs before departure so we will be the first ones on the queue but dont want to lug the entire family there. Is it possible to check everyone in online but just have myself go to the counter to request “PR-1” status for all of us?

Hey, So i had just sucessfully booked this on my first try. I don’t think I will be able to make it to the airport till 2 hours before my flight. Is there still a possibility that the system will upgrade me itself without the agent listing me as PR-1?

I had a RT EWR-CDG in saver economy trip that I booked back in February. I called today to “Plan B” the return flight. The agent was dubious that it could be done and had never heard of the procedure (by my describing, not referring to Plan B). SHe checked with a supervisour and came back on and said the supervisor would do it and hang on. Afterwards, she thanked me for teaching her something new….I was a bit surprised at that as she said she was a PMCO agent. One question for clarity…my assumption is from now until 24 hours before flight, waitlist position is determined by status, and only after checking in and making sure agent makes you PR-1 is position determined by PR. Correct?

P.S. There was a J.Edward on flyertalk’s CO forum who first detailed this back in 2007. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/continental-onepass-pre-merger-closed-posting/642160-plan-b-standard-businessfirst-award-travel.html

Are we entitled to a refund of the miles difference between economy saver and business/first saver for both the outbound and return, or just the outbound on which we didn’t get upgraded? Thanks, Dan!

Dan, thanks for this. Remembered this post from years ago and looked it up. All 3 agents I spoke to from the web callback knew exactly what I was talking about and helped me. The only thing I’ll mention to people reading this is just because you see the waitlist, doesn’t mean it’s booked properly. There are 2 other indicators. One, is that the higher mileage was taken out and shows on the reservation page and on the receipt, and 2, you will see your flights duplicated when you look at seats (this might happen even when just waitlisted, not sure) indicating that you are technically reserved on the flight twice, once in coach and once in business. Also note that you cannot waitlist for first if only coach is available (if it’s a 3 cabin plane) – you can only go one cabin higher.

Just worked for me today, Took the 1K representative a while to figure out how to take out the extra miles from my account and put it on waitlist, then 24 hours before the flight when off the waiting list and did not go on the check in airport list, I called 1K again and they did not know how this works they told me within 24 hours if you went off the list you not getting back on, my friend went in the lounge told them I paid 70 K for business-class, they put him number 2 on the list, and it got cleared 5 minutes later.
Thank you very much DAN

i have 4 seats setup for a plan B in July EWR-TLV. has anyone been successful at clearing 4 or more seats via plan B?

I just Plan B’d two tickets from TLV-EWR for January, so its still alive!
Only thing, though I have the Mileagplus explorer card, I was waitlisted in I class, not IN;
Could this be because I used a non-united card to pay the fees??

Please note it is now line 81 under gg – onestandby as opposed to 85. The agent read it to me. Sadly all Biz pax checked in so I did not get upgraded. I took a later flight I had booked in biz and cancelled the plan B flight after the agent un-checked me in.

@Ariel – the reason you got I, was because you are not Platinum. IN is for Platinums/1Ks/Global Services. As dan said in the post and in post #56.

Dan it still works – first call found me with a great dude who helped me out – here is hoping for Biz class!!!

I just called to standby on Global First from Business First. Found someone to help me on the first call!

Dan,

Wanting to go to Greece and Italy for our honeymoon this summer. Plenty of coach savers available but wanting to obviously do business. Do you think this is a smart idea for a 3 way round trip Houston -> Venice – > Athens – > Houston.

Could it work? Would really appreciate your input!

@Eugene Tunitsky:
Sure, just remember that it only works on United flights.

@Eli:

What’s your status with United that you’re able to cancel a flight same day without penalty (presumably)? Or do you have the Club card? I’d like to do the same. How do I go about it?

It still works! It took multiple calls and a lot of explaining to find an agent who knew what I was talking about but the process is most certainly still possible.

As others have said before a few important checks you can do to make sure you were ticketed correctly. Make sure your award ticket shows and your mileage account is debited the business (or first) saver reward amount depending on which you booked NOT the economy saver reward amount where your seat currently is. Secondly when you view your reservation on united.com it should show (I class requested) after the Fare Class: United Economy (X) for example.

Dan, a question if I may. I did this “Plan B” process for a trip EWR – LHR, the issue is that I did it 2 days ago already but it has NOT ticketed yet. I DO have a reservation with Fare class X and (I class requested). The miles have NOT yet been deducted, the credit card charge is still in the “pending” stage. Should I wait or does this need to be fixed? Thanks!

If there are later flights that night with biz available, might United switch us to one of those flights in biz class on/before day of flight upon request?

Call, get some one competent. And they’ll fix it.

@ “Zev, they screwed up” Thanks, I actually used the callback line and someone there explained to me that since this is complicated, it gets processed manually, which is why it can take DAYS to get ticketed. It got ticketed yesterday evening. Now I’m waiting for the next phase… 🙂

After educating agent about being a displaced business class passenger, and deserving PR-1 status, she finally made the call to the mileage desk, and confirmed that that’s where I belong. Then she called me back to the desk, and told me that it was a mistake, and that she’s putting me back into PR-2. I referred her to gg onestandby line 81, they were shocked that a non-United employee would know this information, but then they printed it out for me, and apparently it has changed. It now shows that only elite members can be put into PR-1 status, and that everyone else must be in PR-2. So now there’s basically no chance of me flying business class tonight. Any advice?

@ Airport agent trouble: was this at the econ check in desk, business check in desk or in lounge?

i have 2 business saver awards booking flight iah-tpe via sfo I’ve just request mine iah to sfo for biz class wait-list from economy, I am their general member with a united explorer card. For some reason my itinerary receipt and reservation is hown as X and I , and the wait list is also shown I . When speaking to agent she has no problem have me on wait list , but was told the “n” as expandable only applies to their elite memeber or standard award flight.

I am having the same problem as Jung this morning. Flying United from EWR > TLV and did HUCA but still getting the same response that IN is not available on award saver booking. Only available for standard award flights or to premier members.

I have a United Card but they told me that is not enought o get me IN status. Does anyone know if United changed the rules of the card or how I can get around this??

I had already reserved an economy saver EWR – TXL when I remembered Plan B. On my first call using the callback number I found agent Elsa who was excellent…she took the additional miles for business class and wait listed us using IN since we have the united mileage plus credit card. She seemed to know exactly what to do. There was no additional $ charge beyond what we had paid for the economy saver. Now, we’ll just hope the wait list clears. Thanks Dan!

It seems as though the easy part is calling in to waitlist.

Have united call you via this link, which will connect you to the united.com helpdesk who are more knowledgable than when you call the first tier support:

http://goo.gl/9rcqGK

They should know exactly what you need and how to do it. make sure to ask them to waive the reservation change fee, most of the time they will do it.

The hard part is getting on the waitlist the day of the flight. It appears as though Priority 1 status is no longer allowed for this waitlist, you will just get thrown in with the other low priority upgraders and such. Apparently this is new and has been notated in the internal documents. This was introduced around the end of Q4 2014/beginning of Q1/2015. I have not seen anyone confirm they were placed on priority 1 waitlist since the beginning of the year. SO I think this loophole might be closed as far as being at the top of the list when checked in. No one has confirmed yet though.

If I am booking a flight to Hawaii which has a short stopover, and the flight is listed as mixed cabin which means one leg of the trip is in first and the other is in economy, do I automatically get put at the top of waitlist for getting put into first class?
And, if I don’t get placed in first and remain in economy, do I have a case to get the extra miles back even though I flew first for part of the trip?

What is the code for standing by for Global First if BusinessFirst is I/IN? Anyone know?

Dan,
Great info. I had this setup, miles were correctly taken from my account for business round trip fare from NY to FRA, and one of the segment is confirmed in XN, waitlisted IN. The only thing worries me is that it says “1 upgrade reward 115,000 miles” instead of “1 reward”, the booking code is YB53. Is this setup correct? Thanks in advance.

“With the United app or on United.com you can search for the upgrade standby list for any flight by searching under flight status. You will see how many business class seats are still open and you should see your name at the very top of that list.”

This method only shows flights for next 3 days. Is there a way to see a flight that is 7 days out?

I booked a plan b itinerary yesterday, but the agent may have messed up, so i’m trying to double check via the above method. Thanx

@saver2000:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/64083

Thanx.

The standby list shows “no customers are currently standing by” . I guess thats bec it not within 24 hours yet.

I have no idea what the heck the agent did. UA deducted 43k per pax for one way in confirmed businessFirst and the other officially in plan b + one intra island flight (6k).

No way to tell if I got the real plan b. This sucks. Oh well.

##confused.

Reporting back on my Plan B experience. The domestic portion cleared to business/first a few days in advance of the flight. The EWR-TGL segment did not clear for business, and as of the day of the flight I couldn’t find our names anywhere on the business standby list (and it was a fairly long list). Upon arriving at EWR I went to the United customer service desk and explained that my waitlist for business hadn’t cleared, but that I had “paid” for business with my miles. I also told her that my understanding was that we should be Priority 1 on the wailist for business seats. She made a phone call, then came back and said it was done, that we were #1 and #2 on the business standby list. I double checked and there we were on the top of the list. Thanks, Dan! Now the bad news, business checked in full so we sat in economy. Now, I just need to work on getting my miles back…

after calls from united i finally got an agent to book my the plan B ticked

However after seeing the confirmation I have only waitlisted as an I class and when I called in asking for them to put me on the wait-list as an IN since I have the milage plus explorer card they told me I can not get it only if I am a K1 member is that right? or I just have to call again and again till i”ll find some one to put on there as a IN?

Thanks

I booked a saver award economy ticket from Newark – TLV. I called in within 24 hours to try and book a “Plan B” ticket. The woman seemed to know what she was doing, as she said that she needs to take the additional points from my account now. The only problem is, that she quoted the wrong amount. An Economy saver is 42,500 points, while Business saver is 70,000, so I needed to shell out an additional 27,500. However, she said that she needs to take 17,500 (I didn’t object, thinking that perhaps I can get away with it, and save 10,000 points.) She took the points and waitlisted me for Business. The confirmation came back looking like the screenshot above.

The only question I have is: Since she took the wrong amount of points, will this prevent me from being considered a “displaced business class passenger” (being that I didn’t actually “pay” for business), and will I merely be just another guy on the waitlist for business?

Dear Dan,

Would you know when united opens up saver awards for their flights? Meaning how far or close before the actual flight date? I would like to make a reservation for a united flight in May EWR – TLV and as of now, only standard awards are being offered.

I was told by a united representative that it’s not that all the saver awards were taken, but rather that since the date of the flight is so far off, they aren’t offering them yet, but the flights are wide open and i should check back in a couple of months. Are saver awards always offered? (so that i can either book a business award or waitlist it by booking a saver economy award and using the plan B approach) or is it possible that since it will be high season maybe united just won’t offer any saver awards during that season?

Also, although i think it was mentioned once in the comments, do you know if there is a difference between when saver economy awards are offered and saver business awards are offered (it seemed that someone mentioned that saver business are only available 45 days before the flight)?

many thank for your help! Gmar chasima Tova!

@dan do you know if the PR1 status you mentioned that’s referenced in gg/81 is still valid or as some of the commenters say that the policy has been changed. Also when going to the airport 24hr before the flight to request the PR1 status, do all traveling members must go or can I request it for all of us.
Thank you!

I just did this. I have XN confirmed thru the club card. But the only requested I class not IN. Should I Call them back to change it to IN?

Thanks Dan
As I reported in augest I booked a plan B ticket and was waitlisted but it did not clear till the date of the flight
I have to admit it was a bit overwhelming as this was a flight for HKG to EWR witch is about 16 hours and I was not going to be in economy for this amount so I started to have 2nd thoughts about it
But as I got to the train station (there is a train there called the airport express witch is going just to the airport and you can check in and get you boarding pass in the station already,
The women there told me I am not the waitlist at all,
And I was prepared for that and pulled out all the papers a printed before the flight for this and showed her first I paid for business already and told her about the gg onestandby she did know what I was talking about and followed you instructions about saying I am not upgrading I am a displeased passenger
Then she doled me she dos not know how much points it cost to bay a business seat and will have to confirm first with the award desk
She made some phone calls and told me I am right, she called for there to the airport to the seat coordinator and asked I should be put on the waitlist,
She gave me a boarding pass first for economy and told me as you get to the airport go talk to the seat coordinator BUT since you ordered a kosher meal in economy if you will be upgraded in business we will not have food for you since the kosher food is coming for NY and they need to know 24 hours ahead,
As I got to the airport 3 hours before the flight I check on united/mobil and I was not on the waitlist at all
I immediately got to the seat coordinator and asked about me being on the waitlist, she told me I am already in business she gave me a new boarding pass and told me some one ordered a kosher meal and just canceled his flight if I want the new kosher meal,
In the end I was in business for 70k points thanks to you Dan and got kosher food as well
For all the other ones here trying to get business thru plan B just one detail, if it’s a long flight take some food with you as its not confirmed if you have business you will still have kosher food if you did not clear before 24 hours before the flight

We are volunteers for USAID. They purchase our tickets and we are always in economy on Star Alliance. We have plenty of United miles. We are going to Beiruit in Jan. The tickets have not yet been purchased but will be soon. Can someone tell me how to get upgraded? Every trip we use miles and pay the fees to upgrade and it is so rare to get the upgrade. We hope we are doing something wrong and some one can help guide us. Our last trip to Cairo was booked through Luftansa and they would not allow us to use our United miles to upgrade. We dearly want to make these long trips in Business

can I do a business saver morning flight and be waitlisted for the evening flight if there is no saver business on the evening or I should rather confirm evening flight in economy and wait list it as a plan B

I just booked a “Plan-B” ticket using the instructions on this page. I used the callback line that was listed and received a call-back immediately. The United rep knew what I was requesting but she didn’t know the full rules. She had her supervisor help her out. After 25 minutes, the extra miles for the business ticket were deducted and my reservation showed “I class requested”. Now I’ll just wait and cross my fingers that I clear. Thanks Dan!!

I had booked NRT-DEN XN and called in a week ago to do Plan B. I said I wanted standby upgrade; agent said no such thing. I then search article for exact words (business waitlist) and agent said sure thing and I was put on I list and miles deducted. Flight is now two weeks out and no coach seats available for sale. Economy Plus and BusinessFirst is available for sale. (seat map shows each about half full). I am presuming it will go to airport standby.

@mmt: Did not clear BusinessFirst overwater, did clear domestic first. Did the web callback and they couldn’t redeposit the waitlist miles. I called Milage PLus and after disjointed conversation with neither of us understanding each other’s language the refund for missed upgrade were back in my account. I spent about an hour and a half total with both the webcallback and MP agents to get the redeposit.

@Dan: hi Dan. Any way to get Plan B to work with regular economy (non-saver) ?

Hi DAN
I just set up a united plan b ticket from MEL to LAX.
The confirmation page shows “I class requested”.Is there any way to get them to change it to “IN” (I am a chase card holder)

Re: United Plan B: Pretty Much The Most Awesome, Underutilized, And Underappreciated Thing Ever.

Is it still working?

Hi Dan – thanks for all..
about this plan b .. is it a difference if you bonk it as a plain memeber or being a primer memeber ??

Thanks, Dan!
Can I do it after I purchased a regular saver award economy ticket?
I don’t want to just cancel the ticket and start from fresh because this ticket is available now only for 25k and I got it for 12.5k

Thanks @Dan!
This still works! My ticket was just changed to “I class requested”
Not just this, I did it after 24 hours of buying the ticket. I figured let me give it a shot, what do I got to loose, after playing 5 times HUCA and being on hold for an hour they finally did it! Let’s hope I’ll be cleared…

Hey Dan,

Thanks for all your help in general and congratulations on the new website.

The “callback line” link in the article is broken, just thought I’d let you know.

Cheers,

Due you still get PR-1 status in the airport?
I heard saying that not.
the web support callback link does not work.

do i need to have the MPE card to have this happen? Or can I do the Plan B without it?

i just tried this from ewr to tlv with no luck. tried about 10 agents in and out of the lounge who all said they could not give PR-1. When I finally found 1 agent willing to do it, her supervisor walked in while she was in process and stopped her. I am waitlisted from TLV to EWR on the way back, but with only 2 seats for sale, not sure I’ll clear. has anyone had an agent successfully get them PR-1 in TLV without status?

Dan anyway to get pushed to the top of the list if no ststus on a paid ticket, flight is sunday and im using a premier global upgrade

The callback link no longer works. The message comes back as:

accountid=20010417 and/or template=1178 are invalid or disabled

I was able to use this trick Saturday (July 21st 2018) and already got confirmation in less than 48 hours about upgrade from Biz to First class using saver miles.

Hi Dan,
I’m going to TLV from ORD July 25, 2018 to Aug 3 2018. I am a United silver Premium, Chase Explorer with 350,000miles. When I just tried to book. The agent told me a biz class ticket is 180K one way. Should I wait to see if saver mileage tickets come avail? It seems silly to have all those miles and not use them for this ticket- esp when I’d love to fly biz class. Or do you think saver will not become avail at any time for Isreal?

Hi Dan,

Just want to thank you for all of the valuable information you post. I just got upgraded by using Plan B a bit less than three weeks prior to flying. I hold no status and there is no saver awards for the lower tier people, so without Plan B I’m not sure I would have ever been able to lock in the ticket at the lower fare.

Much appreciated.

If you payed for a lap child and then call in to switch your ticket to plan b if u get upgraded will you be charged the difference in the lap child fare?

@Dan
Do I need to be checked in before trying to get the PR-1 status?

Can a rep over the phone change the status or only an agent at the airport?

is there a new link for callback line?

I am familiar with United Mixed Cabin policy – is it the same policy for an ANA flight booked with united miles? JFK – SYD (with a stopover)

Will plan B only work for flights operated by United or other airlines that are bookable through United too?
The agent I spoke to understood what I wanted but told me they can only do it on u items flights, I was trying to to it on a LOT Polish airlines flight that I booked with United awards.

thanks dan can you advise maybe if all the info are still correct like fare for coach. to how they will clear me seat even that business not available and purchased coach for 42k

I’m trying now to book Plan B tickets but the Web support callback link does not work for me..

Is there a new link? Or is there another way to get them to call me?

Hi Dan,

is there any post about plan B since 2014, how about an update if it still works.

thanks much

Baruch

Worked at first shot with the 1K Line, hoping to get the PR-1 status at the airport

Does this work only to Israel? Can I use this from Chicago to Hawaii?

does this still work?

Not seeing any reports that this is dead, and the language allowing it is still on united’s website. My question is, how does the phone agent determine the correct amount of miles to deduct for Business if pricing is dynamic?

I was informed that CORE is no longer in existence. They now use Wingtips.

does this work

Does Plan B still work as described in the post?

plan b bookings really come before global services or one k members who are on a waitlist applying their plus points??and if you can one day divulge to the oilam plan c

able to do plan B if booking united flight using turkish miles?

Parenthetically, when trying to get a gate pass to access a club as a United Club cardholder when I’m not flying I sometimes need to tell an agent to look up “gg checkpoint line 53″ which instructs agents to give you a security pass for you and your guests to access post-security United and USAirways clubs even if you aren’t flying.)

when does this come in use?

Dan,

I just tried doing this Plan B on a flight to Israel. I have done it in the past to other countries.

United agent claimed this program was not available anymore; he wanted to charge me 42,500 miles and told me I can submit an upgrade afterward. I told him he was wrong and used your words from this article. He eventually transferred me to a “specialist” who repeatedly insisted in fluent American English that she was familiar with this program, but this program is no longer available and that I would need to wait for a business class saver award to become available.

I called back again with the same result.

Perhaps you found an agent who made a mistake and issued the Plan B award?

I am trying to do this now, 2 agents are saying this is no longer doable as they couldn’t refund the miles…

Does this still work? I did this several years ago and it worked great but I haven’t done it since UA got rid of the award charts.

just was on phone with united for 45 min. they said they havent used core since 2018. i said i saw someone as of april saying they were able to do this they asked for the confirmation receipt to see how they were able to book saver award for business because all she saw was for 200 k because trying to book for week of thanksgiving.

Dan, I have spoken to multiple supervisors, by chat, phone, twitter, and they have all said that this was available until June of this year and that it is no longer possible