Here’s a trick that can save you a lot of miles, but it also requires a bit of effort.
In this post:
United MileagePlus lets you waitlist awards
Airline award space is heavily capacity controlled, but there’s a trick that can sometimes help you get around that — specifically, waitlisting awards. It’s probably easiest to explain this concept in the form of an example.
I was looking at booking a specific United flight from Frankfurt to Denver in the coming weeks:
- There was saver level economy award space at the cost of 30,000 miles one-way
- There was no saver level business class award space (which would ordinarily cost 60,000 miles one-way more than 30 days in advance), but rather there was only “everyday” award space, at the cost of 155,000 miles one-way
The thing is, transatlantic flights are so empty nowadays due to travel restrictions, and I suspect the flight will have maybe a few dozen passengers on it.
I noticed, however, that United wasn’t making any saver level business class award seats available between Frankfurt and Denver, even in the days leading up to flights:
- On the one hand, you’d think United would make award seats available, since these flights are empty
- On the other hand, United probably assumes that demand for transatlantic travel is fairly inelastic at the moment, so the airline at least wants a decent yield for those who are flying
That’s where award waitlisting comes into play. The idea is that:
- You pay the saver level business class award cost now, but only get booked in economy (if there’s award availability)
- You get waitlisted for business class, and as long as a business class seat is available you’ll get it (even if there’s no saver level award space)
That’s right, you’re not subjected to award capacity controls, but rather are limited by the actual capacity of the plane. This is a little known trick that many people aren’t aware of (and for anyone doubting me, you can see references to it on United’s website here).
You can save a lot of miles by waitlisting
When can you waitlist MileagePlus award tickets?
In order to waitlist MileagePlus award seats:
- You need to have a confirmed award booking for travel on United (for example, you confirm a saver economy award, and waitlist for a saver business class award)
- You can waitlist either for the same flight you’re confirmed on, or you can waitlist for a different routing (for example, you could confirm a Frankfurt to Chicago to Denver itinerary on United, and waitlist for a nonstop Frankfurt to Denver itinerary)
- Only award segments on United can be waitlisted, and not award segments on partner airlines
- You need to pay the miles upfront for the award class you’re waitlisting for, and then you’ll be refunded the difference if your waitlist doesn’t clear (in the above case a saver level economy award cost 30,000 miles, but I paid 60,000 miles for the saver level business class award seat, even though it wasn’t available)
Score business class awards at the saver level by waitlisting
When do waitlisted MileagePlus awards clear?
In the event that you waitlist a MileagePlus award, when will it actually clear? Well, it could clear anytime between when you make the booking and your travel date:
- United waitlist requests are reviewed, and they could clear well before departure even if there’s not saver level award space
- On the day of departure you’d be on the waitlist with a high priority for the cabin you “paid” for, and you’d clear as long as a seat is available
What are the downsides to waitlisting MileagePlus awards?
Before I share my (overall) positive experience, let me note the potential downsides here:
- This needs to be done by phone, and most phone agents don’t actually know how to do this
- If you don’t clear your waitlist before the day of departure, some airport agents may not know how to correctly waitlist you on the departure list
- This fundamentally relies on the belief that there will be empty seats in the cabin you want on the day of departure; I feel 99% confident about that on transatlantic flights right now, while I wouldn’t at all feel confident if I were booking a pre-Christmas flight from Newark to Palm Beach or San Francisco to Honolulu, for example
- Right now this is low risk since change fees are waived, but if you’re not happy with the results, you could also find yourself in a situation where you have to pay a redeposit fee to cancel your ticket, or end up in coach
You may end up in economy if a waitlist is unsuccessful
My experience waitlisting a MileagePlus award
I went through the process of trying to waitlist a MileagePlus award from Frankfurt to Denver, confirming economy and then waitlisting for business class. It took three separate interactions with United for this to be done correctly, so here’s how that went:
Attempt #1: economy confirmed, but nothing more
I phoned up United MileagePlus, and explained to the agent what I was trying to do. I don’t find United’s outsourced agents to be particularly well trained, and I could tell this was going to be an issue.
Nonetheless I proceeded with the booking in economy. United has no redeposit fees right now, so there was no downside. The agent claimed the award would be waitlisted, but she was also only deducting the mileage required for economy, when I knew she should be deducting the mileage required for business class.
Oh well, at least I had something to work with.
Attempt #2: business class waitlisted, but not really
United has a texting service for reservations, so I figured I’d give that a try. I hate being on the phone, so at least if I was going to be disappointed again, I wouldn’t have to talk to a human. 😉
So I messaged the following:
I just made a MileagePlus award reservation with the confirmation number XXXXXX, though I think it may not have been done correctly. The flight I’m booked on only has “X” award space as of now, but I was trying to waitlist for “I” award space. Is that something you could help with?
The agent responded:
In order to waitlist for Business I will need to contact a supervisor and they will deduct the additional miles from your account for the waitlist. Is this ok?
The agent confirmed the additional amount would be 30,000 miles (as expected), and after waiting for about 30 minutes, it was confirmed that the reservation was all set.
Okay, clearly we were on the track here, and I saw miles had been pulled, redeposited, etc., so that’s a good sign.
But then I logged into the reservation summary on united.com, and still didn’t see a waitlisted segment.
Attempt #3: Twitter to the rescue
Generally airlines have good customer service on Twitter, so at this point I reached out to United on Twitter via DM:
I just booked a MileagePlus award in “X” class but waitlisted it for “I” class (so I already paid the business class price). Would you be able to confirm it’s waitlisted correctly, because I don’t see the waitlist reflected in the itinerary online?
The representative checked with the reservations team, and about 30 minutes later claimed it was all set. Sure enough, when I logged in online the award now showed business class as being waitlisted.
Wow: business class cleared less than 24 hours later
I was fully expecting that the waitlist would only clear at the airport, since I didn’t think waitlisting awards actually got you any sort of additional award space.
However, to my surprise less than 24 hours later I received an email confirming that the business class waitlist had cleared.
Just to be clear, there were no other award seats available in business class on the flight.
That suggests to me that this really is a way to have a manual review (or some sort of system review) of award space, and then they’ll be cleared on a case-by-case basis.
While it took a bit of effort, confirming a seat for nearly 100,000 miles off less than 24 hours after booking is a pretty great opportunity.
Bottom line
United MileagePlus lets you waitlist awards. This can be a great way to score business class award seats at the saver cost on flights that don’t have reasonably priced awards.
Waitlisting awards takes some effort and also comes with some risk, but as you can see above, there are situations where it works great.
While the process was a bit of a pain, ultimately I was thrilled with the end result, which was a confirmed business class award at the price I wanted to pay on my preferred flight less than 24 hours after booking. Not bad, eh?
Just make sure you understand the nuances and risks of this before trying something similar.
If you’ve ever waitlisted an award ticket, what was your experience like?
As of 5/1/23 this is over and not possible anymore
Not true. I was able to do it via Twitter as of 5/26/23.
Can you please show some proof or explain what you were able to do? Thanks
Today's Twitter DM support team claims that "waitlisting for Premium cabin award is no longer permitted", so they couldn't help me.
Is it possible to waitlist for a flight on a different day? I have a business itinerary but would prefer to leave the day before.
Successful waitlist cleared. Had 2 x Economy Saver (X) booked for SYD - IAH. DM'd via Twitter to get waitlisted into Business Saver (I) on 12/27. They gave me a call to authenticate my account, refunded the Economy miles and took out the Business saver miles. Said they would be refunded if upgrade did not go through. Got a text saying waitlist had cleared on 1/9.
I'm trying to navigate all of this because its new to me. When you say waitlist cleared, does that mean you got the upgrade to business or you were just confirmed as being waitlisted?
When was your trip? And when you cleared the waitlist, do they automatically put you in Polaris seats? Or you have to call in to confirm and select those seats?
Just got myself and a companion waitlisted for business with award points. During second attempt on the phone, I was told that they would be able to help me at the 'web support help desk'. Once I was transferred, I got disconnected. Called back a third time and asked directly for this department. The person there understood what I was trying to do but informed me that their process is different now. Because there are...
Just got myself and a companion waitlisted for business with award points. During second attempt on the phone, I was told that they would be able to help me at the 'web support help desk'. Once I was transferred, I got disconnected. Called back a third time and asked directly for this department. The person there understood what I was trying to do but informed me that their process is different now. Because there are so many requests for waitlists, rather than deduct my points for business fare right away.. only to have to add it back if I don't get it.. they only deducted points for my economy fare. I am currently waitlisted for business on my reservation. If waitlist clears, I would will need to call back and confirm it for them to deduct the additional points. Fingers crossed..
Successfully waitlisted for business saver last night (January 2023) via Twitter DM after two phone agents couldn’t do it (first phone agent had never heard of it, second had heard of it but when she called for assistance to make it happen, she was told it was against the rules now). Twitter is slow but it does work (made the request on Twitter around 3 PM, and the transaction finally went through around 3 AM)....
Successfully waitlisted for business saver last night (January 2023) via Twitter DM after two phone agents couldn’t do it (first phone agent had never heard of it, second had heard of it but when she called for assistance to make it happen, she was told it was against the rules now). Twitter is slow but it does work (made the request on Twitter around 3 PM, and the transaction finally went through around 3 AM). No idea whether I’ll actually get an I ticket but the waitlist is showing online (not in the app).
Based on a few pages like this, I attempted the process. Struck out with two phone agents but it was recommended to try Twitter and success! I've been waitlisted for two seats on the IAD-ATH nonstop since October but my trip isn't until next September so I'm trying to be patient. I booked my award ticket right after the dates opened when there were no Polaris seats booked, so I'm pretty confident there have not...
Based on a few pages like this, I attempted the process. Struck out with two phone agents but it was recommended to try Twitter and success! I've been waitlisted for two seats on the IAD-ATH nonstop since October but my trip isn't until next September so I'm trying to be patient. I booked my award ticket right after the dates opened when there were no Polaris seats booked, so I'm pretty confident there have not been any saver fares made available for this flight yet. I'm hoping I'm first in line and the upgrade will clear on some random day between now and then.
My experience: the United agent on the phone had no idea what I was talking about, nor did the United chat agent. United's social media team on Twitter was the ticket. While it took a few hours of back and forth, they were able to successfully waitlist my ticket, which cleared a week later, for a late March 2023 trip. My back will appreciate the flatness across the Atlantic.
We used cash and miles to waitlist to Polaris on Newark to Rome. It's taken a few calls, and I agree it can be difficult to talk with the third party operators.Our flight is in September. Two weeks ago, I was told we were first in line for short domestic leg and numbers 4&5 for Newark to Rome. Today, when I called to make a change to return trip, I was told we are now...
We used cash and miles to waitlist to Polaris on Newark to Rome. It's taken a few calls, and I agree it can be difficult to talk with the third party operators.Our flight is in September. Two weeks ago, I was told we were first in line for short domestic leg and numbers 4&5 for Newark to Rome. Today, when I called to make a change to return trip, I was told we are now 1&2 in line for the flight. Two questions: Do we have to take the upgrade on the short flight if we don't get Polaris on the long one? And if we are numbers 1&2 do we stay in those spots, or move as more come on the waitlist? Thanks!
I used to do this all the time. However, I’ve had 9 HUCA reps tell me it’s no longer possible with dynamic pricing and pointed me to their FAQ “waitlisting for certain inventory types is not permitted”
Just when I thought I was defeated Twitter agents come through to the rescue. This is still alive and well.
I just attempted this on my own award booking, and my flight is showing waitlisted (like the above screenshot from the article) but Im only seeing the points subtracted for the economy award. Im wondering if I should just wait to see if its a system update delay or call United back? Is there any reason/way this waitlist message shows other than for these waitlisted business class awards?
Not super recent but just want to give a successful datapoint for my from JFK to LAX back in September 2021. Took 4 attempts, the third agent knew about this perks and she not do it correctly; the 4th agent helped me and also informed me that due to dynamic pricing, they would have to calculate the miles needed whenever people try to request I or IN class. I did the waitlist request 1.5 months out from the flight date and was cleared within a week.
Has anyone did recently? I have called and tried to two different call agent. Second agent claimed that it was on the waitlist (but did not take the additional portion to be business) and I cannot check on the on my end. Is this recent change or call agent did not do them correctly?
I just did this today. Like the OP, it took 3 attempts before someone knew what they were doing. The phone agent insisted that she’s been with United a while and it can’t be done. The first Twitter agent also said it couldn’t be done, so I told him thanks and said I’d book elsewhere. THEN, another agent saw the Twitter thread and said he could do it. I pre-booked economy saver awards and gave...
I just did this today. Like the OP, it took 3 attempts before someone knew what they were doing. The phone agent insisted that she’s been with United a while and it can’t be done. The first Twitter agent also said it couldn’t be done, so I told him thanks and said I’d book elsewhere. THEN, another agent saw the Twitter thread and said he could do it. I pre-booked economy saver awards and gave him the confirmation number. He then deducted the additional miles needed for business saver award and put me on the waitlist! It’s a pain but it works!
Recent DP: successfully (I believe?) waitlisted on PVG-SFO for my wife, which could be the most expensive route in the network these days due to extremely limited supply of seats as a result of China's COVID restrictions. Fingers crossed that it will clear!
Took me two calls. The first agent couldn't help me even after some research. The second 1K desk agent initially sounded confused and quoted me the going price (350k), and asked me...
Recent DP: successfully (I believe?) waitlisted on PVG-SFO for my wife, which could be the most expensive route in the network these days due to extremely limited supply of seats as a result of China's COVID restrictions. Fingers crossed that it will clear!
Took me two calls. The first agent couldn't help me even after some research. The second 1K desk agent initially sounded confused and quoted me the going price (350k), and asked me if I want to call back later when I class availabilities open up. But with a bit of explanations of my intention she quickly figured out what I was trying to do, and now the waitlisted segment is showing up in my reservation details (not visible in app though). My only concern is that she didn't deduct miles from my account even after I asked, mentioning "she doesn't know the price yet" - curious if this is a recent process change. Might check again with Twitter to confirm.
In response to several earlier comments, my understanding is that with variable pricing, there might no longer be "saver" and "standard" for economy (despite the remaining distinction of X/XN vs YN/HN), but there certainly still is with business, since even their website shows it this way.
Does it cleared in the end?
I have done this about half a dozen times, with mixed results. Plan on spending at least an hour on the phone if attempting it. It's a great way to diddle away an afternoon. Most reps will have no idea what you're talking about. As noted, it used to read "I class requested." and now it shows up as "waitlisted."
I was unable to find anyone on the phone this go around that ever heard of this. I have booked "Plan B" in the past. It was kind of funny. I had one person say I could only pay cash for the economy fare, then use points to upgrade. I had another say I could pay full boat in business, and another thought I was negotiating a lower points fare and they explained that fares...
I was unable to find anyone on the phone this go around that ever heard of this. I have booked "Plan B" in the past. It was kind of funny. I had one person say I could only pay cash for the economy fare, then use points to upgrade. I had another say I could pay full boat in business, and another thought I was negotiating a lower points fare and they explained that fares were not negotiable. The text route worked great. I got my exercise in between texting and they knew exactly what to do.
Opps - included me personal email in bottom part of text in a 11/4 post on this thread. Please XXX out domain name (as I did with email near top of text) or just delete it as well as this post
Already get too much SPAM
Per United 1K desk this is dead. Email Follows. Is it simply a matter of confirming the coach seat and then calling? Am I missing something or is 1-K desk misinformed.
From: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2020 3:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Does booking coach, paying business miles and being near top of upgrade list still work
Hi Jon,
We no longer have the Saver and Standard award program. To...
Per United 1K desk this is dead. Email Follows. Is it simply a matter of confirming the coach seat and then calling? Am I missing something or is 1-K desk misinformed.
From: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2020 3:54 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Does booking coach, paying business miles and being near top of upgrade list still work
Hi Jon,
We no longer have the Saver and Standard award program. To book an award reservation, each flight is divided into variable award pricing and must be available at the time of booking. No waitlist is allowed.
Our reservation department has the current policy and procedure with regards to Award booking. Please contact our team at 1-800-864-8331, where specialist is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Regards,
Brenda
Customer Care
Case ID: 160445053387575
________________________________________
::: ORIGINAL EMAIL :::
From: [email protected]
Message:
Direct and simple question:
Can I still pay the saver business award rate at time of booking and go on wait list with PR-1 status even though I will only be confirmed for coach at time of booking.
I was told by K-1 phone agent that was discontinued but am reading online it is still permitted.
If the waitlist does not clear before the day of the flight, where do waitlisters stand in priority on the upgrade list compared to those using PlusPoints?
very confusing article is there anyway you can make a video or simplify it somehow? thank you
@JohnSF - I had a similar issue. I booked an award reservation TPE-NRT-ORD-DCA with first two booked in I on SA partners and XN on UA from Chicago to National. When I found out United released business saver award seats, I called UA asking for “upgrade” to I. The agent told me the only way to get I on UA was to rebook the whole itinerary. The problem was there was no longer award seat...
@JohnSF - I had a similar issue. I booked an award reservation TPE-NRT-ORD-DCA with first two booked in I on SA partners and XN on UA from Chicago to National. When I found out United released business saver award seats, I called UA asking for “upgrade” to I. The agent told me the only way to get I on UA was to rebook the whole itinerary. The problem was there was no longer award seat for the first two segments. I just called back an hour ago. This time I got an agent who was willing to take it up to their IT person for a potential get-around. It took a good 30 minutes but at the end she was able to rebook me on UA segment in I while preserving the first two segments of my original booking. I don’t have status with UA. It is really a hit or miss.
Curious how these are prioritized vs others on the waitlist for business?
Forgot to mention in earlier post : you pay the business saver mileage at (phone) booking.
If you do not get upgraded the point difference between saver coach and saver business is supposed to automatically be redeposited. This does not always happen so when I put my flight info into my calendar I always added a note 3 days later that if I did not get upgraded on ______ flight to check my United account for the redeposit .
The real question is why are you routing through DEN? Maybe if you are lucky (well, I guess you are Lucky....) the new Centurion Lounge will be open by then.
I was recently told by a 1-K phone agent that with implementation of variable award pricing that they would no did the wait list for business with confirmed coach award seat.
In past I did it successfully on several occasions.
I had also done it successfully on United SFO to FRA in business connecting with Lufthansa in coach for FRA to LHR as one ticket. Please clarify if United & Partner on same record...
I was recently told by a 1-K phone agent that with implementation of variable award pricing that they would no did the wait list for business with confirmed coach award seat.
In past I did it successfully on several occasions.
I had also done it successfully on United SFO to FRA in business connecting with Lufthansa in coach for FRA to LHR as one ticket. Please clarify if United & Partner on same record is still allowed as article says no partner awards
What used to be key in clearing wait list was making sure your have “PR-1″ status (higher priority on the upgrade list). Most gate agents do not know what that means and have be educated and call their help desk.
I had the same issue today. They said this option is no longer available with variable pricing.
Just FYI, last couple of times I've tried Plan B it's appeared at the bottom of the upgrade list at the airport, so I strongly caution against using it as there is no recourse (other than refund, of course).
In my experience, like you mention, many many United employees call agents and airport staff can't or won't do this. If you don't clear, they generally won't put you on the standby list at the airport, or if they do, it will be at the bottom.
@Peter I always break up 2 Pax into 2 PNR's because UA can let loose with an upgrade seat at a time and it's always easier to get more seat than two (unless you both have different elite status levels as once the PNR is divided, it can not be put back together again..
Hint: It saves work and errors if you book both together and then divide the PNR's so they are identical.
Just successfully waitlisted for SFO-HNL I class. I have PDX-SFO in F and HNL-GUM in I class already but just need the HNL segment... we'll see.
All done over Twitter really quick and easy. I'd known about Plan B for years but never tried it. Thanks for the reminder Ben.
Over the years, I have waitlisted I class numerous times and always cleared eventually. Usually, (before this modification you are speaking of, Lucky), I would book I class on any day available even though I would never fly it, and waitlist I class for the flight/date I wanted. It always cleared and sometimes, I would check and see that a a seat had just popped up on the flight I wanted so I called and...
Over the years, I have waitlisted I class numerous times and always cleared eventually. Usually, (before this modification you are speaking of, Lucky), I would book I class on any day available even though I would never fly it, and waitlist I class for the flight/date I wanted. It always cleared and sometimes, I would check and see that a a seat had just popped up on the flight I wanted so I called and grabbed it. I suppose it doesn't hurt that I am a Lifetime 1K which should in itself increase availability and eliminate change/redeposit fees..
Be aware that this doesn't always work: I did this for an EWR-FRA flight last year, and the day of the flight they still hadn't cleared me despite multiple seats in business class, and they told me I would not get upgraded at that point. (Apparently I wasn't on the waitlist? Or all seats would clear first?) When I asked them to change the flight to a Lufthansa one (with J seats available) they put me on hold and cleared me after a 10 minute hold.
This is a procedure that Continental had before the merger and it survived the move into United. As noted above as 'plan B', the times I called to do it and the rep knew how right off the bat, I would ask if they were formerly with Continental. The answer was 'yes' 100% of the time. I experienced all the other detours and misinformation that Ben did when I was connected to a non-Continental rep
Whats the best way to text United?
Being told NO by United no matter how many times I HUCA. I guess I will create a twitter account and try there!
So, another Plan B tutorial...? At least be open about the real name of this and that it’s been around for years...
Great idea. When I asked United agent on the phone for upgrade possibility with miles on an award ticket, the answer was a firm no and United website also confirmed. However this trick is essentially yielding the same outcome, I love it. Thanks!
Wow! Had no idea this was possible - thank you, Ben!
So what is the easiest path to book this without a HUCA marathon? Book economy award online and then send a DM on Twitter?
This may not work if you have a connecting itinerary that is a mixed class booking. A couple of months ago I had SFO-IAH-LHR booked as a business award (I) IAH-LHR with SFO-IAH in XN. After 4 HUCA's trying to get SFO-IAH waitlisted for "I" class and being told it was not possible because their system could not "price it", I gave up. I was told I could book non-stop economy SFO-LHR in X and...
This may not work if you have a connecting itinerary that is a mixed class booking. A couple of months ago I had SFO-IAH-LHR booked as a business award (I) IAH-LHR with SFO-IAH in XN. After 4 HUCA's trying to get SFO-IAH waitlisted for "I" class and being told it was not possible because their system could not "price it", I gave up. I was told I could book non-stop economy SFO-LHR in X and waitist for I class on that flight but they would make me give up the confirmed IAH-LHR business booking to do it. Pitiful. So it sounds like their current system may only support this on non-stop itins? Fortunately I have since been able to replace the booking with BA F but United left me disgruntled. I have been able to upgrade waitlist United connecting awards in the past so this new restriction is a devaluation.
@dansdeals has been writing about this for a decade, referred to as "Plan B"
This is awesome info Ben! I am a United 1K but had no idea about the waitlisting feature. I have a ton of United miles and the flights I often take have very little space on United metal so this is very helpful. Thank you!
This is really great info. Let's say I needed a domestic leg on UA as well, say AUS-IAH-FRA. If I space was available on AUS-IAH, couldn't I book that segment in I and the other segment in X, then be charged the same 60K, then only waitlist the TATL segment?
@ Jerry -- Yep, that should work as I understand it.
What sort of confidence would you have trying to waitlist on some of the other UA international flights that are operating now? Such as SFO - Papeete?
@ Drew -- United is great about publishing how full flights are through the flight status feature within 24 hours of departure. Personally I'd monitor that to get a sense of loads -- see how many business class seats are empty, how many people are on the waitlist, etc.
Is there a chance only one of you would be confirmed off of the waitlist? Or would they always keep everyone on the reservation together?
@ Peter -- When it's the same PNR, either everyone or no one clears. So there's no risk of being split up.
Awesome info! Thanks Ben! Had no idea this was possible.
This brings back good memories! I remember reading about this trick years ago and it worked for me a couple of times (for the whole family from Sydney to LAX!). I think you can only waitlist by segment (we were in economy from LAX to ORD from memory).
This waitlist also prioritizes you over all other upgrades I believe!
When I used to call in to do it Id have the page of the manual ready for the agent to refer to.
Agents often fight this tooth and nail
Does this need any sort of United status?
Also, does waitlisting count as a "change" if not done at the original booking with a change fee applied post-covid?
@ Noa -- Nope, no status required. I would imagine when change fees are reinstated a change in mileage after ticketing would count as a change, but you could always book economy and then within 24 hours call to "fix" it, since there's at least that grace period.
Super useful , thank you!