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Systemwide upgrades
| Earning Systemwide Upgrades |
| Mileage Plus 1K® members receive six Systemwide Upgrades per elite qualification year. Systemwide Upgrades are automatically deposited into each member’s upgrades bank upon January 1, following the calendar qualifcation year, Members can earn additional upgrades if they earn beyond 150,000 EQM or EQS within a calendar year. |
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| Using Systemwide Upgrades on Lufthansa |
You can use your Systemwide Upgrades on Lufthansa on a standby basis by converting your banked upgrades to paper certificates.
Details |
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| Systemwide Upgrade quick reference guide |
| Upgrade availability |
Upgrade seats are dependent upon demand for paid premium fares and may not always be available. In general, many first or business class bookings do not occur until a week or two before departure, so upgrade seats may not be available until closer to your flight date. Upgrades may only be requested once your ticket has been issued. |
| Upgrade clearance times and waitlists |
Upgrades are processed according to your Mileage Plus status.
Upgrades will be confirmed if seats are available at time of request, otherwise, you will be placed on a waitlist. You can check the status of your request in My Itineraries.
If upgrade space becomes available, requests will be prioritized by Mileage Plus status, original booking class purchased, and by time of request in a tiebreaker situation. |
| How to earn |
1K members receive six Systemwide Upgrades per elite qualification year. Upgrades are automatically deposited into each member's upgrades bank on January 1, following the calendar qualification year.
Additional upgrades can be earned as follows:
Two Systemwide Upgrades will be awarded for every 50,000 EQM earned above 100,000 EQM or for every 50 EQS earned above 100 EQS with no maximum. |
| Expiration dates |
Systemwide Upgrades expire on the last day of the calendar month, 12 months after deposit into your upgrades bank. Flights upgraded using a Systemwide Upgrade must be flown on/before the expiration date of the upgrade. |
| Valid carrier |
Flights marketed and operated by United, United Express and Lufthansa.
Upgrades on Lufthansa are on standby basis only and may only be requested through Mileage Plus Customer Service. See Obtaining Paper Certificates for Systemwide Upgrades on Lufthansa section for details.
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 |
• Region 1 (North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Central America)
• Region 2 (all other United destinations) |
| Upgrades required |
• One Systemwide Upgrade may be used to upgrade one passenger on a
nonstop or connecting itinerary, up to the point of stopover.
• Additional upgrades are required for itineraries with stopovers.
• An itinerary with a connection of 12 hours or more is considered a stopover
and will require additional upgrades
• If Systemwide Upgrade is used or confirmed on only a portion of a multiple
segment connecting itinerary, one upgrade will still be required and no refund of
the upgrade is permitted. |
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 |
Within Region 1:
• United Business (C,D,J)
• United Economy (Y,B,M,E,H,U,Q,V,W,S,T,K,L)
Within Region 2 or between Region 1 and Region 2:
• United Business (C,D,J)
• United Economy (Y,B,M,E,H,U,Q,V,W) |
| 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)
* Double upgrades from United Economy to United First are not permitted when traveling on 3-cabin aircraft |
| Non-upgradeable booking classes and tickets |
Within Region 1:
• United Business (Z)
• United Economy (G)
Within Region 2 or between Region 1 and Region 2:
• United Business (Z)
• United Economy (S, T, L, K, 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. |
Sponsoring upgrade for another traveler/
transferability |
Systemwide Upgrades are transferable to another traveler either traveling together with the sponsor, or separately.
Visit Sponsor Upgrade and log-in using your Mileage Plus number or e-mail address. Enter the traveler’s last name and six-character record locator or confirmation code. |
| Mileage accrual |
Miles earned will be based on the originally ticketed class of service, not the upgraded class of service. |
Terms and Conditions for Systemwide Upgrades
| Obtaining Paper Certificates for Systemwide Upgrades on Lufthansa |
Systemwide Upgrades can be used to upgrade Lufthansa-operated flights when booked in select booking classes, on a standby basis only. Each upgrade may be used to upgrade one segment. A Systemwide Upgrade must be converted to a paper certificate before your request can be processed.
Upgrades on Lufthansa may not be confirmed in advance and are on standby basis only. You must present the paper certificate when checking in for your Lufthansa flight. Paper certificates may not be used on the following booking classes: X/I/R/N/E/S/W systemwide.Note that booking classes L and T are also not valid for upgrades when flying within Europe.
To request a paper certificate, call the Mileage Plus Service Center at 1-800-421-4655. Upgrade(s) will be deducted from your upgrades bank and a paper certificate will be mailed to you at the address listed in your Mileage Plus account profile.
Please allow additional time for processing and mailing of your paper upgrade certificate:
• Within 48 contiguous United States: 7-10 business days
• Hawaii, Alaska and international locations: 15 business days.
If you are requesting paper upgrade certificates for travel within 10 days, expedited delivery via FedEx is available for a $25 service fee. This fee is waived for Global ServicesSM and 1K members.
If you choose expedited delivery, please allow for the following delivery times to ensure you receive your certificates before you travel:
• Within 48 contiguous United States: 2 business days
• Hawaii, Alaska and international locations: 3 business days
• International locations: 10 business days |
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