I Still Suffer From Upgrade Phobia...

Unless I buy a business class ticket, every United flight is a careful cost/benefit analysis. Do I take the gamble for a complimentary space-available upgrade or do I just apply an upgrade instrument (miles or a regional/global premier upgrade)? It is a careful balancing act because 1.) I don’t have an unlimited supply of upgrades, but 2.) I don’t want to sit in economy class.

In 2010, I wrote a post entitled Do You Suffer from Upgrade Phobia?

I’ve got a bad condition. I call it upgrade phobia. While I don’t fear upgrades themselves, I fear missing them and I stress out over them even when I know I’ll probably get the upgrade in the end. While I hate sweating out something as inconsequential as an upgrade, I do. I lose sleep when I see myself on the waitlist and find myself checking the status of my upgrade on my phone or computer every hour, like a crack addict needing a fix. At this stage in my flying career, I have not reached the point where I don’t care either way if I get the upgrade or not. I’m still enamored by the plush seat, higher service levels, and a meal.

And sadly, nearly 10 years later, nothing has changed.

I have a 5.5 hour United flight today. It’s a route that I have cleared 100% of the time in past years and a route that was wide open in business class until even yesterday. But my upgrade did not clear and the cabin is now full. My only hope, as I set atop the upgrade waitlist, is for cancellations or no-shows.

Oh how I wish this did not matter to me. I have an exit row seat with more legroom than first class. As a 1K, meals are complimentary and the United hamburger is often better than either first class meal choice. This is not an overnight flight, either. Nor are there lie-flat seats in business class.

Over and over again, I’m refreshing my flight status on the United app to see if someone cancelled or if I can do a confirmed same-day-change onto another flight that may have upgrade space. My productivity will be compromised today. I need to get over this or just start buying business class tickets outright. I’m tired of the upgrade game. 10 years later, I’m still tired of it. I still suffer from upgrade phobia.

Do you suffer from upgrade phobia?

Source: Boardingarea.com

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Phobia • Cost–benefit analysis • Economy class • Phobia • Phobia • Crack cocaine • Nothing Has Changed • Business class • Exit row • First class travel • Hamburger • First class travel • Airline seat • Business class • Phobia • Phobia •