A tool to find upgrade availability on United Airlines. Includes web front-end implementation.
The main component is a node.js script that goes through the United.com search process.
Follow these steps to get started:
- Install Node.js v7.6.0 or greater
- Download this repository
- Extract the zip file
- Open up a command shell and switch to the extracted directory
- Install node dependencies by typing
npm install
Run the tool with:
node united.js ORIGIN DESTINATION START END
Example
node united.js SFO TPE 5/18/2018 5/20/2018
The relevant sections of the FAQ in 2014/www/templates/index.html are copied here.
The best way to put together a successful upgrade plan for a round trip ticket is to be flexible on your dates. By searching both directions separately, you can pick which dates in each direction are most convenient for you to travel. Then you can combine the results for the final ticket that you intend to book.
Airlines are funny companies. The "fare classes" available determines whether there's an upgrade or not. This changes by time of day, day of week, how many other customers are booked in for the flight, number of days until the flight, and probably the phase of the moon. The best days to look for upgrades are in the middle of the week when fewer people are buying airline tickets.
Keep in mind that upgrades are rarely available for peak travel periods, such as summer school vacation, unless booked exactly one year in advance.
United Premier 1K members, Global Services, anyone holding an upgrade certificate (Global Premier Upgrade or Regional Upgrade), or anyone that wants to use miles and cash to upgrade can find flights and dates that have immediate upgrade availability. If you book a flight with immediate upgrade availability, the agent on the phone can confirm you in the next class of service immediately after booking. You can also book online and choose to the flights that have a green "instant upgrade" arrow (be sure to use Advanced Search and select the upgrade option you want).
This tool searches for one-way availability between the two specified airports. It looks at every date, and determines whether immediately upgradable seats are available. You should put your outbound flight in a one query, and then your potential return flight (and date range) as another. When you find both outbound and return flights with upgrade availability, then go to united.com and search with those specific dates.