United Confuses Elites With New Upgrade Fare Classes
Casual flyers are well acquainted with the standard single-character Roman alphabet — A, B, C and so on. United loyalists, on the other hand, are almost as familiar with obscure pairings — XN (elite and credit cardholder saver awards), IN (elite business saver awards) and PN (instant and Global Services upgrades). As of Monday, those road warriors now have yet another combo to commit to memory: PZ.
So what the heck is PZ? It's the new "R" class — that is, the fare class assigned to confirmed upgrades for general members and United elites (up to Premier 1K). I logged into my existing booking for United's new 787-10 Dreamliner, and saw that it's already been moved from R to PZ:
Another booking I have on the same aircraft had PN availability, for Global Services, but no R space, for this lowly Premier 1K. I asked a friend to upgrade me, and that flight is still showing PN — United hasn't made any changes to that particular fare class.
So what does it all mean for you? Well, nothing's changed if you have an upgrade that's already confirmed — other than the assigned fare class, that is. Upgraded flights have already been moved from R inventory to PZ, and there's nothing you need to do to ensure you still travel in business or first.
If you're still waiting for an upgrade to clear, ensure that PZ is now appearing on the waitlisted segment, rather than R. If you still see R, you might want to give United reservations a ring at 1 (800) 864-8331 just to make sure you're good to go. Meanwhile, if you're using Expert Mode to search for flights that'll clear into a premium cabin right away, PZ is the fare class you're after now.
United has confirmed that inventory has not been adjusted, so you should be seeing just as much (or little) availability as before. This change simply reflects a fare-class shuffle following the end of international first class, now that the airline's 3-cabin 777-200s are undergoing a retrofit, and losing Polaris first in the process.
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| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
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Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month