I Got My First Battlefield Upgrade On United! The Reverse Walk Of Shame

Intro

A week ago today, I was flying from John Wayne to Providence, through San Francisco and Washington DC, when United took my battlefield upgrade virginity. What was supposed to be a dreaded 5-hour flight in economy quickly turned into a very pleasant sleep up in First Class on the domestic workhorse.

What Happened

Traveling from Southern California to Providence, Rhode Island, is a bit of a pain. From John Wayne, it is a minimum of two flights, and seeing as I need more PQP for 1K (insert Gollum voice: my precious), I decided to take the following routing for 236$:

John Wayne-San Francisco (A319)

San Francisco-Chicago (757-300)

Chicago-Providence (CRJ550)

Well, 36 hours before departure, United sent me a message that they had upgraded me from John Wayne to San Francisco. I mean, great, I will take any upgrade I can get, but it is only an hour-long flight when I really want the big fish (I sound greedy, I know, ha).

It was a very pleasant flight, actually. A couple of Stella's and Tate's cookies.

With that short hop done and dusted, I headed off to the Maple Leaf Lounge for a couple of hours to relax on the patio and watch the sunset. If you have Star Alliance Gold, make sure to head to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge while at SFO, it is far nicer than the Clubs...

I love this lounge, it's superb and usually empty...

As I was sipping a very cheeky glass of champagne in the lounge, I checked the United app to see if I had any shot at clearing the upgrade list. It wasn't looking good, I was number 5 in line, with 21/24 seats booked, and on a route like San Francisco to Chicago, the odds are already stacked against you on a T fare...

Heading out from the Air Canada Lounge over to our gate for today, I was a little gutted. Not becasue it is much more comfortable in First, but it's always quite cool to get a CPU at the last-minute. Ehhh, is what it is, it is a redeye and I can sleep well in economy plus anyway...

Nice space here, and United even offered blankets in economy...

As boarding ticked by, I kept noticing that quite a few people hadn't turned left to the Domestic First cabin (it's easy to see due to turning right versus left on the 753).

10:30

10:40

10:50

When it got to 10:50 pm, I knew that I might actually have a shot at potentially clearing an upgrade. Boarding was set to close in 10 minutes, and I had seen there were at least 3 empty seats still up there.

Sure enough, 11:00 pm rolls around, and an agent comes to the door with 3 boarding passes in her hand. Oh my, could this be the day (I thought)? Could United take my battlefield upgrade virginity??? 😅

She first goes to someone in 8A, saying, "This is your new boarding pass".

She continues down the aisle, turns to 10A, looks at me, looks back at the seat number, and says "your name please". I said, "Konrad Tillman", and she said, "Are you in the right seat?" 😂

I don't blame her, as I am a 23-year-old man who really looks like I am bout 5 due to having a baby face 😂.

"Here is your new boarding pass, you have been upgraded".

Feeling slightly awkward, I made my way out of my seat, grabbed my stuff from the overhead bin, and settled into seat 5A for this 5-hour run over to Washington. It was the reverse walk of shame, it felt very weird in some ways 🥴.

Woooohoooo!

All that to say, I slept the entire way, missing both meals, drinks service, and everything about the seat 😂. And to think they had a steak ordered for me (previous seatmate). Lowkey, wasted an upgrade on me

I do quite like the 757-300, it's such a pleasure to fly. This was my first time on one, ever!

Now here is where it gets funny. After landing in Washington, I found myself at number 6 on the upgrade list to Providence. I can clear and upgrade hub to hub, but not to Providence 😂.

Final Thoughts

For the first time in my 6 months of being United 1K, I have received my first "battlefield" upgrade to Domestic First. You know what they say, "you never forget your first time," and I don't think I ever will 😂. What's the moral of the story here? Even when something looks unlikely, it is still possible...