UDU on SFO/LAX-HNL?

Hey guys,
How's UDU on the 767/737 to/from HNL? Is it pretty easy as a 1K, or is this still CR1 territory?

Afternoon to HNL and redeye back, if it makes a difference.

Not easy... I would suggest burning an RPU/CR1. LAX-HNL was one of few UGs that I failed to clear last year, even with a CR1 backing the request. Leaving it up to CPU/UDU is not how I would do it...

My experience is just the contrary, so YMMV. Given the new priority systems for upgrades, I can see why this may have changed. If a Premier Silver with miles goes ahead of a 1K on UDU, then I'd guess First would have alot of Silvers in it under the new system.

I seem to be doing pretty well on the SFO-KOA route, but that was prior to the new priority sequence...

I think that it means that one should rely even less on CPU/UDU than before... In fact, I do not think that the upgrade order of priority has really changed that much either.

It was always true that requesting upgrades with miles was better than UDU because such UGs could clear before the UDU window opened. So, it was always possible for a Silver with miles to get upgraded before a 1K who is relying on UDU.

But inside the window the order has changed for legacy UA customers. UA used to consider status above all else inside the window. Now that is not how things go. So if it gets down to inside the CPU window things will behave differently versus the old UA experience.

Agreed that inside the CPU window things have changed. I am simply advocating a strategy of relying on UG instruments that can clear as early as at booking, but definitely before the CPU window...assuming that everyone is like me and books trips months ahead of time and not after the CPU window has opened.

In January, I was UDU'd both to & from HNL (MLK w/end), so YMMV!

This is my point. In 2010, I was working in HNL and regularly flew LAX/SFO-HNL and back. Only once missed a UDU, and that was because I went standby. Often, standby would clear directly into F.

If the route is more difficult now, it is because instrumented upgrades are getting the priority inside the UG window...

It seems that you should be better positioned to assess the degree of the difficulty for clearing upgrades if you flew the route regularly. I went to HI twice last year. First time was in April when I failed to clear the outbound LAX->HNL (but correctly hit the "Time to Half-way to Hawaii Game"!). The second time was to KOA in NOV, which cleared both ways. I think that it will be tough to clear CPUs with the new changes within the CPU window. That is why I feel like booking early and putting down a UG instrument may be the way to go...

We should also keep in mind that the travel season may be a factor when it comes to trips to HI...

I would say your chances are pretty good. I haven't missed a SFO/LAX-OGG UDU since they made them free and the few times I had to connect to Maui via HNL, I have always done well as a 1P- I think I cleared all of those flights as well. I usually travel to/from the islands 5 times per year (off peak) and out of those trips one is usually via HNL.

Like I mentioned when we spoke separately on the 4 r/ts I had from SFO-HNL in January and February, all cleared under UDU. But that was before the 3/3 changes. I know 1Ks travelling this weekend and will report back on their experience.

And congrats on the iPad win unavaca. At least you can enjoy entertainment of your own choosing if you do get stuck in the back.

Thanks for all the feedback, ladies and gentlemen. I think I'll play my UDU card and hope that the merger + CO equipment don't hurt my chances too badly.

OK..SOMEONE needs to post the formula for Halfway to Hawaii...drives me nuts.

Physics 101. Here we go...

Let D be the distance traveled in time "t", V be the plane cruising speed, and +/-w be the wind velocity (can be positive or negative depending on whether it is tail to front or front to tail, respectively). The distance the plane will travel after a time t at speed V, against or with a wind velocity of w will be:

Code:

D = V*t + w*t = t * (V+w)  with the wind
or
D = V*t - w*t = t * (V-w)    against the wind

The pilot will give you the distance (D) between LAX/SFO and HNL, the plane cruising speed (V), the wind velocity and direction (+/-w) and the exact clock time (T) when the plane left LAX or SFO.

Code:

In the case of tail wind, with D/2 being halfway distance to HNL, you get
 
D/2 = t * (V+w)
 
or wind in the opposite direction:
 
D/2 = t * (V-w)

Now all that remains is for you to solve either equation for for "t" **

Code:

t = D/[2*(V+w)]  with the wind
t = D/[2*(V-w)]  against the wind

and then convert "t" to clock time (T") and add it to the departure time (T) (for example if t = 1.25 hr then the equivalent "clock time" is 1hr:15min, which is then added to departure time)**

Code:

Halfway time to HNL = T+T"

That will get you very very close but you may need to make an educated guess about small adjustments to make, e.g., if you think of something that might have slowed and sped up things a bit (this assumes you were paying attention).

I hit the Halfway time to HNL from LAX within 2 seconds last April!


** Edited for clarity

OK... Mahalo! Gonna use this on my next crossing in about two weeks. I'll let you know!!!

An update on this thread. Momma flyer who is a Gold just cleared a UDU KOA-LAX.

I've cleared 100% so far

Now, use my formula above to win the Half-way to HNL game 100% of the time...

I used it today and it worked like a charm! In the 20 years I've been commuting back and forth SFO-HNL I've won about 5 times. Today using this formula for the first time I won for the 6th time! Thanks for the Physics lesson.

Now the real proof will be if I hit it on all of my 3 trips next month.

Congrats and thank you for reporting back because, while Physics works, until someone had tried the formula and won the Game, it was just, well, a formula!

As for the real proof coming if you hit it on your next 3 trips, no sweat. You will hit it every time unless now that the dirty little secret is out, the competition gets stiff...I had never played the Game before. Then last April, I thought it would be kind of fun. So, I pulled a copy of Hemisphere and wrote down the data from the pilot, and then I derived the formula in the pages of Hemisphere, used it and hit it smack on the nose ... the first try...

With so many SFO-HNL trips, beware that you are going to win the Game so many times that it will be named after you and they will create a hall of fame for it in which you will be the first inductee...along with my copy of Hemisphere!

Bravo!

The surprising part, to me initially, was that we landed 30 minutes early. Then it occurred to me--well of course, we would have to according to the formula!

I have to admit it was fun solving for t.

UDU upgrades are pretty common (like all but one I have ever flown) for me as a 1K. The key exception is any BF flights (pmCO). Althought I have been given UDU upgrades of these flights too, the new system still doesn't seem to follow the UDU procedure for those flights even though they are to/ from CA which should be UDU upgrades. All my upgrades on those flights have been at the last minute even if I used a CR-1.

I was coming home from MR this past Sat. I was ready to access the formula to try and realized I had but the document in my Drop Box and couldn't access it without wifi...

Okay, I don't want to call shenanigans yet, but I'm a few days out and the list is showing 12 cleared with 16 out of 20 booked. I'm a 1K on a K fare. Are there really that many 1Ks out there that booked a higher fare to Hawaii?

Might have had a lot of people use instruments to upgrade?

Holy crap, I'm actually going to miss this UDU. 19/20 booked with 2 days to go... and the number of people on the cleared upgrade list has NOT changed.

There was R1 space at 4 days out... I should have used a CR1. WTF.