United Business/First Upgrades Now Require Co-Pay

Effective today, United rolls out its co-pay system for upgrade requests. Basically, buy a ticket it coach class, then use miles and cash to upgrade to the next level of service. The amount of miles and cash requires depends on the booking class (price) of your original coach ticket and where you are flying to.

One benefit to this change: Previously, if you bought a cheap United ticket you were unable to upgrade international flights. Now you can - for the right amount of money and miles. One drawback to this change: Many higher priced economy tickets which previously could be upgraded with miles alone now require a cash co-pay as well. Here are the specifics.