International Upgrades - the pecking order

[medhead]

(2) They will then work through the platinums in fare bucket order, then Golds in fare bucket order, then silvers down the fare buckets , then bronzes down the fare buckets, then non QFF members down the fare buckets.

This is probably a dumb question so please excuse my ignorance in advance.

How can non QFF members get a points upgrade? Do you mean members of other OW FFP? If so, why wouldn't they be treated according to their OW status. I.e. WP and OW emerald being considered before SG and OW Sapphire. Wouldn't other OW airlines be annoyed if QF was treating NB better than Emeralds from the other airline?

Or perhaps you mean a QF FF upgrading a non- FF family member.

 

[v8Statesman]

A family member has put in a points request for them.

 

[MelUser]

I mean a person who is not a QFF member and who has a request put in for them by a QFF (family) member. The person may not be part of any frequent flyer program or may, as is more commonly the case, be collecting the frequent flyer points to the American Airlines or other one world program.

This is the official line however please note the various comments posted on this site that anecdotally the status of the QFF account from which the points are coming influences the outcome (However, this is contrary to what QF says).

 

[serfty]

... I.e. WP and OW emerald being considered before SG and OW Sapphire. ...

Since you can only upgrade using QFF points on QF marketed flight numbers, I do not think oneworld status from another airline can realistically come into it.

 

[medhead]

Thanks all for correcting my ignorance.

 

[Kceips]

Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London.?

Hi, I have just requested upgrades from Econ(L) to Business on Adl-sin Qf 81 and sin-Lhr Qf 9 for flights in 90 days. We are all bronze ff and the adults both qantas club members. I'm guessing chances of 5 upgrades on these flights is about zero?- just interested to know if anyone has had success with this sort of request in the past?

 

[KitKat]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

Probability is very low for 5... AFAIK they upgrade the whole group in the booking... this makes the probability low
Anyway, can only try... good luck

 

[Kceips]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

Thanks. We will get all 5 of us to cross fingers!!
... And hope for a miracle.

 

[richie9x]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

90 days from now would make it just before Christmas and the beginning of the school holidays. Which means lots of economy travelers and fewer business travelers. You have more change of getting an upgrade then than any other time of the year. good luck.

 

[Kceips]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

Flights on Tues 20th Dec.
Thanks for a positive comment!

 

[thewinchester]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

As a QPNB or NB , it's not worth asking this question until between 3-7 days from departure as availability will change with demand.

Also as noted by other posters, considering this is during peak travel season the chances will be even slim.

Here's the fare bucket availability output:

[KVS Availability Tool 6.4.0/Diamond - Sabre: Availability/FS/US]

ADL  Adelaide SA AU [YPAD]
SIN  Singapore Changi SG [WSSS]
TUE  20 Dec 2011

Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive    A/C  St  Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  --------------------------------------------------------------
QF         81      ADL   15:00     SIN   19:35     333      J9 C9 D9 I9 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G0 X0 E0
AF/QF      8087    ADL   15:00     SIN   19:35     333      J4 C9 D9 I9 Z9 Y9 B9 M9 U9 K9 H9 T0 V0 L0 Q0 N0 R0

On QF, all Business (J) fare buckets apart from U are showing 9+ availability. However, there is an AF codeshare operating on that flight. On the AF codeshare, only 4 J seats are available, with all other Business buckets at 9+.

Also worth noting that pretty much all of the low end Economy fare bucket inventory on this flight are sold out.

 

[Boeta]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

Thanks. We will get all 5 of us to cross fingers!!
... And hope for a miracle.

I'm in the same situation as you Spieck, QF NB + Qantas Club. I was able to get an economy(O) to business upgrade on QF9 about 3 weeks ago. I firmly believe my good fortune was due to the fact that the QF9 on that occasion was a 747 as opposed to the 380. I may be wrong but the 380 seems to have a much more popular J cabin.

What are the aircraft operating your chosen flights?

 

[SighMN]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

I don't fly Qantas (sorry!), but does the booking class affect upgrade priority? I know other airlines would upgrade based on status first, and then look at the booking class next and then fare paid to order their upgrades.

That's why if I want to upgrade I always try to purchase the most reasonable but highest booking class I can.

 

[serfty]

I don't fly Qantas (sorry!), but does the booking class affect upgrade priority? I know other airlines would upgrade based on status first, and then look at the booking class next and then fare paid to order their upgrades.

That's why if I want to upgrade I always try to purchase the most reasonable but highest booking class I can.

As published, QFF status is the main determinant.

Beyond that, a year or three ago, collective forum assessments indicated booking class may have indeed been a tiebreaker once the status was taken into account.

These days, it is quite possible that a PAX's rating ("PCV") is being used.

 

[Kceips]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

I'm in the same situation as you Spieck, QF NB + Qantas Club. I was able to get an economy(O) to business upgrade on QF9 about 3 weeks ago. I firmly believe my good fortune was due to the fact that the QF9 on that occasion was a 747 as opposed to the 380. I may be wrong but the 380 seems to have a much more popular J cabin.

What are the aircraft operating your chosen flights?

These flights are A330 and A380 - so upgrade on 2nd leg even more unlikely. It is good to hear some anecdotal evidence that occasionally upgrade requests comes through for QF NB and qantas club.

 

[scaredeycat]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

I know other airlines would upgrade based on status first, and then look at the booking class next and then fare paid to order their upgrades.an.

So when a family travels, does the likelihood of an upgrade depend on their collective status, or just the status of the highest ranked passenger (eg, do 1WP + 3NB trump 4SG, or vice-versa)?

 

[serfty]

So when a family travels, does the likelihood of an upgrade depend on their collective status, or just the status of the highest ranked passenger (eg, do 1WP + 3NB trump 4SG, or vice-versa)?

Anecdotal evidence indicates it may be the status of the member who is sourcing the QFF points for the upgrade, how Qantas T&C's indicate PAS status (highest rank).

 

[Kceips]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

As published, QFF status is the main determinant.

Beyond that, a year or three ago, collective forum assessments indicated booking class may have indeed been a tiebreaker once the status was taken into account.

These days, it is quite possible that a PAX's rating ("PCV") is being used.

Clutching at straws here. Will PCV take into account my husband's recent change in flying pattern - over last couple of months has been flying on domestic full economy flight 2x month and should elevate to silver before our international flight in Dec. He is also on some qantas feedback program whereby he has to answer questionnaire for Qantas every time he flies and he is getting extra status credits ( he thinks) for doing this?? Several years ago he was gold on his status so does PCV take into account previous loyalty?

 

[serfty]

Lot's of full economy flying on QF flight number should elevate a PCV.

Irrespective of that, the pecking order is CL before WP before SG before PS before NB before others with the PCV only being a tiebreaker within those levels.¹


¹ If PCV is indeed used; going back at least three years it was likely booking class was the determinant. http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rades-the-pecking-order-14811.html#post194270

 

[Kceips]

Re: Any chance of upgrade for family of 5. Adelaide- Singapore and Singapore - London

Thanks! Have booked our seat allocation so at least towards front of economy.