Upgrades

[higheden]

I'm sorry if this question is in the wrong discussion forum - I'm still finding my way round this huge site!
Can anyone tell me what the crtieria is for an unasked for QANTAS upgrade?
I have more f/f points and status credits than my spouse and we always buy the 'sale fares' i.e. cheapest possible, unless we're making a sudden unplanned trip.
I've had one QANTAS upgrade (unasked for) when flying on my own but my spouse averages 2 unasked for upgrades for every 3 flights.
Are the ugrades given based on Pax loadings or the good will of check-in staff or what?
I'd really love to know how QANTAS allocate these upgrades.
Many thanks
higheden

 

[JetLagged]

Tiks one of the great mysteries of the universe, higheden. Sounds like your spouse and yourself have had more than enough complimentary upgrades: despite being Platinum for a few years now, I have never been offered an upgrade, and the lounge dragons in Melbourne even curtly refused a points upgrfade on a Red-E ticket.

So, what's the secret of your success?

 

[Lawlass]

Tiks one of the great mysteries of the universe, higheden. Sounds like your spouse and yourself have had more than enough complimentary upgrades: despite being Platinum for a few years now, I have never been offered an upgrade, and the lounge dragons in Melbourne even curtly refused a points upgrfade on a Red-E ticket.

So, what's the secret of your success?

And this is why I'm going to have a go with Virgin for a while. Qantas treat their loyal customers like cough when it comes to upgrades.

 

[higheden]

Tiks one of the great mysteries of the universe, higheden. Sounds like your spouse and yourself have had more than enough complimentary upgrades: despite being Platinum for a few years now, I have never been offered an upgrade, and the lounge dragons in Melbourne even curtly refused a points upgrfade on a Red-E ticket.

So, what's the secret of your success?

I have only been given one upgrade ever, my spouse on the other hand ................
We do a lot of flying for an average household that's not business related and our f/f points are not huge as we use them to cover the costs of some of the flights we have to do. But my spouse does really well which is why I was asking. Most times I fly back to Oz first and my spouse follows a few weeks later so he is travelling alone when he gets them but so am I when I go down ahead of him ................

 

[Mwenenzi]

Are the ugrades given based on Pax loadings or the good will of check-in staff or what?
I'd really love to know how QANTAS allocate these upgrades.

Unlike in the USA general opinion is check in staff have no discretion on upgrades. All done in a back office.

.. and the lounge dragons in Melbourne even curtly refused a points upgrade on a Red-E ticket.

Domestic Red-E ticket do not allow OD upgrades iirc

And this is why I'm going to have a go with Virgin for a while. Qantas treat their loyal customers like cough when it comes to upgrades.

What upgrade can DJ offer in they do not have business class seats ? (some DJ aircraft have PE)

 

[ozbeachbabe]

And this is why I'm going to have a go with Virgin for a while. Qantas treat their loyal customers like cough when it comes to upgrades.

Is your issue of QF treating loyal customers like cough purely based on not being upgraded or is it something else?

When QF do upgrades they look at the top tier pax and sometimes not even all WP's get an upgrade so it's not a case of you being overlooked or ignored, just that there's more people ahead of you in the pecking order.

I think it's a better system that Yield Management do the UPG's as if it was left to the discretion of checkin people they could upgrade anyone they wanted who may not be as brand loyal to QF as a lot of you on AFF are.

AFAIK the classes that do not permit points UPG's are NOQE classes, however if you do your bookings on the QF website it does tell you at the time that these fares are not eligible for points UPG's. Also if travelling on an X class f/f award ticket, you can't then upgrade that to J at the airport.

 

[munitalP]

... Also if travelling on an X class f/f award ticket, you can't then upgrade that to J at the airport.

SWMBO was upgraded from award Y (AKL/MEL) - she's partner Gold. Full plane I guess and her husbands a good QF customer ( :shock: )

munitalP

 

[ozbeachbabe]

SWMBO was upgraded from award Y (AKL/MEL) - she's partner Gold. Full plane I guess and her husbands a good QF customer ( :shock: )

munitalP

It's okay for them to do an op up on X class, you just can't voluntarily do it with points.

I guess it goes to show that the op ups are done more on status and less on the type of fare travelled on.

 

[markis10]

It's okay for them to do an op up on X class, you just can't voluntarily do it with points.

I guess it goes to show that the op ups are done more on status and less on the type of fare travelled on.

I agree that op ups are more on status, I am sure fare is a factor at times but not always, I was on an "O" fare Friday and was op-up'd.

 

[coyote25]

I agree that op ups are more on status, I am sure fare is a factor at times but not always, I was on an "O" fare Friday and was op-up'd.

I agree it's mostly status I've been upgraded from an award Y seat a few times when I was WP

 

[markis10]

Sometimes a friend can help with the pecking order all things being equal

 

[serfty]

There is a facility in Altea called a "Proactive Onload List". It lists passengers in a prospective order based on their perceived value to Qantas.

As for how it's done, there are several ways that might be employed. The priority can vary depending on who's actioning it and whether they follow 'the book'.

Qantas staff have had this facility available to them for about two years.

Here's a post by an FTer who lists their occupation as "Analyst for Airline Industry":

QF Op Ups for AA Plat? - FlyerTalk Forums

I have seen that post and cited it several times.

I was not aware that post which indicated the new philosophy in seat allocation also related to operational upgrade priority.

Well to put it simplistically, the value that is given to a customer (called a PCV) for ranking can apply to any way in which QF wants to use it. In the system, there's a feature called 'Proactive Onload' that calculates the pax booked vs estimated to check in and board. From that screen, the system makes recommendations of which pax are to be oped-up. Now, keyword is RECOMMENDATIONS, the staff and supervisor make the ultimate decision but in essence the system is designed to choose who gets Oped-Up and who stays put.

Such a "Proactive Onload" list may include weighting refernce to one or more of the following:

• Pax FF Tier
• Booking status (confirmed, waitlisted, space-a, etc.)
• Value to QF - a value to the customer independent of any other business process, and is taken from QF's loyalty database
• Direct revenue value (e.g. fare class W>Y>B>M>O...)

More here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....uestions/op-up-protocol-16409.html#post220627

Of course, none of this will stop the odd 'battlefield upgrade' where an agent needs a seat and needs it now!

Since the introduction of Altea, the only time I have not received an op-up as a WP transpacific in an obvious oversold situation was when on an award X class.

 

[Stealth]

Such a "Proactive Onload" list may include weighting refernce to one or more of the following:

• Pax FF Tier
• Booking status (confirmed, waitlisted, space-a, etc.)
• Value to QF - a value to the customer independent of any other business process, and is taken from QF's loyalty database
• Direct revenue value

Its interesting that one of the WP privileges that rarely gets a mention is the guaranteed economy ticket (book before 1200 on the day before departure). Unfortunately the only time I've needed it it is on a turbo-prop flight (bloody code-shares/QF partners) where it doesn't apply!

In the past the cabin crew's passenger manifest contained a lot of the 'value' information, but now its very minimal. Beats me why so many are afforded CL status when they have no purchasing value, but I suppose its one way to get some value out of politicians.

 

[gbetox]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've flown SYD-EZE round-trip 4 times, and everytime but once, I've been able to select seats 36A/B/J/K. Those are the best PE seats, exit row!

However, it's not PE service, it's economy. Once, somebody (not a flight attendant) came to the plane to tell the people sat in that sector that "we'd been complimentary upgraded, but the cabin service would still be economy".

No such luck on other international flights.

Unfortunately, my next trip SYD-EZE is marketed by LAN, flown by Qantas. I cannot select my seats on the Qantas website. I could select seats 63D on the LAN website, which are not too bad for me. I just hope there are no babies on the flight.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've flown SYD-EZE round-trip 4 times, and everytime but once, I've been able to select seats 36A/B/J/K. Those are the best PE seats, exit row!

However, it's not PE service, it's economy. Once, somebody (not a flight attendant) came to the plane to tell the people sat in that sector that "we'd been complimentary upgraded, but the cabin service would still be economy".

If the cabin service is economy then you're sitting in economy - it's not an upgrade. Sure it's a better seat but it sounds like the person who said you'd been upgraded had tickets on themselves or felt they'd done you some kind of favour even if you had chosen your own seat.

 

[gbetox]

If the cabin service is economy then you're sitting in economy - it's not an upgrade. Sure it's a better seat but it sounds like the person who said you'd been upgraded had tickets on themselves or felt they'd done you some kind of favour even if you had chosen your own seat.

Yes, Qantas always tries to sound like they are doing us a favour, such as saying they had "extended" my SG until 2012, when in fact I already have enough SC to keep me in that status until 2012.