AA "First Special"/"Instant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & General Questions

[daysoff]

Hi guys...I have been out of the loop for a while. Looking at SC runs on AA in November. LAX DFW NYC MIA MCO. I have noticed that the instant upgrade have diminished... 2 questions

1. Do First Special fares provide first class SCs
2. Can you suggest 700 SC runs. between SYD LAX DFW NYC MIA and finally MCO for the IAAPA conference in November.

cheers, Daysoff

 

[turnip666]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Good question....as i am booking them myself at the moment.

They ticket in "P" which according to QFF website earns Status Credits as First.

My issue is finding out how many SC's a flight will earn as the QFF calculator wont accept US city pairs.

 

[Limewood]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Try Mileage Monkey Oneworld Explorer and click box ignore errors.

 

[serfty]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Hi guys...I have been out of the loop for a while. Looking at SC runs on AA in November. LAX DFW NYC MIA MCO. I have noticed that the instant upgrade have diminished... 2 questions

1. Do First Special fares provide first class SCs
2. Can you suggest 700 SC runs. between SYD LAX DFW NYC MIA and finally MCO for the IAAPA conference in November.

cheers, Daysoff

1. See this thread for detailed instruction on SC earn for AA flights:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....search-book-aa-instant-42433.html#post666609]​

2. Go via SJU!

 

[Bundy Bear]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

2. Go via SJU!

We should organize an AFF meet in SJU; so many AFFers seems to be heading there.

 

[drivatruk]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

ill will be in SJU on Nov 9-10. first status run 5 flights to back to San Diego on the 10th. all in first. Just wish their F product was better on a 757

 

[CaviAck]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Good question....as i am booking them myself at the moment.

They ticket in "P" which according to QFF website earns Status Credits as First.

My issue is finding out how many SC's a flight will earn as the QFF calculator wont accept US city pairs.

Looking at these tickets as well.
If you're looking at them through AA.com when you look at the list of flights to choose from there's a button to expend the flight's details and it'll tell you the flight miles for each flight.

 

[daysoff]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

We should organize an AFF meet in SJU; so many AFFers seems to be heading there.

Thanks everyone... so sounds like SJU is the hit this year.

I did the SC run last year from HNL to MCO via PAP (got stuck there, PAP, when the return was cancelled - wow freaky experience with no hotel booking or cash!

What I want to know is if the flight status 'First special' rather than 'instant upgrade' attracts the first class SCs like an instant upgrade?

 

[serfty]

...

What I want to know is if the flight status 'First special' rather than 'instant upgrade' attracts the first class SCs like an instant upgrade?

See the thread I linked to upthread.

The booking class of each and every individual sector is all important!


Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[daysoff]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

See the thread I linked to upthread.

The booking class of each and every individual sector is all important!


Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

Serfty..thanks for all that.I followed the instructions on the past you listed and did a dummy booking into first special. Whilst is came up as P the seats booking class was economy as were the seat selections.

Is this a type of fare tat books into P but gives you economy seats and first SCs?.

 

[CaviAck]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Serfty..thanks for all that.I followed the instructions on the past you listed and did a dummy booking into first special. Whilst is came up as P the seats booking class was economy as were the seat selections.

Is this a type of fare tat books into P but gives you economy seats and first SCs?.

What route are you looking at?

I did dummy bookings for JFK (or was it LGA) to SEA and got to choose from the front of the bus...

 

[serfty]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

...
Is this a type of fare tat books into P but gives you economy seats and first SCs?.

May of these fares will book into economy if there is not P/A/I class available.

It is for that reason every segment should be checked prior to booking.

Also note that some segments dimply do not have First Class - hopefully they book into Y (not N or G etc.)

 

[mattmorgan44]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Hi guys I have started booking internal USA flights with American Airlines for a holiday in January-March. I did a fair bit of reading about 'instant upgrades' and noticed some people posting about being re-booked into Y when no first seats were available. For my flights, "first special" has so far always cheaper than instant upgrade so I went ahead and booked a few flights. I had called Qantas twice about the status credits for these fares. The first time the qantas rep spent 20 minutes trying to find out for sure and ended up refering me to American Airlines. AA referred me back to Qantas The second time I was told first special "P" fares award first class status credits.

Now after more reading here I am concerned. Are my "first special" fares still instant upgrades that can be re-booked into Y?? I was under the impression that by paying for "first special" I was paying for a discounted first seat that would be locked in. I have already selected my seats for the flights I have booked so far and have selected up front in the first class section.

Can someone please shed some light on this for me. Are these YUP or KUP fares or just discounted First fares as was my understanding? Will I have a confirmed first seat with these fares? Will I have confirmed first status credits?

Finally, am I missing something about the "instant upgrade" fares available - is there a reason people book these over "first special"? They always seem more expensive and I have been looking for some time.

I would really appreciate any help here. Thanks

 

[serfty]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

See post #6 of the thread that I linked to in above

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....esearch-book-aa-instant-42433.html#post666609

Basically, it depends on the booking class of each individual flight segment - P, A and F should earn as for First Class on a revenue fare.

Basically if you travel as booked (in P/A[/I]) then you get first[/business] SC's as per the fare class.

(FWIW, there is likely more readily availabl knowledgee here on this forum regarding AA "instant upgrade" or "first special" (even "Business Special") than most QFF operators would likely have.

 

[Pleb Status]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Now after more reading here I am concerned. Are my "first special" fares still instant upgrades that can be re-booked into Y?? I was under the impression that by paying for "first special" I was paying for a discounted first seat that would be locked in. I have already selected my seats for the flights I have booked so far and have selected up front in the first class section.

Can someone please shed some light on this for me. Are these YUP or KUP fares or just discounted First fares as was my understanding? Will I have a confirmed first seat with these fares? Will I have confirmed first status credits?

My understanding on YUPP/KUPP fares is if there is an aircraft change where a lower number of F seats are available, you miss a connection or your flight is cancelled, you are not guaranteed an F seat on the new flight. It is an 'upgrade' Y/K fare, not a first class fare. I am guessing that you should rank in front of the free and points upgraders however.

I would guess you would only get Y SC if you are rebooked into Y but fortunately I have not had this happen to me yet.

 

[mattmorgan44]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Thank you Serfty and Pleb

That thread was on my to read list and I totally forgot about it. I understand the upgrade fares better but I'm still hoping a "first special" is not a YUP or KUP at all and just a solid first seat at a reduced price. Will read that thread for answers.

Thank you

 

[ferni]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

I was in the states a couple of weeks ago and had some AA discounted first/business specials booked. No problems getting my seat they aren't instant upgrade fares but just discounted premium cabin fares.

I managed to miss one of the flights which was the first in a 3 segment journey (my own fault, left the bloody passports in the hotel! First time for everything). Anyway they rebooked me on a later flight but only Y was available so we took it as we wanted to get to our destination on the same day. Then we got wait listed at the next airport for a direct flight to our destination. Didn't know if we would clear but we did at the last minute and they even handed us first class boarding passes. Got very lucky as we would have had to say overnightin miami as it was the last flight to Vegas for the day.

they said if the missed flight was their fault then they would have confirmed the seat earlier but since it was our fault then we had to standby. Fair enough I thought.

Anyway bottom line is your discounted F fare is a proper F fare not a Yupp.

 

[serfty]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Comparing "First Special" or "Business Special" with "Instant Upgrade" fares you notice the "Instant Upgrade" fare are generally cheaper for the same route. However while sometimes they may book into F (or J) more often than not it's still A/P (or I).

For example an "Instant Upgrade" ORD-BOS fare is available for $238 while "First Special" is $289.

On the same flight the former books into P class, the latter is A. Other than that, the only difference I can see is that more expensive fare must be purchased no less than 7 days beforehand while for the cheaper fare it is 21 days.

Other examples are like the 'Business Special' from LAX to SJUwhere it will book into First (A) for three class transcontinental 777/762 flights while the "instant upgrade" for the same routeing would book into Business (I) - this for a cost of $831 over $516.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

An instant upgrade fare IS a confirmed FIRST CLASS seat you are INSTANTLY upgraded into that seat when you book. The only time you may be bumped is during irrops. They won't move you to sell a seat to someone for a higher fare for example. During IRROPS it doesn't matter what fare class you are in, if you are in full fare or a discounted there is always the possibility that the flight you are moved on to won't have F availability and you may get bumped. If you wanted to wait for the next F class seat on the route you most likely could although it may be at your own expense for hotel accommodation etc.

 

[mattmorgan44]

re: AA "First Special"/"INstant Upgrade" fares - Applicablity to QFF & general Questions

Dazz you've thrown a spanner in the works! Your information differs from many other people's on this forum who say an instant upgrade is pending availability AFTER you have booked. I'm not too concerned YET because instant upgrade fares have been more expensive or non-existent on all of my flights so far, but if you are correct I will be looking for them in the future.

What is IRROPS?