AA miles for Qantas upgrades?

[Guvner]

More competition for "upgrades"....

Get Upgraded

upgrade.plusgrade.com

Needs more analysis but I'm sure the AFF collective can do a better job than me.
First thoughts are "how the hell is this going to affect lower status QFF members"? Is this the first incarnation of "OneWorld upgrades?"

 

[RichardMEL]

Interesting.

My 5 second thoughts, after a quick scan of the very general T&C are:

Upgrade decided within 24h of departure. I am going to guess OW partner upgrade requests will come after QFF NB but before bid upgrades (pr maybe lower than them). I suspect QF will process all QFF member requests before others. What of OW partner status? Seems inlikely to influence requests much at that point, except when processing a group of OW upgrades. Ie an OWE request isn't going to go through ahead of QF golds if I read this right.

Still, very interesting first step.

It didn't seem like eligible fares are limited to nasically full fare as with Star, but neither could I see an obvious list or udea.. just vague wording that the operating airline decides - which could mean anything. Also unclear re codeshares ie are AA coded QF flights elugible? Or QF marketed only?

The amounts to pay and reality of experience will be interesting to see how that works. Doesn't seem any set amount chart that I could find.

 

[levelnine]

Shows 11.3K AA miles for a MEL-SYD Y to J upgrade request.

Given 80K AA miles can get you from Australia to Europe in Qatar QSuites, it's a very bad use of valuable AA miles.

International sale fares are not eligible.

I'm inclined to agree with Gary from VftW: 'Is that all there is?'

 

[eminere]

From the FAQs:

Is my trip eligible?
Your trip is eligible to request an upgrade if:

• Your flight is operated by Qantas
• You bought an eligible fare. Most fares are eligible, but Qantas does not allow upgrades on “Sale” fare classes for international flights.

Your trip can be booked anywhere, including travel agencies.

How do you determine if an upgrade can be confirmed?
As the operating carrier, Qantas will determine if an upgrade can be confirmed. If there are multiple requests for an upgrade on the same flight, priority for requests will depend on several factors determined by Qantas, including oneworld® status.

 

[NM]

Also reported by Award Wallet:

You Can Now Upgrade Qantas Flights with AAdvantage® Miles

One of the teased changes to the AAdvantage frequent flyer program for 2024 was mileage upgrades on partner airlines. Sure enough, American just introduced mileage upgrades on Qantas-operated flights. Here's what we know so far about this just-introduced redemption option.

awardwallet.com

Where Award Wallet makes a point of there being little details other than the terms and conditions. No guidance regarding how many AAdvantage Miles will be needed for an upgrade, which will of vary flight to flight based on the bidding process.

 

[NM]

And of course this now means there may be significantly more people bidding for upgrades on QF-Operated trans-Pacific flights, potentially making them harder to obtain for all those seeking. I assume it also means a potential revenue increase for QF as I expect they receive variable financial consideration when the upgrade bidding process concludes and upgrades awarded/purchased.

 

[levelnine]

Given it is the same company that operates Qantas' Bid Now Upgrades (PlusGrade), I'm guessing they'll operate in a very similar fashion and probably have the same priority as Bid Now Upgrades (ie behind all classic award upgrades).

Indeed, I think the only thing that is 'new' here is that PlusGrade have added the option to take AA miles as payment rather than just cash/QF points.

 

[NM]

Upgrade decided within 24h of departure. I am going to guess OW partner upgrade requests will come after QFF NB but before bid upgrades (pr maybe lower than them). I suspect QF will process all QFF member requests before others. What of OW partner status? Seems inlikely to influence requests much at that point, except when processing a group of OW upgrades. Ie an OWE request isn't going to go through ahead of QF golds if I read this right.

I suspect the processing order of upgrade requests might be less specific/structure and more related to the financial (i.e. revenue) opportunity for QF rather than based purely on FF program or the way the upgrade was requested. Would a QFF member spending QFF points be a better financial outcome for QF than for an AAdvantage member using AA miles through PlusGrade, who I assume get $$$ revenue from AAdvantage and pay $$$ to QF for the upgrade, We will probably never know because I expect QF will keep the upgrade processing metrics a closly guarded secret.

 

[Mwenenzi]

The other thread on this Oneworld Upgrades

AA web site Upgrade with miles on partner airlines - Upgrade on Qantas
Links to upgradeplus web site Request an upgrade on an upcoming Qantas flight

 

[Mattg]

I just tried entering my Qantas booking reference for an upcoming domestic Red e-Deal booking on the AA upgrade page. Got an error that my booking isn't eligible to upgrade.

That said, if this new system enables upgrades from Economy Saver fares on QF international flights using any Oneworld program, that will be a significant improvement over the Star Alliance-wide upgrade system which for most intents and purposes is useless.

 

[drron]

An improvement for some on QFi but for many it means no longer any chance of an upgrade on QFi.

 

[Mwenenzi]

I just tried entering my Qantas booking reference for an upcoming domestic Red e-Deal booking on the AA upgrade page. Got an error that my booking isn't eligible to upgrade.

That said, if this new system enables upgrades from Economy Saver fares on QF international flights using any Oneworld program, that will be a significant improvement over the Star Alliance-wide upgrade system which for most intents and purposes is useless.

Could you upgrade the QF red d-deal with QF ff points or $? Upgrade button in QF mmb?

 

[Mattg]

Could you upgrade the QF red d-deal with QF ff points or $? Upgrade button in QF mmb?

Yes, can upgrade with either points or cash through Qantas MMB.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Did a test for an upcoming NZ to AU trans Tasman flight in M class (saver).
QF are selling business for NZ$1526 (bus flex). QF bus award 41,500 points plus NZD$93 (not the day I am flying)

QF upgrade

• 21,800 QF points

AA upgrade

• 25,100 AA ff miles or
• NZD$255 (offer strength poor)
• NZD$950 (offer strength good)
• NZD$1550 (offer strength excellent)

Have not checked what a business award costs on AA trans Tasman. (have old AA award chart some where)

Will stay in selected seat and try for row 4 aisle at T-80. Had good success for row 4 TT.

 

[FromTheRail]

Did a test for an upcoming NZ to AU trans Tasman flight in M class (saver).
QF are selling business for NZ$1526 (bus flex). QF bus award 41,500 points plus NZD$93 (not the day I am flying)

QF upgrade

• 21,800 QF points

AA upgrade

• 25,100 AA ff miles or
• NZD$255 (offer strength poor)
• NZD$950 (offer strength good)
• NZD$1550 (offer strength excellent)

Have not checked what a business award costs on AA trans Tasman. (have old AA award chart some where)

Will stay in selected seat and try for row 4 aisle at T-80. Had good success for row 4 TT.

I thought it was anywhere in Aus to anywhere in Aus for 20k AA miles

and anywhere in Aus to anywhere in NZ for 25k AA miles

So less than the upgrade cost

 

[logicallysynced]

Just to add to this, I can’t see these QF upgrades happening much at all anymore on more popular routes after the introduction of CR+.

I agree this is a good direction for OW to go though and will certainly advantage (no pun intended) QFF point holders more when it opens up to other OW airlines (ie. use QFF points to upgrade on those airlines).