been upgraded by optiontown?

[julesten]

As I said in previous post I was upgraded on option town flyinh MH. I felt it was worth it as the bigger almost flat seat and doona was great and the full glass was perfect. Lounges at london and KL were fine plenty of variety of both food and drinks. Well worth it in my eyes

 

[doctork]

Another report on optiontown, with MH.

My parents were booked with MH KUL-SYD in discount Y.
I paid for a "UTo" (upgrade option) with optiontown for First.
Optiontown advised that upgrade was successful.
Passengers printed out email, arrived to check in.
MH ground staff refused to acknowledge the First upgrade as valid.
Reason: Economy to First "not allowed"
Given Business class boarding passes.
A good flight nonetheless (proving that it's hard to find a 'bad' business class seat).

I've made sure that they kept the boarding passes and am asking optiontown for a refund of the First component of the upgrade (happy to be charged for Business).
I'll post the outcome here.

 

[mella2007]

Just got upgraded tonight MEL to KUL to Premium. Really happy with their service and email communication....is within 3 days of flight as promised that I was notified either way. Should make a much more comfortable journey!

 

[travelislife]

I bought one way tickets MEL-KUL for 2 people on the one PNR on 27/12/11 for approximately $220 each one way including one lot 20kg baggage. Flight date is 21/07/12. Signed up for the Uto option on the 14/02/12. Checked premium seat availability 17/07/12, still 10/12 available. Checked premium seat availability this morning, 18/07/12, still 10/12 available. Received email from AirAsia with new itinerary stating class as Premium at 3:19pm. Received email confirming upgrade from optiontown at 3:30pm on the 18/07/12.

Still 3 days out from the flight which is pretty bloody good I think, as a business I would be keeping the seats for sale until the last minute before letting the upgrades go through, especially for a LCC. The upgrade will definitely be welcome with the flight departing at 0045 and arriving in to KUL at 0705!

Haven't found a way to do seat selection for the premium seats yet though as would like to be in the window so as not to be disturbed by the aisle, does anyone know how to do this? Does anyone recommend a particular pair of seats best for sleeping? Haven't web checked in yet either as didn't really want to risk it with the upgrade.

I have another one in the lottery for the following Sunday, but not looking as promising with seat availability at the moment 8/12 available.

 

[travelislife]

So the flight over was brilliant with the upgrade coming through, given the middle 2 seats in Row 1. Within 15 minutes of take off I had fully reclined the seat, put my BYO eye shade on and was asleep, I stirred only a couple of times before waking up half an hour before landing, a great way to start the holiday and let us make use of the time we had due to arriving refreshed. The duvet and pillow were much better than what I have previously received on Thai in Business Class. Otherwise the service is non existent though, but I think a great product for those that just want more space without all the trimmings. Load was 11/12.

For the return flight I hadn't received any notification the day before the flight so checked the loads, 6/12 seats were occupied. I was resigned to us not getting upgraded, but lo and behold the next morning I received an email from optiontown at about 0800 for our 1340 flight. This time I didn't receive any email from AirAsia with a new itinerary.

Headed straight for the premium line at check in and they actually had our boarding passes ready and had just written over our original economy seat numbers with the new premium seat numbers. Due to the preselected seats people had chosen my girlfriend and I were actually split up. Given seats 1K and 2H. Once on board my girlfriend was able to swap and get 2K so we were seated next to each other. It was a great flight back, though no entertainment at all the Samsung galaxies were booked out, service slightly better. Load 11/12.

All in was a brilliant result and I am 2/2 on the upgrades! I have a feeling this is because I signed up very early giving me priority in the pecking order but in reality I have no idea. Interesting that one seat was left vacant each time. I would definitely advise that row 1 is much better for sleeping, row 2 your feet get caught up in the foot well.

 

[mella2007]

I have been advised a week in advance my return leg has been unsuccessful

 

[bigfoot786]

I've had 4 out of 5 successful attempts, so very happy with them. The unsuccessful one got refunded after about a week.

 

[pauly7]

This will be great when Malaysia signs up to OW and you can earn QFF SC's....!

 

[moa999]

Under 12hrs to my D7 flight and no email either way.

Mind you my last D7 flight got a no on Premium 5hrs before but a Yes on EmptySeat about 4hrs before.

 

[moa999]

So some good and bad experiences.....

SYD-KUL
4hrs out. Advised no UTo (Premium Upgrade), no PSo (Preferred/ Hot Seat) but YES to ESo (Empty Seat).
At the airport allocated 8H, but with a sticker on boarding pass which would let onboard staff know that I had paid for the extra seats.
Worked perfectly and had plenty of room on the plane.

Then the less good experience.
KUL-SYD (was the flight immediately after F1 race)
6hrs out - no UTo (Premium Upgrade), 5hrs out - no PSo (Preferred/ Hot Seat), 4hrs out - YES to ESo (Empty Seat).*
Arrived at airport 90min before flight (plenty of time within 3hr to 60min window) and no queue at checkin.
Told sorry, flight is full no 3seats that we can give you and given boarding pass for 8K...

"Large" pax in 8I,8J and I'm not small, made for a tough flight - 8I/8J did not know each other.

Whilst I didn't get up whole flight seemed a whole lot of empty middle seats dotted around - so there would have been room if they had juggled seating.

I guess my grievances are:
1. Don't tell someone they are successful then 2hrs later at airport deny them.
2. If you can't give some two empty seats, at least you should be first in the priority for one....

Refund for the balance between UTo and ESo was back in my account within two days.




* With a caveat the email says "Successful" but subject to final allocation at checkin.

 

[aikman]

That sucks, to give and then take away. Did you book a specific seat prior to the ESo getting approved? I wonder if doing so affects your chances especially if someone else books a seat in the same row.

I have to say though that ESos are amazing value. I hope it doesn’t get too popular. To think that you can get a whole row for little more than what Qantas charges just to select a seat.

 

[trieu_thai]

Has anyone had any success with Vietnam Airlines? I can see plenty of posts between Aust and KUL etc but nothing on VN. Just paid for mine, approx. $230 each way between SYD-SGN, which is a real bargain for a 8.5 hours flight...if it comes thru that is

 

[gaz0303]

My recent optiontown experience...paid $60 for upgrade on Vietnam Airlines for a short trip from Hanoi to BKK. Wouldn't tag bags priority or allow me access into the lounge - basically told only business seat and no business service. I did get fed the business meal service. Points did post to FlyingBlue at 200% though as ticketed J class. Annoyed not getting lounge access as Hanoi airport has a smell to it and is not a nice place to spend 2hrs. I had to pay $20usd to access the oneworld lounge and managed to stream the rugby.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

My recent optiontown experience...paid $60 for upgrade on Vietnam Airlines for a short trip from Hanoi to BKK. Wouldn't tag bags priority or allow me access into the lounge - basically told only business seat and no business service. I did get fed the business meal service. Points did post to FlyingBlue at 200% though as ticketed J class. Annoyed not getting lounge access as Hanoi airport has a smell to it and is not a nice place to spend 2hrs. I had to pay $20usd to access the oneworld lounge and managed to stream the rugby.

yeah it's a bit of a joke re: lounge access in my opinion. pretty pathetic on VN's behalf.