Best airlines for paid upgrades to J

[dvt]

Hi,

I am planning a couple of trips to the UK next year. One of them will be in paid J whilst the other will have to be in Y. I have heard that some airlines offer upgrades over email prior to trips and some are open to you asking for them at the airport.

I am currently Qantas platinum so my preference is to fly oneworld/emirates (although I am open to non oneworld if upgrade opportunities are higher). My question is which of these airlines appear to be the most generous in offering paid upgrades prior to departure and how much have you paid for them in the past? I plan on flying Melbourne to London in Y with the intention of upgrading to J (possibly just on the longer legs).

Many thanks in advance!

 

[GlobalT]

Hi,

I am planning a couple of trips to the UK next year. One of them will be in paid J whilst the other will have to be in Y. I have heard that some airlines offer upgrades over email prior to trips and some are open to you asking for them at the airport.

I am currently Qantas platinum so my preference is to fly oneworld/emirates (although I am open to non oneworld if upgrade opportunities are higher). My question is which of these airlines appear to be the most generous in offering paid upgrades prior to departure and how much have you paid for them in the past? I plan on flying Melbourne to London in Y with the intention of upgrading to J (possibly just on the longer legs).

Many thanks in advance!

Whilst probably won’t help with your itinerary, I have had 100% success rate with both Ethiopian and South African in the last four weeks. I have had four flights on each airline with the cheapest Y tickets and in all instances I received an offer to bid for an upgrade. I submitted bids for J upgrades on Singapore to Ethiopia and return and paid around $700 each way. Same with Perth to Johannesburg (just got the confirmation email a few hours ago for my return flight tonight) and have paid around $1700 each way. In all cases, I bid just over the minimum.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi,

I am planning a couple of trips to the UK next year. One of them will be in paid J whilst the other will have to be in Y. I have heard that some airlines offer upgrades over email prior to trips and some are open to you asking for them at the airport.

I am currently Qantas platinum so my preference is to fly oneworld/emirates (although I am open to non oneworld if upgrade opportunities are higher). My question is which of these airlines appear to be the most generous in offering paid upgrades prior to departure and how much have you paid for them in the past? I plan on flying Melbourne to London in Y with the intention of upgrading to J (possibly just on the longer legs).

Many thanks in advance!

Apparently Sri Lankan is quite good for upgrade success. And quite reasonably priced from what I can recall.

 

[opusman]

Vietnam Airlines have good J fares to the UK and you can have a stopover in HCM.

 

[Mattg]

Does Etihad still do this?

I agree the Sri Lankan Airlines is a very good option. You'd need to stop overnight in Colombo in one direction, but you should get a hotel provided I believe (and it's not a bad way to break up the trip, really).

 

[dvt]

Vietnam Airlines have good J fares to the UK and you can have a stopover in HCM.

Thanks, I have had a look at these and prices seem to be pretty good