Best Way to Upgrade

[Helligood]

Hi All,

My fiance and I are travelling to Thailand at the end of October 2008 (flying with Qantas) for our honeymoon and we're looking for a little bit of advice (on the flight that is... ).

We would love to fly business class as we can't quite afford to fly in First Class.

What we were thinking of was buying our seats at the full economy rate and then trying to upgrade to business class using our points. Currently we have over 150,000 frequent flyer points which we would like to use.

So my question is if this is the best way to upgrade and whether it is likely that we will actually be upgraded. I've read that we won't hear until a few hours before the flight - any way to confirm before that time?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can spot us with a little bit of help on this one.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

I'm sure some others will chip in, but to get the ball rolling....

1. Where you are in the upgrade queue depends on your status and how long you have been in the queue. Status trumps time.
2. Mel-Bkk and Syd-Bkk are very busy routes (though mainly people are going through to London)
3. You can upgrade from a range of discount economy fares which are better value than full economy unless you have access to something special - they need more points, but not proportionately so
4. Premium economy will be in place by October so there is an option between economy and business for wither paying or trying to upgrade

Maybe you could tell us your status?

 

[Commuter]

Don't quote me on this, but if you can afford to buy full economy tickets, (at least some) business class tickets are not that much more expensive. At least you can assure yourselves of having business class seats.

Points upgrades are very much dependent on your frequent flyer status (and nothing to do with what economy fares you have, except for the fact that some fares may not be upgradeable and discount economy fares take more points to upgrade to business) and when you apply. But to have two persons upgraded may be difficult - it's now the individual's FF status that counts in the 'order or award' (so to speak), not the status of the person whose account the points are coming from.

 

[dubno]

hmmm.....I would think that 150,000 points gets a return to BKK in J plus change so why not book one award flight (assuming availability) and pay for one J flight (shouldn't be more than $5000 plus change) on the same itinerary? Bound to be close to the cost of 2xfull Y flights PLUS you have a guarantee of travelling in J so you have something to look forward to rather than fret over!

PS: BA J seat better than QF J seat in my humble pommy opinion!

 

[serfty]

Helligood, welocme to AFF.

You don't need to buy full WHY seats to enable points upgrades. Standard Discount classes like V & S are fine.

Just steer clear of the ineligible classes: N, O & Q.

If you are booking on the Qantas web site, click on the fare type hot link and a window will open up. Look for the "Qantas Frequent Flyer" section near the bottom of the table and look for "Flight Upgrade Awards are eligible on this fare.".

Note that you must book on QF flight number on Qantas operated aircraft.

 

[Helligood]

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback and the great advice we received.

We ended up purchasing 2 tickets in Business Class and very much looking forward to it all.

Thanks again.

 

[NYCguy]

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback and the great advice we received.

We ended up purchasing 2 tickets in Business Class and very much looking forward to it all.

Thanks again.

Qantas ICU is quite nice. Enjoy.