Is this upgrade worth it

[wallacej]

Got a flight BNE - MEL, ticket cost $278... upgrade available for 12,000 to business... is this worth while... already a QC member, any other benefits??? Is this a worthwhile burn of points??

 

[v8Statesman]

Got a flight BNE - MEL, ticket cost $278... upgrade available for 12,000 to business... is this worth while... already a QC member, any other benefits??? Is this a worthwhile burn of points??

I always upgrade domestic flights to J. But I have miles to burn. YMMV

 

[Febs]

Depends on the value you place on the points. Some people see upgrades as the best use of points, others see them as the worst use of points.

I've upgraded domestic legs before (and sometimes been given them for free, even after offering to pay points) but usually for a reason. i.e. on a 6am SYD-MEL, I upgraded 'cause I wanted a decent breakfast.

When's the flight? Dinner, breakfast? The food will be better and the seat will be more comfortable, and you'll be able to use the J lounge instead of the QP. Up to you.

Cheers ,
- Febs.

 

[wallacej]

Depends on the value you place on the points. Some people see upgrades as the best use of points, others see them as the worst use of points.

I've upgraded domestic legs before (and sometimes been given them for free, even after offering to pay points) but usually for a reason. i.e. on a 6am SYD-MEL, I upgraded 'cause I wanted a decent breakfast.

When's the flight? Dinner, breakfast? The food will be better and the seat will be more comfortable, and you'll be able to use the J lounge instead of the QP. Up to you.

Cheers ,
- Febs.

Thanks folks... it is around dinner - and I have not been into the J lounge at Brisbane... I can't imagine how it would be that different other than the potential reduction in flocking to the food as it comes out

Very used to DJ lounge these days - would not even know where the J Lounge is in BNE - guess I can find out....
anyone with any comparisons on the J vs regular lounge at Brisbane?

 

[bigjobs]

Thanks folks... it is around dinner - and I have not been into the J lounge at Brisbane... I can't imagine how it would be that different other than the potential reduction in flocking to the food as it comes out

Very used to DJ lounge these days - would not even know where the J Lounge is in BNE - guess I can find out....
anyone with any comparisons on the J vs regular lounge at Brisbane?

i find the brisbane J lounge is too small during peak hour. it is alway full and i struggle to get a seat.

i usually go into the normal lounge now cause there is more room.

there is little difference between the two in terms of service and offerings to me.

i like to be comfortable and not crowded in. i feel i can do this more in the normal one, even in peak hours.

 

[Febs]

I don't do much domestic travel these days, so I can only talk about the SYD J lounge.

It's basically the QP we all know and love(?), with slightly better food offerings (nothing to write home about), slightly better coffee (nothing to write home about), slightly nicer fittings (nothing to write home about)...and that's about it.

 

[anat0l]

IMHO it would be worth upgrading if you can "afford" it (weigh this up against any other intended use of your points, and your nominal points "income" rate).

If it was in the morning (e.g. first flight or so), I'd almost feel it's a no brainer upgrade. Unless you were intending to sleep the entire way down and give the meal a flick (in which case, perhaps any seat on the plane wouldn't have mattered at all). I guess some people might do this, e.g. fill up in QP, then just sleep all the way.

I usually consider purchasing to aim for J upgrades on either:

• Morning or late evening flights (e.g. first or last flight of the day).
• Flights longer than 2 hours. This usually means BNE/MEL, BNE/ADL or BNE/PER for me.

 

[Tooner]

IMHO it would be worth upgrading if you can "afford" it (weigh this up against any other intended use of your points, and your nominal points "income" rate).

If it was in the morning (e.g. first flight or so), I'd almost feel it's a no brainer upgrade.

I usually consider purchasing to aim for J upgrades on either:

• Morning or late evening flights (e.g. first or last flight of the day).
• Flights longer than 2 hours. This usually means BNE/MEL, BNE/ADL or BNE/PER for me.

I'm in sharp agreement here, although I'll upgrade a SYD-MEL flight in evening or morning if possible for the better breakfast (subject to my dietary special), and more comfortable seat.

A lot depends on how you want to use the points. My view is if you have less than 100k it will take a while before you have a useful amount of points, and you are punting on QFF not changing the rules ("it'll never happen"), so burn them whenever you can. I may ease back on burning though, as I'm expecting to have to do a RTW sometime next year, and the odd upgrade to F from J may be nice ).

I also know a lot of people take the view that points are for taking the family o/s, and they have a few hundred thousand waiting for the day, subject to the risk noted above. They never burn points through upgrades.

After all that, it comes down to: what do you want to use the points for?

 

[Leumas]

Very well summed up, Tooner. It all depends on whether YOU think it's worth it.

Personally, I don't think it's worth it. Catering in Y during meal times actually isn't that bad. Get something to read to fall asleep and the couple of hours will be over before you know it.

I've been with the school to save up my points and get them from credit cards to redeem big flights. I'm in a fortunate position to be able to afford domestic J every now and then, but I won't be able to afford multiple RTW F and J. So I redeem flights for things I can't afford.

Again, everyone is different though.

 

[luckydog]

My personal take is that my FF points are a resource to use for family holidays. So I would never upgrade from Economy when flying domestic.
I just don't think it is worth it.

However if doing long haul in Economy it is very tempting to upgrade to Business....
If your already in Business for long haul, I think the upgrade to First class is a waste of points.
But of course if you have points to burn and no one to share them with,
it may be a different story!

 

[DTM1]

Unless you are drowning in points, then upgrading a domestic flight is a waste. better to use for intl upgrade. then again, if you have no status, your chances of an intl upgrade may not be that great.

however, I still think it's better to save the points for long haul. even using points for *class to asia is a better use and there does not appear to be any problem with availability generally.