Numpty question on points upgrade

[Keith009]

Apols for the somewhat silly question but I really don't know much about QFF here having used AAdvantage throughout my oneworld flying career till now.

Back when I was a lowly Bronze I put in an upgrade request for MEL-LHR QF9 from J to F, on the day the upgrade request window opened for my flight. Today my status has ticked over to Gold.

The question is: Will I need to get QFF to "refresh" the upgrade request so that whoever is processing it will be able to see my status? I noticed that my QFF status had been updated automatically in upcoming PNRs (as I am now able to pre-allocate seats in all my bookings on both qantas.com and ba.com), but I am not sure whether there is anything special I will have to do to make sure my upgrade request is up in the queue as "Gold" rather than still sitting at the very bottom of the food chain as "Bronze."

Cheers!

 

[MelUser]

I would cancel and then put in a fresh upgrade request.

alterfnatively you could call 131131 during business hours (better staff) and ask them - i would be interested in what they tell you

 

[SnowYeti]

I would cancel and then put in a fresh upgrade request.

alterfnatively you could call 131131 during business hours (better staff) and ask them - i would be interested in what they tell you

My personal guess is that when assessing upgrades, they will see your current status, not status as you were when you requested. (e.g. I found a document somewhere on Qantas saying that upgrades by higher status PAX will not affect that other PAX's ability to upgrade. I can't find this document )

However to be on the safe side, I would do as MelUser says, ring up and explain situation and they'll have a better idea!

 

[djfuzz]

I found a document somewhere on Qantas saying that upgrades by higher status PAX will not affect that other PAX's ability to upgrade.

Could you please clarify what you mean by this?

Surely if a higher status pax requests an upgrade, they will get it ahead of a lower status pax - right?

 

[cwliew]

I have several flights with qanta coming up. I can see the upgrade button to use points for upgrade, but each time, for all the upcoming flights I request, it keeps saying that there is not an upgrade seat available.
Do they release upgrade seats closer to the time? Or is there a way to determine if there are upgrade seats available or how full J class is?

It seems like its all of a sudden become a lot harder to upgrade using points. Not more than 6 months ago, I felt like I was almost guaranteed to upgrade with points whenever I felt like it, and J class was hardly ever completely full...These days, it just seems like you need to do ODU, which sucks.

 

[trooper]

I believe that was a reference to the eternal question...

When an upgrade is requested for a lower status/no status person by a higher status one... WHICH priority applies?

Consensus here seems (?) to be that it is the NOT the higher status ... but please note that is just gleaned from reading threads here and on FT.. not from personal experience.... I'd be delighted to be wrong!

My FFP is NZ.. and when I gift an upgrade to one of my "Gold nominees" they DO get the same priority as I would.....

 

[simongr]

I would cancel and then put in a fresh upgrade request.

alterfnatively you could call 131131 during business hours (better staff) and ask them - i would be interested in what they tell you

I would NOT cancel and re-request. Call first. If you cancel and re-request you are now behind all the other golds - if QF recognise status then you will have the earliest possible gold date.

 

[MelUser]

Upgrades are no longer done on time of registration.

They are all ranked by the QF computer at the 24 hour cut off.

All Chairmans Lounge are done first by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Plats are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

The all Golds are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Silvers are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all non stats members are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

I'm not even getting into the argument about whose account the points come from influencing outcome as everyone has a different view.

 

[cwliew]

So why have the upgrade button on the website, if you can't even use it? I don't understand how that button is useful, and how they can possibly prioritise it.
I generally find that if I call the qantas helpdesk and request an upgrade, it is usually more successful than using the online system, however you do have the problem of extended waits on the phone (Thank god for handsfree!)

I haven't had much recent success with upgrading even my Y fares to J online.

Any insight? I understand the hierachy system that was described by Meluser, but I don't understand how this can even be used at the moment if there is actually a BUTTON on the manage my bookings part of the website.
I am 5 points short of gold with 6 months to go, so I kind of figure that they can at least let me use my points!

 

[serfty]

I have several flights with qanta coming up. I can see the upgrade button to use points for upgrade, but each time, for all the upcoming flights I request, it keeps saying that there is not an upgrade seat available. ...

What you are descibing is how DOMESTIC upgrade requests operate.

This thread is about International upgrade requests which get waitlisted until the day of the flight.

 

[cwliew]

Ah, ok. I get it.

 

[NM]

I have several flights with qanta coming up. I can see the upgrade button to use points for upgrade, but each time, for all the upcoming flights I request, it keeps saying that there is not an upgrade seat available.

Your description is for domestic flights. This thread is about international upgrades which are requested and waitlisted until the last 24 hours before the flight. Domestic flight upgrades can be confirmed at any time providing there is a business class award seat available on the flight.

I believe that was a reference to the eternal question...

When an upgrade is requested for a lower status/no status person by a higher status one... WHICH priority applies?

Consensus here seems (?) to be that it is the NOT the higher status ... but please note that is just gleaned from reading threads here and on FT.. not from personal experience.... I'd be delighted to be wrong!

My personal experience indicates that it is the status of the account from which the points are used and not the status of the passenger which is used to determine international upgrade priority. This is despite what is often quoted from the Qantas web site indicating otherwise. Every upgrade I have waitlisted from my QFF Gold account (and Platinum before dropping to Gold) for a non-status passenger has been successful. I find it hard to accept that I would have had a 100% success rate if it was the non-status passenger's status that determined the waitlist priority. This includes at least 10 upgrades in the last 3 or 4 years.

 

[Keith009]

Uh oh, sounds like a Gold booked in D class won't have much of a chance on such a WP-heavy route... (and no i don't have enough DONE segments to split the flight into 2 segments)

I'll call them tomorrow during business hours and revert.

Upgrades are no longer done on time of registration.

They are all ranked by the QF computer at the 24 hour cut off.

All Chairmans Lounge are done first by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Plats are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

The all Golds are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Silvers are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all non stats members are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

I'm not even getting into the argument about whose account the points come from influencing outcome as everyone has a different view.

 

[simongr]

Uh oh, sounds like a Gold booked in D class won't have much of a chance on such a WP-heavy route... (and no i don't have enough DONE segments to split the flight into 2 segments)

I'll call them tomorrow during business hours and revert.

That is only based on the assumption that Meluser is speaking gospel - for which we don't have any evidence.

 

[MelUser]

My information came from Qantas.

 

[Binxx]

Upgrades are no longer done on time of registration.

They are all ranked by the QF computer at the 24 hour cut off.

All Chairmans Lounge are done first by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Plats are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

The all Golds are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all Silvers are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

Then all non stats members are done by fare bucket from most to least expensive.

I'm not even getting into the argument about whose account the points come from influencing outcome as everyone has a different view.

Where does QC fit in this hierarchy?

 

[Lucky_man]

Where does QC fit in this hierarchy?

They get some free alcohol to numb the pain of the realisation that any claim they have to status is tenuous at best.

 

[serfty]

That is only based on the assumption that Meluser is speaking gospel - for which we don't have any evidence.

This has been discussed in the past.

I don't have any hard evidence, merely anecdotal, but I believe MelUser is not far from the truth. It may have been like this for the last 24 months or so.

 

[straitman]

My information came from Qantas.

I would suggest that there are often variations and exceptions to the general practice of how and when upgrades are processed and allocated.

 

[drron]

All I can say about this question is-What in the heck is numpty?