Qantas Upgrade with points: PE vs Business

[wizphiz]

Hi, I'm a newbie to AFF and am sure there is an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience here, ready to guide me in the right direction! I"m about to fly with my partner to FLL via DFW (747) with Qantas/AA. The points quoted to upgrade to Premium Economy is 50,000 and Business, 80,000. I'm only QF Silver status with Qantas Club membership. I've only ever experienced PE before, so don't actually know what I'm missing with Business

Questions: How do the 2 classes compare, and is it worth the large amount of points spent? What is the likelihood of getting an upgrade if flying on a (presumably quieter and more empty plane) Wednesday? What would you do, given these options? Thanks muchly for your help.

 

[Shan Man]

Hi Wizphiz,

Welcome to AFF. Business would be my preferred option on such a long haul flight. 17 hrs sitting up slightly more reclined than in Economy isn't as good as a full lie flat bed! Id say its worth the points for Business, but YMMV.

The service in QF PE is actually more like a business minor rather than economy plus which is a bonus compared to other carriers, however the seat is still a recliner seat.

Might also need to keep in mind that usually flights to the US have a heavy Platnium/One, Chairmans lounge and Gold loads. All of these people will be selected in front of you in terms of an upgrade slot. I think DFW is better than LAX however.

 

[dmitri]

Hi wizphiz, if you have the points and have never been business, do it to for sure. It's a great experience, I would think you have better lounge access flying business over PE so the airport experience would be better for you also. It's hard to beat a lay flat bed on a long haul trip.

cheers

 

[wizphiz]

Thanks Shan Man and Dmitri for the helpful and oh so prompt advice! Clearly, I have much to learn in the world of frequent flying! Hopefully I'll get the hang of it to get the most out of this point thing. Do you know if you can put in a request to upgrade to Business, and if that's unsuccessful then can also vie for PE?

 

[dmitri]

Yeh mate, I have done that in the past. I called up though just to ensure that if my business request went pear shaped that PE would still be a chance.

 

[Alanslegal]

Hi, I'm a newbie to AFF and am sure there is an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience here, ready to guide me in the right direction! I"m about to fly with my partner to FLL via DFW (747) with Qantas/AA. The points quoted to upgrade to Premium Economy is 50,000 and Business, 80,000. I'm only QF Silver status with Qantas Club membership. I've only ever experienced PE before, so don't actually know what I'm missing with Business

From a seat perspective, J is far superior than any PE offering. Having a fully adjustable seat for long haul is priceless, as any seating (or sleeping) position you want, is available at the press of a button. Once you fly long haul J, you would not want to go back to PE.

 

[SamR]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you still upgrade from Y to J on long haul? I thought Qantas had changed things so that you could only upgrade by one class, not two.

If that's the case, PE is still better than Y and worth the points expenditure. If you can do the jump to J, go for it!

 

[Captain Halliday]

+1 for J. Especially on a trip that will be pushing 24 hours with the connection.

 

[wizphiz]

Hi SamR,

I'm not sure when the change happened but apparently Qantas now allows a 'Double Upgrade' with points, so can choose from there. Thanks to Dmitri, who suggested I ask for PE, should J not be possible. As a postscript, we were upgraded to J, no probs Obviously, being a partly empty plane on a Wednesday helped. Interestingly, the night before we only had a choice of 5 seats in Row 8 (which is apparently not the best), but asked on check-in and they changed us to 'the pointy end' that people talk about. Thanks everyone for your advice: so impressed with the fact that people respond to questions here! And yes, the problem now is, how does one go back??!

 

[mannej]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you still upgrade from Y to J on long haul? I thought Qantas had changed things so that you could only upgrade by one class, not two.

If that's the case, PE is still better than Y and worth the points expenditure. If you can do the jump to J, go for it!

You are still able to go from Y to J, that's not changed.

 

[Julesmac]

I'm after a bit of advice from the founts of knowledge. This is rather vague as I only have rough dates. I've transferred points to my s-i-l travelling to Montreal, flying cattle class out of Melbourne. The flight's in September. She hasn't requested an upgrade yet -there will be enough to get into PE and possibly Y. Roughly what are her chances?

 

[JohnK]

This is the dilemma that is facing me right now.

I have a SYD-HKG return flight in March/April and have pre-allocated 43H both ways. I will put in a request to upgrade to business for 40,000 QFF points each way. Quite happy to take the business class seat if upgrade comes through.

Now requesting upgrade to premium economy for 25,000 QFF points each way worries me tremendously. As upgrade request will not be known until very late in the process and in my opinion 43H in economy is far superior to any non bulkhead premium economy seat.

 

[phily]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you still upgrade from Y to J on long haul? I thought Qantas had changed things so that you could only upgrade by one class, not two.

You can upgrade from Y to either Y+ or J but not to F. And I suspect that you can't upgrade from Y+ to F.

And flying on a Wednesday probably gives you more chances of an upgrade, on the assumption that most business people travel either at the start or the end of the week.

 

[Mr_Orange]

You can upgrade from Y to either Y+ or J but not to F. And I suspect that you can't upgrade from Y+ to F.

You are still able to go from Y to J, that's not changed.

Pardon my ignorance, but can you still upgrade from Y to J on long haul? I thought Qantas had changed things so that you could only upgrade by one class, not two.

If that's the case, PE is still better than Y and worth the points expenditure. If you can do the jump to J, go for it!

You can upgrade from Y- and Y to PE, Y-, Y and PE to J, PE to J and J to F. You cannot go from Y-, Y and PE to F.