Qantas Upgrades - Successes or Failures (post results)

[3eef]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successful J to F upgrade 54+ hours prior (qf platinum) SYD - LHR

 

[QF WP]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successfully upgraded (on application) my parents for BNE/MEL and MEL/BNE sectors that they are flying in November - now to keep it a secret until they board...pity they are both 738's and not A332's because I'm sure they'd love the fancier seating...

That put a dent in my points....

 

[Scriber]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successful upgrade on application, flex Y to J ADL-MEL, it's part of a PNR containing a QF9 to DXB and then an EK codeshare (not upgradable with points) on to Europe.
I don't particularly want/need the upgrade @5000 points for a 50 minute domestic, but thought process as follows:

1) I don't yet have the required points to upgrade the MEL-DXB sector;
2) I expect to have those points prior to departure, but only just prior;
3) As a PS I expect i'm probably too late even at this stage for an international upgrade on QF9 (I'm T-42 days)
3) As i'm only a PS the domestic upgrade gets me into the QP lounge, which is an additional avenue to seek an on-departure upgrade with points.
4) I plan to check in online at T-24 hours and also seek an upgrade at bag drop.

If any experienced upgraders would like to comment as to my approach i'm all ears for maximising my chances.

Cheers

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successful J to F upgrade 54+ hours prior (qf platinum) SYD - LHR

SYD-DXB, DXB-LHR - both sectors?

Using points? Can you look to see what fare bucket your original ticket was in please?

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successful upgrade on application, flex Y to J ADL-MEL, it's part of a PNR containing a QF9 to DXB and then an EK codeshare (not upgradable with points) on to Europe.
I don't particularly want/need the upgrade @5000 points for a 50 minute domestic, but thought process as follows:

1) I don't yet have the required points to upgrade the MEL-DXB sector;
2) I expect to have those points prior to departure, but only just prior;
3) As a PS I expect i'm probably too late even at this stage for an international upgrade on QF9 (I'm T-42 days)
3) As i'm only a PS the domestic upgrade gets me into the QP lounge, which is an additional avenue to seek an on-departure upgrade with points.
4) I plan to check in online at T-24 hours and also seek an upgrade at bag drop.

If any experienced upgraders would like to comment as to my approach i'm all ears for maximising my chances.

Cheers

Essentially the way Qantas (and many other airlines) has constructed the upgrade pathways precludes passengers successfully asking for one. If you have to ask for one you wont get it.
In other words there is no way to "jump the upgrade queue". If you do not have points when they are looking at your upgrade request (whenever that occurs prior to departure)you wont get it and it is a moot point if you manage to get the points a few minutes after - you wont be put back in the queue when your points balance is sufficient

The other way is to bid for an upgrade.
Qantas Upgrades | Qantas
The nice thing here is that you can enter your booking reference and see if your booking is eligible for upgrade by this pathway.

There is however no harm in asking for some consideration!!

 

[Scriber]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Essentially the way Qantas (and many other airlines) has constructed the upgrade pathways precludes passengers successfully asking for one. If you have to ask for one you wont get it.
In other words there is no way to "jump the upgrade queue". If you do not have points when they are looking at your upgrade request (whenever that occurs prior to departure)you wont get it and it is a moot point if you manage to get the points a few minutes after - you wont be put back in the queue when your points balance is sufficient

The other way is to bid for an upgrade.
Qantas Upgrades | Qantas
The nice thing here is that you can enter your booking reference and see if your booking is eligible for upgrade by this pathway.

There is however no harm in asking for some consideration!!

Thanks Quickstatus.
The "bid now" is another avenue, however sinking hundreds of dollars of actual cash into an upgrade is something i'm loathe to do. Although i'm sure it's a successful cash grab for QF, it's not for me.
Currently the booking management engine appears to lockout upgrade requests if there are insufficient points available at the time of request. Obviously you also then need to have sufficient points at the time the request is reviewed and granted/denied. So, my plan was to "spin the wheel" on both a PE and J upgrade once my next bundle of points appear at T-10 or so, and failing that (which seems likely), also try at bag drop and in the QP before departure. I'm frankly not expecting success, but I figure having an extra avenue doesn't hurt. The main reason I booked this as a flex was not so much for the upgrade potential, but to bolster the SC enough to reach SG for the first time this year. I gather checking in online at T-24hrs can't do anything to hurt my chances here.

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Thanks Quickstatus.
The "bid now" is another avenue, however sinking hundreds of dollars of actual cash into an upgrade is something i'm loathe to do. Although i'm sure it's a successful cash grab for QF, it's not for me.
Currently the booking management engine appears to lockout upgrade requests if there are insufficient points available at the time of request. Obviously you also then need to have sufficient points at the time the request is reviewed and granted/denied. So, my plan was to "spin the wheel" on both a PE and J upgrade once my next bundle of points appear at T-10 or so, and failing that (which seems likely), also try at bag drop and in the QP before departure. I'm frankly not expecting success, but I figure having an extra avenue doesn't hurt. The main reason I booked this as a flex was not so much for the upgrade potential, but to bolster the SC enough to reach SG for the first time this year. I gather checking in online at T-24hrs can't do anything to hurt my chances here.

What date are you flying on QF9?

Bag drop, QPub and early OLCI wont get you anywhere unfortunately. There is no "extra avenue".

You will be joining the upgrade queue (if one can call it that) rather late. The chances are higher if you join the queue at the time of booking ( I could be wrong here)

 

[Scriber]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

What date are you flying on QF9?

6/09/2016 MEL departure

 

[coriander]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Hmmm, I can't see any good reason for not getting SMS notifications amaroo, as you indicate this section is filled in with the correct details:

I've found that they send SMS alerts only to an AU mobile phone number.

If you're hoping/expecting/praying for an upgrade ex-LAX homeward-bound, for example, and using a t-mobile or AT&T sim, you won't get an SMS even if you've put the US number +1 nnn nnn-nnnn in both the "mobile phone number field" and "destination phone number field".

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

6/09/2016 MEL departure

About 2 weeks out post a request for passenger loadings on your flight in this thread:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ility-loadings-upgrade-probability-25311.html

your request should include: date of travel, airline, departing and arriving airports, flight number. Requesting based on flight number means someone responding to your request needs to look up departing and arriving airports for that flight.

FWIW September is a busy travel period to that part of the world

Currently loadings are:
PE: 6 seats left out of 35
J: 12 seats left out of 64
F: 4 seats left out of 14

Based on where people are currently sitting there are quite a few P1, WP and SG travelling as well.

Looking at fare buckets: There are no "I" or "D" fares in J and no fares in "R" in PE.
Interestingly there are Classic awards available for Y and Y cabin is very open.



I would think based on projected flight loadings and date of travel that a points upgrade into PE /J would very slim to none even for a WP.

 

[JessicaTam]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Successfully upgraded (on application) my parents for BNE/MEL and MEL/BNE sectors that they are flying in November - now to keep it a secret until they board...pity they are both 738's and not A332's because I'm sure they'd love the fancier seating...

That put a dent in my points....

Just buy more wine.

 

[Brettmcg]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

About 2 weeks out post a request for passenger loadings on your flight in this thread:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ility-loadings-upgrade-probability-25311.html

your request should include: date of travel, airline, departing and arriving airports, flight number. Requesting based on flight number means someone responding to your request needs to look up departing and arriving airports for that flight.

FWIW September is a busy travel period to that part of the world

Currently loadings are:
PE: 6 seats left out of 35
J: 12 seats left out of 64
F: 4 seats left out of 14

Are these numbers based on the seatmap?

Here are the real figures:

Economy - 119 seats still available for booking
Premium Economy - 0 seats still available for booking
Business - 8 seats still available for booking
First - 4 seats available for booking

Remember, that EF numbers show what QF are willing to sell. We all know that flights are oversold where possible. My quoted numbers are the current state of play

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Are these numbers based on the seatmap?

Here are the real figures:

Economy - 119 seats still available for booking
Premium Economy - 0 seats still available for booking
Business - 8 seats still available for booking
First - 4 seats available for booking

Remember, that EF numbers show what QF are willing to sell. We all know that flights are oversold where possible. My quoted numbers are the current state of play

Mine include the seats with "x"

 

[jimmylikesitwet]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Mine include the seats with "x"

Which isn't an accurate measure, especially in economy where not everyone has access to select their seat without paying a fee.

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Which isn't an accurate measure, especially in economy where not everyone has access to select their seat without paying a fee.

Blocked just means whoever is looking at the seatmap can't select it without the airline releasing it to that person which agrees with your remark that some seats in economy can't be selected without an "enhancement" fee.

Offen these seats are released when the airplane goes to airport control or when certain types of passengers request it over the phone.

So it is more accurate to include it in any analysis of loadings.

 

[Brettmcg]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Mine include the seats with "x"

Mine is from a very accurate, non-EF source

 

[medhead]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Blocked just means whoever is looking at the seatmap can't select it without the airline releasing it to that person which agrees with your remark that some seats in economy can't be selected without an "enhancement" fee.

Offen these seats are released when the airplane goes to airport control or when certain types of passengers request it over the phone.

So it is more accurate to include it in any analysis of loadings.

As you say, the "X" means the person checking the seat map can't access those seats with the FF number used. There are a number of reasons why they can't access those seats, one of which is that they may be blocked in reserve for a higher status person. The upshot is that being blocked does not mean the seats aren't sold. It is very hard to agree that this is a more accurate analysis of loadings, when you have no information about the reason for the block.

With regard the seat selection fee, seats will show as open to the FF number that has to pay a fee. Without showing as open the person is not able to select the seat, and hence not able to pay the fee. Since this is about an international flight a large number of seats will be subject to a fee.

Personally, looking at a seat map is highly subjective based on Ff number, and would be the least accurate method, IMO.

 

[njba]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Does one's status at request time or status at upgrade processing time count the most?

Many would be on my situation where they make a request for a flight a few months out at one level and then jump up to the next level in the intervening months.

I seem to remember hearing a few horror stories where the request was processed at the old status level (leading to a missed out upgrade).

 

[Scriber]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

About 2 weeks out post a request for passenger loadings on your flight in this thread:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ility-loadings-upgrade-probability-25311.html

your request should include: date of travel, airline, departing and arriving airports, flight number. Requesting based on flight number means someone responding to your request needs to look up departing and arriving airports for that flight.

FWIW September is a busy travel period to that part of the world

Currently loadings are:
PE: 6 seats left out of 35
J: 12 seats left out of 64
F: 4 seats left out of 14

Based on where people are currently sitting there are quite a few P1, WP and SG travelling as well.

Looking at fare buckets: There are no "I" or "D" fares in J and no fares in "R" in PE.
Interestingly there are Classic awards available for Y and Y cabin is very open.

View attachment 75741

I would think based on projected flight loadings and date of travel that a points upgrade into PE /J would very slim to none even for a WP.

Thanks again Quickstatus. I will check again in the Questions thread a couple of weeks out as you suggest, but as the award/discount buckets in the premium cabins are so full already, i can't see that improving by much!
My thoughts about multiple "avenues" for on-departure upgrades (bag drop, QP ) would be the opportunity to capitalise on any late "no shows", if such a thing is still possible.

 

[penegal]

Re: QF Upgrade Success Rate

Just to be clear you can't add the EF seat numbers.
All that indicates is that at least 9 seats are available in that fare bucket. As soon as 1 seat is sold, the system may adjust availability in that bucket, and other buckets based on various algorithms.


For example in this case, F4 A4 suggests that there are probably only 4 seats (not 8) in First available, but you can book them in either fare bucket depending on your booking channel and fare availability.