Syd/Lax Upgrade

[Limewood]

Need advise, thinking of taking the wife to LA to visit relo's, depart Sydney 9th October, depart LA 15th (both ways on 380), buy 2 super saver Y tickets on Q, how many points do I need to upgrade to J?.

 

[Will]

Luckily Qantas has published a calculator online for you to determine the answer:

https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/upgradeCalculator

 

[Limewood]

Luckily Qantas has published a calculator online for you to determine the answer:

https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/upgradeCalculator

Yes, had another gander on QFF site and found it, looks like 77,000 points each, no prob.

 

[Limewood]

Using the points upgrade the j seat is guaranteed?.

 

[markis10]

Nothing is guaranteed, you join the waitlist and the winners get selected by status then for each status group, then by time they have been on the list, its something of a lottery especially as not all fares are upgradable, so you may need to pay more just to get a ticket .

 

[notzac]

EDIT: What markis10 said

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Need advise, thinking of taking the wife to LA to visit relo's, depart Sydney 9th October, depart LA 15th (both ways on 380), buy 2 super saver Y tickets on Q, how many points do I need to upgrade to J?.

Seats are wide open in J and F (as you would expect) at this early stage:

SAT 09 Oct 2010
Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
--------- ------ ---- -------- ---- -------- --- -- -------------------------
QF 11 SYD 14:05 LAX 09:45 0 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 I5 ....

It seems in most people's experience however, without status an upgrade would be unlikely, as they are awarded in the following order: (as your profile doesn't state, I'm not sure if you have status)
CIPs
Chairman's Lounge
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Bronze/QC

Within the bands there seems to be a dark art to it, some swearing by the QF 'value proposition' (i.e. your value to QF based on past spend), others saying a lottery, others saying what fare class you are booked in. In reality, it's probably just how the yield manager is feeling that day

They may however upgrade you instantly and regardless of status if there are any U (Business class award) fares in the bucket, of which there are none for your flights unfortunately. It seems they don't release many of these on the A380 from what I've experienced.

Otherwise you will be 'waitlisted' a day or so out from the flight and will get a confirmation if successful (see your booking online) 5+ hours before the flight. Saying that, there's no consistency. I had an upgrade confirmed last week 3 days out, other times my boarding pass has been rejected and they upgraded me at the gate, and other times your request just disappears and you enjoy(?) whY....

A lot of the Red-e-deals are upgradable now (V class comes to mind) depending on the sector, so check the fare conditions and don't waste money you don't have to. In my experience there is little difference in your upgrade chances across any discount Y booking class. Full Y more likely (but you could probably get a J or Y+ (W) seat cheaper...), but still comes down to status.

There is one way to get a guaranteed seat in J, BUY ONE