The Operational Upgrade Thread

[serfty]

A QP Officer in BNE told me that if the "X" class fare was a points & pay situation then UPGs could be requested in the Club but you couldn't do it at a kiosk. This is only when a portion of the airfare is paid for ie you cannot just pay for the taxes.

Seems like Qantas treat P&P similar to ASA's.

 

[gregcuthbert]

I have been QF WP for a year now and to date have not received an Op-Up. Best I have had for my trouble is an exit row seat.

Well I might only be a lowly SG I am still yet to feel the upgrade love....

 

[stark]

First ever op-ups last month.
QF7 12 august PE to J
QF8 31 august PE to J

Probably just used all my op-up luck in one month

 

[anat0l]

First ever op-ups last month.
QF7 12 august PE to J
QF8 31 august PE to J

Probably just used all my op-up luck in one month

Couldn't have happened to more fortunate flights, then.

 

[serfty]

First ever op-ups last month.
QF7 12 august PE to J
QF8 31 august PE to J

Probably just used all my op-up luck in one month

Good stuff!

Was that from rows 29-35 to rows 1-18?

 

[stark]

Good stuff!

Was that from rows 29-35 to rows 1-18?

Yeah had 30B preselected and was upgraded to 11B and 3E. I was especially happy about the 3E

 

[serfty]

Yeah had 30B preselected and was upgraded to 11B and 3E. I was especially happy about the 3E

Good Stuff ... Skybed (PE service) to upper deck Skybed (J service) and Skybed (PE service) to First Class (J service) is not to be sneezed at!

 

[NDiddy]

Thought I'd share a recent OP UP may partner and I received.


We bought a *A RTW ticket for Dec 2010 (heavily discounted economy). In late October I hurt my knee and as a result would be in crutches for the duration of the trip. Never considered cancelling as I was going to be proposing to Mrs Diddy in Barcelona where we met.


Trip Itin was MEL - SIN - FRA - BCN // AMS - FRA - YYC - YVR - SYD - MEL


Tried to play on the crutches to get an upgrade but all flights were chockers. Got into YVR and our seats were terrible, really far away from the bathroom which was a big deal for me on a 15+ hour flight.


Went to the gate desk and the lady must have had about 15 boarding passes all scattered around. Mrs Diddy asked her if there was a chance that we could have our seats changed to be closer to the lavatories and basically got told no chance, economy is full and she was still trying to seat families together.


So then asked whether if we could offer up our seats if we got upgraded to Executive First. Took one look at the seats and 5 mins later new boarding passes printed for 7 D/G in Executive First


Turns out our economy seats solved a lot of her problems. 15 hours on a complete lie flat bed was amazing, probably slept a good 9 hours in comfort as well. First and only time that Ive ever had an upgrade and probably the best route to get it on our itin.

 

[Flying Fox]

Turns out our economy seats solved a lot of her problems. 15 hours on a complete lie flat bed was amazing, probably slept a good 9 hours in comfort as well. First and only time that Ive ever had an upgrade and probably the best route to get it on our itin.

Nice & congrats!

 

[stark]

Ok I'm buying a lotto ticket now, was upgraded to J on qf513 this morning. Happened at NGCI pole.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Good Stuff ... Skybed (PE service) to upper deck Skybed (J service) and Skybed (PE service) to First Class (J service) is not to be sneezed at!

yes thats 10 years of op-up luck i reckon!!!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Bloke in T-shirt & torn jeans nil status on QF549 BNE/SYD asks "yeah I was just wondering if I could be bumped up to Business Class"?

He was told by gate agent that if the airline does upgrade people fflyer Platinums would be first on the list ie no deal.

 

[NDiddy]

Bloke in T-shirt & torn jeans nil status on QF549 BNE/SYD asks "yeah I was just wondering if I could be bumped up to Business Class"?

He was told that if the airline does upgrade people fflyer Platinums would be first on the list ie no deal.

LOL - Owned!

 

[dfcatch]

Well, I helped give a CL an OpUp the other day.

SWMBO and I were SYD-MEL on a 767 in 25A/B.

Checkin at the totem to discover we're in 26D/E or similar.

SYD J lounge dragon: "Must be an equipment change"
Me: "what, from a 767 to a 767??".
Dragon: "Sorry sir, best I can do if you want a window is 36J/K".
Me: "ok fine".

After a few mins I was actually quite annoyed at being bumped from my carefully selected seats, so I head off the QP service desk instead.

Nice QP Lady: "Must have been an equipment change"
Me: "Nope - try something new"
Nice QP Lady: "Let's have a look who is in 25A..... Oh, it's a CL"
Me: "Why the hell am I being bumped from my carefully selected seats to something worse, by a CL, when J is wide open??".
Nice QP Lady: "i do apologise air"
Me: "Not good enough, stick him in J, or if we have to be bumped, then we should be bumped up, not down".
Nice QP Lady: "You're right sir, here you go, 25A/B for you".... As she picked up the phone to the CL desk to let the CL know the bad news that he was now in 3A

 

[Canny man]

Bloke in T-shirt & torn jeans nil status on QF549 BNE/SYD asks "yeah I was just wondering if I could be bumped up to Business Class"?

He was told by gate agent that if the airline does upgrade people fflyer Platinums would be first on the list ie no deal.

It's not the jeans. I was upgraded on BNE/SYD this morning in jeans and looking a little rough after an entertaining father's day. Must be the 4800sc'. ....

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Well, I helped give a CL an OpUp the other day.

SWMBO and I were SYD-MEL on a 767 in 25A/B.

Checkin at the totem to discover we're in 26D/E or similar.

SYD J lounge dragon: "Must be an equipment change"
Me: "what, from a 767 to a 767??".
Dragon: "Sorry sir, best I can do if you want a window is 36J/K".
Me: "ok fine".

After a few mins I was actually quite annoyed at being bumped from my carefully selected seats, so I head off the QP service desk instead.

Nice QP Lady: "Must have been an equipment change"
Me: "Nope - try something new"
Nice QP Lady: "Let's have a look who is in 25A..... Oh, it's a CL"
Me: "Why the hell am I being bumped from my carefully selected seats to something worse, by a CL, when J is wide open??".
Nice QP Lady: "i do apologise air"
Me: "Not good enough, stick him in J, or if we have to be bumped, then we should be bumped up, not down".
Nice QP Lady: "You're right sir, here you go, 25A/B for you".... As she picked up the phone to the CL desk to let the CL know the bad news that he was now in 3A

Don't just assume that because your original seats of 25AB still exist on the new aircraft that it wasn't an aircraft swap, yes even 767 to 767, as there are three different types of configurations on that aircraft.

I'd say a plausible explanation might be that the CL pax had 23A on the previous 767 which was the domestic 30/222 config then the aircraft operating your flight was changed to the 25/204 intl config where there is no 23AB or 24AB as both rows are designated as crew rest.

So I'd say maybe a supervisor or perhaps someone in the CL has looked after their top tier pax by giving him a similar seat to what he had on the other aircraft & moved you both.

You've always got to look at the scenario from the other pax's perspective. What if it was you who had 23A on the original aircraft which didn't exist on the new one. Would you expect to be moved to the next most forward seat ie 25A or just take what is left over eg 26D?

Try not to vent your anger at the staff for something that's beyond their control. You have to appreciate that they're the meat in the sandwich as either the CL Member or you is going to be upset at the change so they're damned if they do & damned if they don't.

 

[dfcatch]

Don't just assume that because your original seats of 25AB still exist on the new aircraft that it wasn't an aircraft swap, yes even 767 to 767, as there are three different types of configurations on that aircraft.

I'd say a plausible explanation might be that the CL pax had 23A on the previous 767 which was the domestic 30/222 config then the aircraft operating your flight was changed to the 25/204 intl config where there is no 23AB or 24AB as both rows are designated as crew rest.

So I'd say maybe a supervisor or perhaps someone in the CL has looked after their top tier pax by giving him a similar seat to what he had on the other aircraft & moved you both.

You've always got to look at the scenario from the other pax's perspective. What if it was you who had 23A on the original aircraft which didn't exist on the new one. Would you expect to be moved to the next most forward seat ie 25A or just take what is left over eg 26D?

Try not to vent your anger at the staff for something that's beyond their control. You have to appreciate that they're the meat in the sandwich as either the CL Member or you is going to be upset at the change so they're damned if they do & damned if they don't.

Hi Oz,

1/ Oh I wasn't angry at the staff - I probably should have used more smileys in my recount... I get lazy on the iphone... It was all quite pleasant and polite, and the staff were appropriately thanked

2/ No it was always the same config 767 where 23AB and 24AB actually don't exist as it's a 'storage cupboard' from memory (unless the crew rest is inside said storage..??). Hence why I had selected 25AB as soon as they opened up sometime around T-80 as they were front of Y for the AB column.

3/ I have no problem with a CL being looked after. But when J is wide open - I think there is a better way for staff (or Altea perhaps) to look after a CL without displacing a WP (or any other pax for that matter if it's not necessary....).

Drifting OT - but there are plenty of instances on AFF of WPs or SGs finding themselves down the back of the bus due to equipment changes, so I'm not sure that "displacing other pax" so as not to inconvenience the displaced status pax is standard MO (or perhaps it is).

Either way - it's one thing to lose your seats due to an equipment change on a SYD-MEL (which didn't happen in this example), it's another thing if you get bumped from your carefully preselected seats on a SYD-LAX (as distinct to an equipment change which of course is something you just have to deal with).

Anyway - appreciate the comments - but in this case I just felt that the end result should have been the first result, or alternatively if a WP is getting bumped for whatever reason - it should be up, not down. No different to the discussion about being asked in-flight to give up your seat to accommodate other pax (in another thread somewhere).

 

[cirqueboy]

On QF 321 (LA 800) AKL-SCL.

Gate Guy: Mr Cirqueboy, I need to talk to you.... As you can see, we have alot of babies on this flight and you are in 12A, a bassinet seat. I can offer you an emergency exit row, window seat with no one next to you.

Me: Sure, no problem.

Gate Guy: Thanks you so much for helping us out.

I don't get a new boarding pass, just told to sit in 25A. Get on board, 25A already taken. Hmmm. Chat to Hostie. She says come with me, and bring your bag. Thankfully, we walk forward, right into 9A

 

[LAH]

Bloke in T-shirt & torn jeans nil status on QF549 BNE/SYD asks "yeah I was just wondering if I could be bumped up to Business Class"?

He was told by gate agent that if the airline does upgrade people fflyer Platinums would be first on the list ie no deal.

If you don't ask, you don't get. My youngest when she was about 10 years old taught me a lesson. Arrived at Melbourne airport about 2 days after I was downgraded from gold to silver. So, no QC/business class lounge - we were travelling internationally in economy class. She said, I am going to explain to the lounge that it is only 2 days since you were gold mum! Firstly I tried to discourage her, and then I decided to let her do it and learn from the experience. THEY LET US IN!! I was shell shocked. She was determined, and she did it! After about 30 minutes in the lounge there was an announcement that our flight had been delayed for a few hours. Mini miss (she is now mini ms) won the day!

 

[scottpilot10]

I'm booked in J upper deck 747. Plane chock a block with FA's running around stowing bags, collecting coats etc. Get to my seat to find some bloke in it. We confer, he's taken the second leg seat, apologetic and moves. Sit down, check menu, settle in. Next thing a tsunami in the form of grumpy woman angrily remonstrates that I am in her seat. Makes a big deal of it and I'm in no mood for a confrontation. Exit seat, grab a champagne from passing tray and stand in the exit row to ponder fate and to let the FAs sort it (once they had a bit of spare time). I can hear in the foreground the grumpy woman demanding an upgrade due to being "mucked around". As soon as she said that I knew things were going to work out well for me. Sure enough, with a knowing smile, the nice FA said that I would be placed in first, sorry for the inconvenience. You know, the thing I really like about Qantas is that usually, if you treat people the way that you like to be treated yourself, you get looked after. Some people are just plain rude and deserve to be treated accordingly.