Upgrade for family of 4 SYD - LAX

[Kazda]

Hi
Read a few posts regarding the likelyhood of upgrades SYD-LAX and have a few questions that hopefully someone can answer.

Can I, being the QFF member, upgrade myself, wife & 2 kids or can only the person thats the QFF member be eligible for an upgrade from economy to business.

Also, if I can upgrade whole family, we want 4 upgrades or none at all, rather than only getting say 1 or 2 upgrades and then leaving the kids (13&14yrs) back in economy for the 14 hour flight by themselves or with my wife if only 1 upgrade is secured.

I read on the QFF site, that if you are allocated the upgrade but then not take it, your original seat may no longer be available. This may be a problem if I'm only allocated 1 seat upgrade and not the full 4 upgrades required as obviously I would be not real popular with the rest of the family if I took the upgrade, but I may not be able to then say it's all 4 or nothing.

I know it will be a real long shot that we get upgraded in the first place, but can someone advise if the upgrades are allocated only in the number requested EG 4 upgrades or do they then say we'll give you 1 only upgrade out of the 4 requestedin which case I may have to take it or lose my original seat.

Any information on how the upgrades are given out and also if anybody has ever tried to get 4 on one flight - what's my likelyhood on that happening.
thanks

 

[Dave Noble]

What QF status do you have? The higher your status the better the chance

Getting 4 upgrades on SYD-LAX is pretty hopeful but if you are all in a single booking, iirc, either you will all get upgraded or none of you will.

Would kids actually mind being on their own if you were only able to get 2 ? It isn't that uncommon for cabin splitting to occur.

You can use your miles to upgrade all and it is your status and not the status of the passenger which witll determine priority

Dave

 

[aus_flyer]

Getting 4 upgrades on SYD-LAX is pretty hopeful but if you are all in a single booking, iirc, either you will all get upgraded or none of you will.

Yes, if everyone is in the same booking (ie. everyone has the same booking reference), QF will upgrade eveyone or none at all. To the best of my knowledge, there is no risk of being split up.

 

[Kazda]

thanks for info.
I'm only a bronze so do you think my chances of 4 x upgrades are very slim and therefore should I use the points for award flights rather than saving them for an upgrade I may never get.

I've also read in other upgrade posts, something about business class buckets - What does 'business class buckets' mean and would the information be usefull in regard to determining if an upgrade would be available.

Eg this is what I found in another post in regard to fare buckets
"QF93 J4 C4 D0 I0 U0" and have no idea what it means

thanks heaps

 

[Dave Noble]

thanks for info.
I'm only a bronze so do you think my chances of 4 x upgrades are very slim and therefore should I use the points for award flights rather than saving them for an upgrade I may never get.

If you have booked the trip, then you might as well request the upgrades, if you don't get them then you have lost nothing.

Dave

 

[bigjobs]

also remember that most syd - lax flights are pretty full in j class

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Eg this is what I found in another post in regard to fare buckets
"QF93 J4 C4 D0 I0 U0" and have no idea what it means

thanks heaps

That is what QF is willing to sell at the moment. At least 4 "J" fare class, at least 4 "C" fare class (these are both high business fares) - note you don't add the numbers to get 8 available seats, the way to interpret it is at least 4 seats at a minimum fare level of "C" (in practice even this is a simplification ignoring such technicalities as married segments and the like).

When looking for awards and upgrades you need availability in those specific "fare" classes, although paid availability & experience gives a guide as to how likely it is or isnt that additional award/upgrade seats may be freed up, or even op-up chances.

 

[Kazda]

If you have booked the trip, then you might as well request the upgrades, if you don't get them then you have lost nothing.

Dave

True, however I don't want to tie up points for 5 months to find that I didn't get the upgrade and that I really had no chance of ever getting it under Bronze status, when I could use the points avail now and book an award flight for 4 to SIN for early next year.
Something to ponder about.....

 

[NM]

True, however I don't want to tie up points for 5 months to find that I didn't get the upgrade and that I really had no chance of ever getting it under Bronze status, when I could use the points avail now and book an award flight for 4 to SIN for early next year.
Something to ponder about.....

The points are not tied up when you request an upgrade. If you find a better use for them in the meantime you can use the points and cancel your upgarde request.

 

[NM]

When looking for awards and upgrades you need availability in those specific "fare" classes, although paid availability & experience gives a guide as to how likely it is or isnt that additional award/upgrade seats may be freed up, or even op-up chances.

As an example, I am reasonably confident my waitlisted upgrade later this week will be successful. I joined the waitlist about 6 weeks out as a Platinum member, and class availability shows F9A9 for the flight less than 48 hour out.

But if I was Bronze and availability showed F1A1 then I would not be holding much hope.

 

[Kazda]

The points are not tied up when you request an upgrade. If you find a better use for them in the meantime you can use the points and cancel your upgarde request.

Thanks NM for that info.

So just getting it straight. As long as I have enough points to request an upgrade in the first place, the points are not deducted at the time of request, only at time of the upgrade being granted.. have I read that correctly ?

Also if the points are not tied up at the time of the upgrade request.
Could I make an upgrade request, then decide to use some points for an award flight knowing that by the time the upgrade request flight comes around (say 2 months later) that I would have earned more points and therefore would have enough points for the upgrade...is that possible to be done.
Eg: Request an upgrade, use some points for award flights (therefore now not leaving enough points for upgrade) BUT then earn enough points still required for the upgrade prior to the upgrade being granted..

Also, If I put in an upgrade request, then decide to cancel the request and use my points for another award flight, is it a simple matter of logging into my profile on QFF website and un-requesting the upgrade. (I see that an upgrade can be made via My Bookings in QFF, so is that where any previous upgrade requests can also be cancelled.)

Thanks

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks NM for that info.

So just getting it straight. As long as I have enough points to request an upgrade in the first place, the points are not deducted at the time of request, only at time of the upgrade being granted.. have I read that correctly ?

You have indeed

Also if the points are not tied up at the time of the upgrade request.
Could I make an upgrade request, then decide to use some points for an award flight knowing that by the time the upgrade request flight comes around (say 2 months later) that I would have earned more points and therefore would have enough points for the upgrade...is that possible to be done.

Indeed you can; just make sure you have the points in the account when the upgrade is to be processed

Also, If I put in an upgrade request, then decide to cancel the request and use my points for another award flight, is it a simple matter of logging into my profile on QFF website and un-requesting the upgrade. (I see that an upgrade can be made via My Bookings in QFF, so is that where any previous upgrade requests can also be cancelled.)

Not sure if you can unrequest online, but you can definately do it over the phone

Dave

 

[Kazda]

Indeed you can; just make sure you have the points in the account when the upgrade is to be processed


Another thought, can upgrade requests be made if there is not enough points avail yet, knowing that there will be at the time of upgrade being processed.
and would I be safe to presume upgrade requests are processed approx 1 week prior to flight departure.

 

[NM]

Thanks NM for that info.

So just getting it straight. As long as I have enough points to request an upgrade in the first place, the points are not deducted at the time of request, only at time of the upgrade being granted.. have I read that correctly ?

Yes, that is correct. Points only deducted when the upgrade clears. This is generally the first sign that an upgrade has cleared when you log in to check on the morning of the flight - you notice the points balance has dropped.

Also if the points are not tied up at the time of the upgrade request.
Could I make an upgrade request, then decide to use some points for an award flight knowing that by the time the upgrade request flight comes around (say 2 months later) that I would have earned more points and therefore would have enough points for the upgrade...is that possible to be done.

Yes, you can do that.

Also, If I put in an upgrade request, then decide to cancel the request and use my points for another award flight, is it a simple matter of logging into my profile on QFF website and un-requesting the upgrade. (I see that an upgrade can be made via My Bookings in QFF, so is that where any previous upgrade requests can also be cancelled.)

Yes, after you have requested an upgrade, when you go into "upgrade flights" section, it will show as Requested. There will be a red Cancel button that you can click for the obvious function.

 

[Kazda]

Last question, I promise.

Can upgrade requests be made if there is not enough points avail yet, but knowing that there will be at the time of upgrade being processed and is there any advantage in doing that.
Eg If I'm a bronze and I request an upgrade before another bronze QFF makes an upgrade request, do I get 1st allocation over other Bronze member.

 

[NM]

Last question, I promise.

Can upgrade requests be made if there is not enough points avail yet, but knowing that there will be at the time of upgrade being processed and is there any advantage in doing that.
Eg If I'm a bronze and I request an upgrade before another bronze QFF makes an upgrade request, do I get 1st allocation over other Bronze member.

That I do not know. I have only ever requested upgrades when I have sufficient points in my account.