Upgrade QF SYD-LAX

[oc7]

hi everyone,

i have a question about upgrades on QF. I want to take a flight from SYD - LAX with my partner. I want to use some of my points on an upgrade on this return trip..

could you please tell me how to do this ??

What would be the total points used ? Am i likely to be able to do this ? How do i do this ?

Most importantly. A while ago i tried to upgrade from eco to buis but they told me my fare could do that. I bought my fare from bestflights.. were do i have to buy my fares to make them able to be upgraded ? how much would these cost ?? thanks very much..

 

[Mal]

After buying your tickets, locate them at https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/auth/yourbookings/yourBookings or enter the Amadeus number (booking reference) on that page.

There are buttons for upgrading available on those pages. You can request an upgrade from 90 days till your flight until 24 hours before your flight. You can also call Qantas to log the request.

Keep in mind that the upgrade process for International flights is a biased system towards Platinum Frequent flyers. Qantas collates all requests for a flight in each Frequent Flyer status level and orders them by the time of request. Any upgrade seats are then allocated to Platinum requests, then Gold, then Silver, then Bronze in accordance with the time they were logged with Qantas (IE, if a Plat requests an upgrade 24 hours before the flight, even though they are at the bottom of the Plat queue, they are still in front of any Gold, Silver or Bronze member regardless of when they logged their request).


SYD-LAX is in "Band 8" of the Qantas points system (7001 miles- 8400 miles). This means you require 72000 points per person per flight to upgrade (unless you book a full Y ticket, which is normally circa $7500. If you did buy that, then it would only be 45000 points per person per flight).

Your chance of getting the upgrade is slim, but still possible. Qantas sells a lot of their business cabin to LAX and thus upgrade chances are low. It costs nothing to list for an upgrade, so you can always try.

Finally, only certain fare types are able to be upgraded. Super cheap fares are often booked in either N, O or Q classes. So you would have to request that the travel agent books you in a fare class that isn't N,O or Q. You of course may have a price penalty for booking in a higher class.

A lot more explanation and information is available at the following page:

Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Flight Upgrades

 

[Shano]

If you can travel mid-week then your upgrade chances will improve.

I recently flew LAX-MEL on a Tuesday night and used points (all 72,000 of them ) to upgrade from discount economy to business. The downstairds J cabin had about 10 empty seats. The first leg travelling MEL-LAX on a Saturday was full in all classes.

I suspect though that even mid-week that loading LAX-SYD may well be higher than LAX-MEL

 

[simongr]

Just wondering if oneworld status has any impact on upgrades. I am currently going through the AA challenge (but still have QF gold status until Sep 2007) and will be platinum shortly (and might sneak exec plat next year) and wondering how well my points might be used upgrade-wise when I am no longer QF SG.

Mind you - thinking about my travel profile - all int'l flights are J class (except AKL) so not much point upgrading - and this upgrade business doesnt impact on domestic flights.

 

[NM]

Just wondering if oneworld status has any impact on upgrades. I am currently going through the AA challenge (but still have QF gold status until Sep 2007) and will be platinum shortly (and might sneak exec plat next year) and wondering how well my points might be used upgrade-wise when I am no longer QF SG.

International Upgrades on QF are waitlisted with priority based on the QF FF account from which the points (or upgrade credits) Will be sourced. Since AA miles cannot be used, your AA status will have no impact on the waitlist priority.

So for best upgrade waitlist priority, find an eligible family member who is also a QF Platinum FF member, transfer your points to them and ask them to waitlist your upgrade using their points.