Upgrading 101

[liebs]

Hi there. I have approx 150,000 points accrued mainly through my Citibank Credit card. My plan is to upgrade tickets for my wife and I (to Business class) on our next trip to South Africa.

I have no status

What Im interested to know is this:
What is the most efficient / economical way to upgrade.
Do I purchase a business class ticket with points?
Do I purchase a cheap discount economy fare paying cash and use points to upgrade it to "J"

Any advice welcome, as its taken a while to accrue these points I wanted to make sure I get most value when redeeming. many thanks.

ps: I see there are two types of fare that can be purchased using points do these have anything to do with the upgrade?

 

[MelUser]

I take it that you are a member of the Qantas FF program.

Qantas awards points upgrades just before flight departure so unless you are constantly checking your booking on line you will find out at the airport if you have been successful.

Economy fares must be purchased in (S) class or better for them to be upgradeable.

Qantas hands out upgrades based on Freq Flyer Status Level - first they work through the Chairmans Lounge, then Gold, then Silver and lastly Bronze members.

The number of points is expensive - eg 2 passengers (disc economy to bus) one way from SYD to London or SYD to New York is 192,000 points in total.

Many people do not like the Qantas international upgrade system as it is a bit of a lottery in that you don't really know how you will go until you actually fly. Even some Platinum members get frustrated with the inability to get points upgrades.

Buying business award tickets is something you can do through the qantas website. Awards in business are very limited and cost many many points - more than upgrades.

Good luck!

 

[Maca44]

If you do not have status with the airline/FF program the points are tied in to, you will have great difficulty in getting an upgrade to J. The alternative could be to get a J class award ticket on points and then buy another J ticket.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Do I purchase a cheap discount economy fare paying cash and use points to upgrade it to "J"

As Macca stated this is most unlikely with no status (and even with status the odds would not be good)..and more so as you want 2 tickets upgraded.

Also being discount economy..some airlines I believe may not allow such an upgrade.

In front of you would be passengers in full economy, economy plus (if available) without status...and then same agin with status.

So you would be at the back of the queue hoping that no-one more upgradeable that you puts in a request = low odds of success.

 

[swissbignose]

Please be aware that flights between Australia and South Africa can have quite high loads for business class seats.

I've found that mid-week flights (including Monday) have less risk that the business class cabin is full.