What is KF upgrade availability like?

[jrs]

Hi All,

I've again reached Qantas WP 6 months into my year and really don't see any advantage (ok, Syd F lounge aside) to keep flying internationally with Qantas.

I'll be able to get to KF Gold pretty easily but before I do I just wanted to get some feedback.

What is upgrade availability, would you say you have a good success rate ?
Is it like QFF where you only find out a few hours before ?
Has anyone found that KF will status match from QFF ?

Thanks in advance,

James

 

[albatross710]

What is upgrade availability, would you say you have a good success rate ?

For me, I have had excellent success at getting J & F redemptions to diverse destinations including CPT, PVG, ZRH, MXP, LAX. I am generally planned and confirmed 4-6 months in advance of my travel. I've also noticed that upgrade availability also gets revised 3-4 weeks prior to departure. i have had Mrs Albatross710 and I in J class redemptions many times. I've had the four Albatross family members on J redemptions on the same flight.

Is it like QFF where you only find out a few hours before ?

Upgrades are processed and confirmed at the time of the request. This is generally done online and can be easily viewed prior to deciding on which flights to take.

Has anyone found that KF will status match from QFF ?

I don't have personal experience on this. My observation is that they value status on actual expenditure. I guess, put it to them.

Alby

 

[thehound]

Upgrades are processed and confirmed at the time of the request. This is generally done online and can be easily viewed prior to deciding on which flights to take.

Could you please explain how you can view which flights will be upgradeable at the time of ticket purchase?

Just before Qantas ground to a halt last week I made the decision to switch all of my points earn (AmexPlat and CitiBusiness Gold) over to KrisFlyer from Qantas, since I gather from everyone on AFF that upgrade and award availability with KF are definitely superior to QFF. I will mainly want to book Perth to London flights, either with business award seats or by buying economy and upgrading.

Is it correct that with Singapore you can book your economy seats and then request and receive immediate upgrade confirmation? (Rather than the ridiculous Qantas system of having to wait until just 5 hours before the flight). Many thanks.

 

[albatross710]

Could you please explain how you can view which flights will be upgradeable at the time of ticket purchase?

The way I do it is to log into your KF account on the website. Perform a flight search and tick Krisflyer Miles. This will show you the available redemptions available. Then book & pay for your economy seat on those flights with availability.

Is it correct that with Singapore you can book your economy seats and then request and receive immediate upgrade confirmation? (Rather than the ridiculous Qantas system of having to wait until just 5 hours before the flight). Many thanks.

Rather civilised I know. Depending on how far out you book you could spend almost a year thinking about hitting the KF lounges, the SQ inflight service and the world's widest J seat. Enjoy.

 

[thehound]

Thanks for the reply albatross. As long as availability is better than Qantas for award flights, I think the shift of >100,000 points per annum over to KrisFlyer will be a good one. We did manage to book two First Any Seat Awards (for almost the Classic Award point burn) from LHR-SIN on Qantas A380 for next September, but it was almost all too difficult having to literally swoop on them a year in advance within minutes of release. Whilst not a SIA Suite, I'm still looking forward to it with Mrs Hound

Any other tips on KrisFlyer points earn and burn?

 

[Deewhy]

The way I do it is to log into your KF account on the website. Perform a flight search and tick Krisflyer Miles. This will show you the available redemptions available. Then book & pay for your economy seat on those flights with availability.

Is this the way it works? ie available award seats = available upgrade seats? Any other way to confirm whether in fact this is the upgrade availability?

I'm looking at booking HKG to SYD and tossing up Y to J upgrade on Singapore Air or pay for QF Premium economy. If i go the SQ route, i don't want to be left hanging without the J availability...otherwise I'm left in SQ Y.

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for the reply albatross. As long as availability is better than Qantas for award flights, I think the shift of >100,000 points per annum over to KrisFlyer will be a good one. We did manage to book two First Any Seat Awards (for almost the Classic Award point burn) from LHR-SIN on Qantas A380 for next September, but it was almost all too difficult having to literally swoop on them a year in advance within minutes of release. Whilst not a SIA Suite, I'm still looking forward to it with Mrs Hound

Any other tips on KrisFlyer points earn and burn?

For instance today I booked a redemption tix for a redemption nominee to fly SGN to BNE on 4th Jan.
However, I wasn't able to get them an outbound leg between 20th Dec & 25th.

I am planning a trip to MNL sometime before mid December this year and I expect that I would be able to find a KF redemption +/- 3 days that will suit.

The key to redemptions for me is always flexibility.

Is this the way it works? ie available award seats = available upgrade seats? Any other way to confirm whether in fact this is the upgrade availability?

I'm looking at booking HKG to SYD and tossing up Y to J upgrade on Singapore Air or pay for QF Premium economy. If i go the SQ route, i don't want to be left hanging without the J availability...otherwise I'm left in SQ Y.

My understanding is that it is the same inventory.

For your exact itinerary you could call the KF call centre and check with them.