Which flight to book for upgrade

[wendlle]

I’ve never used point for an upgrade before so have no idea what I’m doing

if I bought two tickets one for myself and one for my child from Canberra to Los Angeles what fare do I need to buy if I want to use points to upgrade us ?
How many points do you use for an upgrade to either premium economy or business?

 

[aaronm]

If you're Velocity Silver you're unfortunately not eligible for points upgrades on long-haul flights. These are available for gold/platinum status and only from Freedom or Premium Economy fares.

 

[wendlle]

If you're Velocity Silver you're unfortunately not eligible for points upgrades on long-haul flights. These are available for gold/platinum status and only from Freedom or Premium Economy fares.

Thankyou, I should hit gold again in May and I am planning on going to USA in November.
If I book now with silver and get a freedom fare, and then get gold later I'm assuming I can still upgrade even though I wasn't gold at time of booking?

 

[odysseus]

Yes, that would be fine, once you are gold.

 

[aaronm]

If I book now with silver and get a freedom fare, and then get gold later I'm assuming I can still upgrade even though I wasn't gold at time of booking?

Yes, 45k points from a Freedom fare. Availability is generally scarce but I've always had success on the upgrade waitlist.

 

[Harthagan]

I personally wouldn't book a freedom fare until you are certain there is reward availability and you are eligible to upgrade using points. If you get stuck without an upgrade you are left with the most expensive cattle class seat available. I'd either wait or pay a little bit more for saver PE, which you can upgrade to J for the same outlay of 45,000 points. But at least you have the safety net of a better seat if your upgrade falls through.

 

[wendlle]

I personally wouldn't book a freedom fare until you are certain there is reward availability and you are eligible to upgrade using points. If you get stuck without an upgrade you are left with the most expensive cattle class seat available. I'd either wait or pay a little bit more for saver PE, which you can upgrade to J for the same outlay of 45,000 points. But at least you have the safety net of a better seat if your upgrade falls through.

It's funny you say that because I was just thinking the exact same thing. Hate to lay out so much cash to not have any reward for it.

 

[Harthagan]

It's funny you say that because I was just thinking the exact same thing. Hate to lay out so much cash to not have any reward for it.

Yep and you also get 50% more SC and 25% more points with the PE option. Every little bit helps

Only time I think purchasing the freedom fare speculatively hoping for an upgrade makes sense is if your travel dates are flexible. That way you can change your flights based on reward seat availability down the line. Wouldn't work too well for me as I normally like to have my accommodation booked in advance as well, and reward J seats generally only start showing up a week or two before the flights.