YUPP Season

[dfcatch]

Quick question for the YUPPers amongst us.

Is it fair to say that we all favour the northern winter as the YUPP season?

(which of course makes sense based on summer being peak season).

I have a start/end connection at LAX at the end of the year that is just begging to be taken advantage of.
Although my status is already renewed through end 2012, so I have most of next year available to me too.

Of course I have a feeling that SWMBO may very well put an end to that thinking

(I'm hoping to sway her views after a couple of upcoming F lounge visits

 

[serfty]

Being a self employed IT contractor, any period with non working week days is of interest.

Of course Christmas/New Year is a tough one due to the cost of getting to/from North America.

Australia Day next year is a Thursday and the 27th Jan is in my sights.

 

[Mal]

Snow/ice delays are a pita in the Northern Winter. In Summer, there are Tornado and storm delays.

Neither are conducive to trouble free flying!

That said - take your chance, make things happen. Just allow for delays.

 

[dfcatch]

Being a self employed IT contractor, any period with non working week days is of interest.

Of course Christmas/New Year is a tough one due to the cost of getting to/from North America.

Australia Day next year is a Thursday and the 27th Jan is in my sights.

Snow/ice delays are a pita in the Northern Winter. In Summer, there are Tornado and storm delays.

Thanks Serfty and Mal.

You're both quite right. I do try and avoid ORD in winter and I did run into the SFO fog trouble last year at the end of my SEA run.

hmmmm......temptation......

 

[serfty]

Snow is an issue, There some big dumps in Dec/Jan/Feb.

On my "Oz Day" run this year I booked LAX-BOS(Redeye) with a 7am BOS-MIA. On arrival into LAX I found my next day's 7am flight had been cancelled - E/F showed the next BOS-MIA at 9:30 was F7 A2 - I went to the T4 F/L desk and grabbed one of the A seats.¹ Two hours later it was F0 A0.

Getting on the red-eye I concentrated on sleeping for the 5 hour flight, only to be awoken 3 hours in with the Captain on the PA announcing a 3am stop at ORD to refuel due to storms having closed BOS but expected to clear. Landed in BOS around 7am in bright sunlight with over a metre of snow having been dumped.²

¹ I also had to change to a later MIA-AUA flight, meaning I arrived there at 10pm rather than 3pm.

² It was fascinating to watch the snow clearing process. Even better from the warmth of the BOS A/C.

 

[dfcatch]

Landed in BOS around 7am in bright sunlight with over a metre of snow having been dumped.²

² It was fascinating to watch the snow clearing process. Even better from the warmth of the BOS A/C.

Yes I've watched the same at LGA before - it's quite impressive. As an aside I've always been impressed at how NYC copes with heavy snow compared with DC which seems to simply shut down when the white stuff hits the ground.

LAX-ORD-MIA-AUA is $2.08 (USD)/SC atm.

 

[Blackadder]

Just as a tip don't limit yourself to starting out of LAX, also look at SNA,ONT,SFO as other starting points.

 

[Grooba]

I'm not a fan of running in the US over their winter, too many weather factors for my liking. Especially if you have tight connections - I was quite impressed by serfty's effort a few months ago, risky business!

Personally I book mine in around this time each year and have had no problems with weather delays.

 

[Mal]

Personally I book mine in around this time each year and have had no problems with weather delays.

Yeah, tis a pretty good time right now - but those storms and tornadoes around the place have caused big grief.

It was only a few weeks ago that I was in the US and having huge dramas due to ORD "low cloud" issues, and even missed a Tornado going through my terminal...

Touch wood, I believe I've only been seriously affected once out of 20+ YUPP flights. Never downgraded (although offered downgrades if I wanted to leave earlier), but my luck won't last forever, and all it takes is something major to occur to cause massive dramas....

 

[Grooba]

Yea that's true, the tornadoes around summer in certain areas can be worrisome. Even still, I'll still book my runs over the US summer as those winter snowstorms can (and do) cause havoc.

Plus I'm not a huge fan of cold weather (unless there's a reason for it, ie skiing) so a weeks escape to warmer pastures suits me perfectly

 

[Danger]

I'm in the early stages of planning a oneworld Explorer fare that will take me to North America in December and January and I'm looking at a YUPP. The options I've looked at more than double in price from 1 December.

Is this to be expected or is it a bit too early for AA to be looking that far ahead? Will it be possible to find a decent status run in late December? I'm more than happy to be flying over new year!

 

[drewbles]

I'm in the early stages of planning a oneworld Explorer fare that will take me to North America in December and January and I'm looking at a YUPP. The options I've looked at more than double in price from 1 December.

Is this to be expected or is it a bit too early for AA to be looking that far ahead? Will it be possible to find a decent status run in late December? I'm more than happy to be flying over new year!

YUPP fares are typically 7 day advanced purchase. KUPP's can be up to 21 days, so if you're happy with YUPP's then you should be fine.

I have to form something up within the next two weeks, to take in around 3 weeks from now. I'm fast running out of time to book it too (Looks like a weekend in the Caribbean for me!)

 

[Grooba]

Same here, is the time to organize my mid year yupps. Caribbean is a tad more expensive than I'd like, and I'm not convinced a PTY/MGA/etc run is a good idea. It is a great idea $$$ wise but logistically might not be the best thing to do. Delays/cavity searches/are you a drug runner questions/etc....

Also need to get to SEA for a day to do the Boeing tour, this significantly increases over all costings...

Decisions decisions...

 

[dfcatch]

I'm days away from finalizing my plans......

The Caribbean looks good (Whistler is also on my agenda so I may need to thaw out )

MGA etc just doesn't quite do it for me..... I'm not quite that adventurous!

 

[Princess Fiona]

They say that San Juan is a lovely place to visit

 

[dfcatch]

They say that San Juan is a lovely place to visit

I'm usually a "fly-in fly-out" kinda guy, but I'm actually toying with maybe a day or two in SJU

 

[Danger]

They say that San Juan is a lovely place to visit

I'm usually a "fly-in fly-out" kinda guy, but I'm actually toying with maybe a day or two in SJU

Ex-SJU YUPPs are the ones I've found are more than doubling on 1 December.

My first YUPP/KUPP run was in early December a few years back but not at the prices I'm seeing now.

 

[serfty]

Actually, they are not 'doubling' - they simply aren't being offered. Full fare showing up at all times, but they are the only offering from December.

I reckon this will change once I class gets filed for the mainland to San Juan flights. The "Instant Upgrade" fares use this class. I checked the fare's routing rules, it has no expiry date. (Infinity - see below)

If you look now, Dec 1 KUPP (KCE7UPV1) is available, but still full fare only for Dec 2.

See this: Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Flight Availability Search
Departing SJU on 01/12/12 12:00 AM for MIA
Flying AA  
Direct/Non-Stop Only
                                                                    Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes

AA 1714       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S6 G3 N0 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 7:30 AM   01/12/12 9:15 AM             94% / 11m
AA 656        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N3 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 9:35 AM   01/12/12 11:25 AM            84% / 39m
AA 535        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N0 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 12:00 PM  01/12/12 1:45 PM             90% / 29m
AA 1306       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N0 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 1:30 PM   01/12/12 3:15 PM             92% / 10m
AA 588        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N0 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 3:15 PM   01/12/12 5:05 PM             90% / 42m
AA 2202       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D7 I6 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N3 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 5:25 PM   01/12/12 7:25 PM             73% / 46m
AA 1736       0      SJU                MIA                757       Daily           J7 D7 I7 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N7 Q0 O0 
                     01/12/12 8:40 PM   01/12/12 10:25 PM            71% / 33m

and this for Dec 2:

Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Flight Availability Search
Departing SJU on 02/12/12 12:00 for MIA
Flying AA  
Direct/Non-Stop Only
                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes

AA 1714       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 7:30 AM   02/12/12 9:15 AM             94% / 11m
AA 656        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G5 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 9:35 AM   02/12/12 11:25 AM            84% / 39m
AA 535        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V0 S0 G0 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 12:00 PM  02/12/12 1:45 PM             90% / 29m
AA 1306       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V0 S0 G0 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 1:30 PM   02/12/12 3:15 PM             92% / 10m
AA 588        0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W0 V0 S0 G0 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 3:15 PM   02/12/12 5:05 PM             90% / 42m
AA 2202       0      SJU                MIA                738       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V6 S0 G0 N0 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 5:25 PM   02/12/12 7:25 PM             73% / 46m
AA 1736       0      SJU                MIA                757       Daily           J7 D0 I0 Y7 B7 H7 K7 M7 L7 W7 V7 S7 G7 N4 Q0 O0 
                     02/12/12 8:40 PM   02/12/12 10:25 PM            71% / 33m

What I have notices with AA is that full fare premium buckets are often available from 330 days out, but discounted premium is only loaded about 2 weeks later.

Today it's early on the 18th December in DFW, so today + 330 days, less 14 days give December 1st, 2012.

Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Fare Routing Search:
Departing SJU on 01/12/12 for LAS
Fare basis code KCE7UPV1
Flying AA
Routing code 606

    V FARE BASIS     BK    FARE   TRAVEL-TICKET AP  MINMAX  RTG
  1   KCE7UPV1       I X   512.00     ----      7/1  -/  -  606
PASSENGER TYPE-ADT                 AUTO PRICE-YES              
FROM-SJU TO-LAS    CXR-AA    TVL-01DEC12  RULE-VP02 VPDR/867
FARE BASIS-KCE7UPV1          SPECIAL FARE  DIS-E   VENDOR-ATP
FARE TYPE-SIP      OW-INSTANT PURCHASE
USD   512.00  0606  E05JAN12 D-INFINITY   FC-KCE7UPV1  FN-     
SYSTEM DATES - CREATED 05JAN12/1955  EXPIRES INFINITY
 
PUBLISHED RTG SJU-LAS/AA606 /TAR-VPDRG   EF-05JAN12 DIS-INDEF
 
 1. SJU-WAS/PHL/BWI/BOS/BDL-CHI-LAS
 2. SJU-MIA-FLL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS
 3. SJU-ORL-TPA/MIA/FLL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS
 4. SJU-FLL-MIA-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS
 5. SJU-TPA/MIA/FLL-ORL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS
 6. SJU-MIA-FLL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS
 7. SJU-ORL-TPA/MIA/FLL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS
 8. SJU-FLL-MIA-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS
 9. SJU-TPA/MIA/FLL-ORL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS
10. SJU-WAS/PHL/BWI/BOS/BDL-CHI-LAS-LAX-LAS
11. SJU-MIA-FLL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS-LAX-LAS
12. SJU-ORL-TPA/MIA/FLL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS-LAX-LAS
13. SJU-FLL-MIA-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS-LAX-LAS
14. SJU-TPA/MIA/FLL-ORL-STL/RDU/NYC/MSY/EWR-CHI-LAS-LAX-LAS
15. SJU-MIA-FLL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS-LAX-LAS
16. SJU-ORL-TPA/MIA/FLL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS-LAX-LAS
17. SJU-FLL-MIA-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS-LAX-LAS
18. SJU-TPA/MIA/FLL-ORL-STL/RDU/MSY-DFW-LAS-LAX-LAS

 

[Princess Fiona]

My flight in June is still available.
8 legs return from the West Coast

 

[Danger]

Thanks, serfty.

A lot of the information you posted from EF is double-Dutch to me but I think I've got your main point, that being the fares aren't doubling, just probably not yet available. I'll keep trying. I also probably need to look at a premium membership to EF and read up on some Flyertalk posts as to how understand the complex parts.