What is the best use of an F upgrade - day or night flight?

[Homer]

I've never paid for F, but I've used points to upgrade. F is great. No question.

In my DONE4 starting in 4 days (with Marge and Maggie) it seems like I have a fair chance of getting some upgrades. I've requested LHR-SIN on the A380 (a day/night flight) plus HKG-SYD (overnight). I was happy with that...until now. My TA just advised that "F is empty" on my SYD-EZE flight on Monday morning (I can't check myself because SeatCounter is offline) which is an 11 hour all-daylight flight.

I don't want to burn ~300,000 points on all of these upgrades (if they all came through). I know I can cancel the later upgrade requests if earlier requests come through, but there's no way I'm cancelling the A380 request.

So my question is: assuming you have the choice between an upgrade on a daytime flight (SYD-EZE) or an overnight flight (HKG-SYD), which would you choose?

 

[DTM1]

There's no general rule for this, but in your case, I think it depends on the airlines you are flying.

If you are flying CX from HKG to SYD, then I would drop that, as the CX bus product is almost as good as the QF F product for a night flight. If you are flying QF, then slightly different - depends on how well you sleep on the sloped seat.

Even so, if the flight to EZE is QF, then I would opt for an upgrade on that leg, all other things being equal.

cheers

 

[NM]

ExpertFlyer shows F6 A5 at the moment with only 4 seats allocated in the F cabin.

Buy the way, all of row 16 upper deck exit row is showing available. 16AB are blocked but unallocated, 16JK seem to not even be blocked.

 

[serfty]

Won't you earn plenty of QFF points with your travels?

In any case, SYD-EZE is 45K (7326 miles) and HKG-SYD is 30K (4581 miles).

I would upgrade the longer flight as it's like having a leisurely dinner, movie then sleep. HKG-SYD is a rushed dinner then sleep.

As far as QF17 on Monday goes, it is showing:

• RC F6 A5 J9 C9 D9 I5 B9 H9 K9 M9 L0 V9 S9 N0 QC OC XC E0

 

[Homer]

ExpertFlyer shows F6 A5 at the moment with only 4 seats allocated in the F cabin.

Buy the way, all of row 16 upper deck exit row is showing available. 16AB are blocked but unallocated, 16JK seem to not even be blocked.

My TA has us in 23 DEF at the moment. I asked her about the elusive row 16 but she said that it was blocked. My understanding is that this is usually unblocked at check-in, so my TA is unable to allocate that seat?

 

[Bundy Bear]

There's no general rule for this, but in your case, I think it depends on the airlines you are flying.

If you are flying CX from HKG to SYD, then I would drop that, as the CX bus product is almost as good as the QF F product for a night flight. If you are flying QF, then slightly different - depends on how well you sleep on the sloped seat.

Even so, if the flight to EZE is QF, then I would opt for an upgrade on that leg, all other things being equal.

cheers

SYD-EZE is not all daylight; you are flying east so have to go through the night to end up in EZE the same day you departed.

Only flown BA J, JL J, UA J and SQ J once each so can't comment on how good the difference is between QF F and QF J.

 

[serfty]

Most agents can't pre allocate exit row seats. They can put in a request to "Seating" however.

In any case, given the age of Jr, only one of you would be exit seat eligible.

 

[Homer]

SYD-EZE is not all daylight; you are flying east so have to go through the night to end up in EZE the same day you departed.

Yes I would have thought so too, however I found a trip report on this sector by KiwiFlyer on FT and I'm sure he said that it was unusual because it was daylight all the way.

 

[Homer]

I would upgrade the longer flight as it's like having a leisurely dinner, movie then sleep. HKG-SYD is a rushed dinner then sleep.

Good point serfty. I've flown HKG-SYD in F (an upgrade) and you are right - I was asleep pretty quickly due to the time of the departure and the number of drinks I'd had in The Wing. OK I'll put in a request for SYD-EZE.

 

[docjames]

See, I would have said upgrade the flights later in your trip.

If you win the upgrade lottery and get F SYD-EZE, you're thinking on the other flights "only J" (if they dont get upgraded). Plus the benefits feel more when you're already halfway around the world (and generally sick of airports, airlines and aircraft!).

I guess it's a psychological thing.

Just my $0.02

 

[Alanslegal]

Aiming for an F upgrade only to sleep! Aaaaah only in the world of a frequent flyer, and I'm green with envy! :shock:

 

[ColinP]

Yes I would have thought so too, however I found a trip report on this sector by KiwiFlyer on FT and I'm sure he said that it was unusual because it was daylight all the way.

I'm guessing it would depend on the time of year. The great circle route SYD-EZE goes a long way South, almost to the Antarctic coast. In Summer it would be daylight (or twilight) all the way but in Winter it would be dark for almost the entire flight.