paid for at Gate upgrade

[Dyslexic traveler]

Hi all I was talking to a friend in the USA last night and they were talking about at check in upgrades, he said that if you ask for a paid for upgrade they will often sell a J seat for an extra $200 US, I was wondering if that happens here in AUS, like asking Emirates how much they would charge for an upgrade at check in MEL LHR. I have a friend who is travelling with his wife and kids on Wednesday in Y so it may be worth a try has any one tried this and did it work

 

[Blackadder]

Only Jetstar Intl offer "paid upgrades" as such on some services AFAIK
Otherwise subject to availibility it would be the difference between the price of your ticket, and the price of a full fare F ticket.

 

[whereishome]

And the paid upgrades now are something like AUD$500 ex Australia and ¥50 000 ex Japan on JQ...

 

[markis10]

There have been reports of VA doing it as well.

 

[trooper]

And UA does on many routes... but it's a lot more than $200 for any long haul flight...

Latest report on FT (there is a LARGE thread about buy ups on UA) reported SYD-LAX Y>C offered for $1300-odd USD... (wonder whether he meant AUD? Not a trivial amount.. but still a bargain based on normal C fares!!)

 

[Dyslexic traveler]

I know that Air pacific will do it they have a sign at the international check in i just remmeberd that from my last trip to Fiji but i was on a J so no need to upgrade.

 

[blueflamenco]

I thought Hawaiian did too?

Your friend in the US is correct but this is mostly for domestic flights which you can upgrade for as little as $50.

I have heard of people paying to upgrade on Jetstar but no personal experience with that.

 

[JohnK]

Not many airlines allow (cheap) paid upgrades into premium cabins.

From memory Thai and United Airlines do paid upgrades. I think BA also used to offer paid upgrades to Premium economy (WT+) as well.

 

[odysseus]

I thought Hawaiian did too?

Your friend in the US is correct but this is mostly for domestic flights which you can upgrade for as little as $50.

Sometimes they run auctions and other funky things. Still didn't see the value imo.

 

[tuapekastar]

I did a paid (USD40) upgrade Y -> F on AS (LAX-YVR) at checkin ~10 years ago (due to a mixup it was the only way I was going to get on the flight) - no idea if they still offer them.

 

[taswegian77]

And the paid upgrades now are something like AUD$500 ex Australia and ¥50 000 ex Japan on JQ...

Interesting, I flew JQ on 15th April and asked at the MEL checkin what the upgrade costs were and she said it was $299 one way. I did not require it as I was flying * class anyway but found the information interesting. It was a flat rate regardless of booking class. I wonder if th erate changes depending on the circumstances, that is change depending on load....

 

[uzza]

I did it the other day in the USA. I paid $45us for Y-A upgrade on a short AA MIA-MCO flight, but when you consider that I would have paid $25 to check my bag on AA (no bag fee exception for me ) it was only $20, and it was well worth that to skip the bag drop and TSA lines (insane at MIA!) and to walk on without a bloody group allocation! plus I put away a few beers on the flight (we were waiting on the plane at the gate for about an hr because somehow they sent 1 too many passengers for the amount of seats!

Flight crew blamed gate staff and they argued about it, in the end a passenger sat in a jumpseat (I think he was AA staff or something...)

It has only credited as Y on QF but I've sent them an email hoping to get it fixed, I'm not sure what I'm entitled to so fingers crossed!

 

[Timtammi]

And the paid upgrades now are something like AUD$500 ex Australia and ¥50 000 ex Japan on JQ...
Interesting, I flew JQ on 15th April and asked at the MEL checkin what the upgrade costs were and she said it was $299 one way. I did not require it as I was flying * class anyway but found the information interesting. It was a flat rate regardless of booking class. I wonder if th erate changes depending on the circumstances, that is change depending on load....

I've done the JQ ODU to starclass to/from Japan quite a few times but stopped doing it when it went from $200 OW to $250 OW to $500 OW. And then they stopped selling them ex Japan anyway due to some Govt Regulation.

I've just recently returned from Japan where I flew a paid *class fare (bought during the Japan sale) and on enquiring about current state of play was told they are selling them again ex Japan and that the price is currently $299 OW but would soon drop to $199 OW.

Cheers


I've j

 

[Dyslexic traveler]

Do you receive status credits when you do this to a higher class??

 

[david870mdg]

Thai airways do MEL-BKK $$ upgrade Y>C for $699 USD.

 

[Timtammi]

Do you receive status credits when you do this to a higher class??​

In theory on JQ you only get points and status credits for what you have booked. In practise sometimes if you are really lucky you might get the *class status credits and points. Its happened to me and others but don't count on it.
​

 

[zig]

.... like asking Emirates how much they would charge for an upgrade at check in MEL LHR. I have a friend who is travelling with his wife and kids on Wednesday in Y so it may be worth a try has any one tried this and did it work

I last flew Emirates about 3 years ago, and at that time they offered an upgrade at checkin for 500 pounds MAN - MEL. I declined the offer.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Thai airways do MEL-BKK $$ upgrade Y>C for $699 USD.

not worth it just a hop and jump!

 

[trooper]

Just reported on FT that a paid upgrade Y>Y+ LAX-AKL was mentioned on NZ for USD$450, subject to availability.

Never heard of that before, and many of us are under the distinct impression that Y+ is often FULL on that route so it might not be available terribly often... a data point nonetheless...:mrgreen:

And for wayne and uzza... Good luck, it's worth asking....but in general a paid upgrade of the type we are discussing does not change the underlying fare class....you are credited based on the original booking...

 

[JohnK]

It has only credited as Y on QF but I've sent them an email hoping to get it fixed, I'm not sure what I'm entitled to so fingers crossed!

You are entitled to the SCs and QFF points for the original booking class. Anything else is a bonus.