QF to Confirm Points Upgrade Requests as late as at the gate when boarding

[Danger]

There is talk that redemption for P1 is improving. And what is this MCA lounge they talk of? Is this something I should now aim for?

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
sorry, I don't know how to show you the article - I have a login to see it. ...

'Airline pledges upgrades to fill vacant seats', by Damon Kitney, The Australian, p. 5, 21 May 2012

Remember being denied a precious ugprade on a long-haul international flight and casting an angry glance to left upon boarding, only to see scores of empty seats that sent your blood boiling?

Those days are over on Qantas from today as the airline introduces at-the-gate upgrades on international flights, allowing it to offer previously empty business- and first-class seats to its most frequent flyers, further intensifying the battle for premium customers with Virgin Australia and its new international alliance partners - Etihad, Singapore and Delta.

"When we have talked to people, this has been a problem for us," Simon Hickey, cheif executive of Qantas Frequent Flyer, told The Australian.

"When we haven't upgraded someone and they've gone through the cabin and seen all these empty seats, they have rightly asked: 'Why'?

"This process will allow a better experience for everybody. We had to change all of our technology and processes how to do it [sic].

"Now, as you put your ticket in at the gate, they will say you have been upgrdaed."

Mr Hickey said seats were always becoming available due to no-shows and missed domestic connections, but up until now could not be properly utilised.

He said while the new system would initially apply only to international flights, it would apply to domestic travel in the future.

. . .

 

[ozmille]

Qantas to offer gate upgrades

Interesting read in today's Travel Daily

QANTAS has confirmed achange to its systems which will
enable it to offer “at-the-gate”
upgrades on international flights.
The move is effective today, and
will target top-tier frequent flyers
according to Qantas Frequent
Flyer ceo Simon Hickey, who told
The Australian: “Now as you put
your ticket in at the gate they will
say you have been upgraded.”
Hickey also said there were
plans to roll out the same system
on domestic routes in the future.
He said that while premium
seats were often available due to
missed connections and noshows,
until now it had not been
possible to easily allocate them to
other passengers.
“When we haven’t upgraded
someone and they’ve been
through the cabin and seen all
these empty seats, they have
rightly asked ‘Why’?” Hickey added.

 

[MarcB]

So is he suggesting "op ups" or on departure upgrades with points??

 

[cove]

This is good news and it is about time. I hate seeing seats unused in J and First.

 

[ozmille]

So is he suggesting "op ups" or on departure upgrades with points??

I read it as being op-ups...

 

[simongr]

As long as this doesn't impact prioritisation of upgrades (I.e. as a WP I want my upgrade confirmed before SG and below) this is a good thing. I just wish again that they could have some form of upgrade confirmation at booking - say if there was I class inventory available...

 

[simongr]

I read it as being op-ups...

I don't believe so - this is about the complaints on places like here about having lodged upgrade requests being denied and then seeing empty cabins.

I actually think this might have a downward effect on the availability of OpUps for Wp from whY to J as more people now should get their points upgrades confirmed.

 

[docjames]

I hope it's op-up not points. I'd be peeved to check in to an international flight, pack for Y/Y+ etc, not get the luggage allowance/lounge etc, then get charged a full whack of points for an upgrade at the gate.

 

[Simo]

So if there is 3 J seats spare and there 4 WP1's what happens then does the first 3 get the J seats and the other one has no idea what happened.

Could get messy if people are travelling together all in the same tier.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I dont think its Op-Ups. I read it as being be like "on departure upgrades" like you can currently do for domestic travel in the QC, except you don't have to be in the QC to do it, (I think).

ie..another "enhancement".?..

 

[simongr]

I hope it's op-up not points. I'd be peeved to check in to an international flight, pack for Y/Y+ etc, not get the luggage allowance/lounge etc, then get charged a full whack of points for an upgrade at the gate.

It isnt a lot different to the current process - if you don't find out until say 3 hours before departure you are probably on your way to the airport.

So if there is 3 J seats spare and there 4 WP1's what happens then does the first 3 get the J seats and the other one has no idea what happened.
Could get messy if people are travelling together all in the same tier.

I think it will be done the same way it is now - either on time or original fare basis or some other factor (perceived customer value?)

I dont think its Op-Ups. I read it as being be like "on departure upgrades" like you can currently do for domestic travel in the QC, except you don't have to be in the QC to do it, (I think).
ie..another "enhancement".?..

I don't think you will be able ot request the upgrade in the lounge - this is just later confirmation of the upgrade you requested.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

So, free op-ups are history?

I've seen staff filing premium cabins more than an empty cabin, domestically.

 

[simongr]

So, free op-ups are history?

I've seen staff filing premium cabins more than an empty cabin, domestically.

I don't know when I last saw a non-full J cabin domestically.

 

[Danger]

If it's only being processed at the gate, I query what the process of requesting an upgrade in advance does.

Do I still request an upgrade in advance or try my luck at the gate? If the former, they take the points; if the latter, it would it's 'complimentary'. Either way, it's still a lottery. As mentioned above, if points upgrades were confirmed at time of request, it would be a different story.

I've got an A380 flight in a couple of weeks that' showing 9s across the four J buckets and have an upgrade request in for Y to J but I wonder if, given the apparent availability of J seats, I should cancel the request.

There's a lot more about this process that needs to be known.

 

[Deleted member]

I don't know when I last saw a non-full J cabin domestically.

Last Tuesday evening SYD-BNE. QF
767 4 pax 1 FA

 

[vitagen]

The way I see it, could be processing upgrade requests right up until boarding?

 

[docjames]

It isnt a lot different to the current process - if you don't find out until say 3 hours before departure you are probably on your way to the airport.


.

Actually I beg to differ - there's a difference between requesting at the airport / QP (at lower points cost) vs having your failed upgrade suddenly come through as you're boarding.

 

[simongr]

If it's only being processed at the gate, I query what the process of requesting an upgrade in advance does.

Do I still request an upgrade in advance or try my luck at the gate? If the former, they take the points; if the latter, it would it's 'complimentary'. Either way, it's still a lottery. As mentioned above, if points upgrades were confirmed at time of request, it would be a different story.

I've got an A380 flight in a couple of weeks that' showing 9s across the four J buckets and have an upgrade request in for Y to J but I wonder if, given the apparent availability of J seats, I should cancel the request.

There's a lot more about this process that needs to be known.

Again this is not processing new requests at the gate or OpUps. This was talked about at the the AFF/QF lunch a while ago. People complain here and direct to QF that they have requested upgrades and then seen that the cabin wasn't full.

QF have not been able to process upgrades close to departure due to legacy IT systems. We saw changes to that recently when they provided confirmation in advance of 24 hours to WP and P1. This is the next stage - not much has changed other than generally if you didnt get the upgrade before check in then you generally flew in the cabin paid for.

Now all that will happen is that if you request your upgrade in advance and it hasn't cleared before check in you might get a nice surprise at the gate - you will still have points deducted.

Again I think this will reduce some OpUps - QF will see this as a way to make people happier (more upgrades confirmed when previously they wouldnt have been able to confirm an upgrade on the off chance that they might sell the seat) and more more burned.

 

[Danger]

Again this is not processing new requests at the gate or OpUps. This was talked about at the the AFF/QF lunch a while ago. People complain here and direct to QF that they have requested upgrades and then seen that the cabin wasn't full.

QF have not been able to process upgrades close to departure due to legacy IT systems. We saw changes to that recently when they provided confirmation in advance of 24 hours to WP and P1. This is the next stage - not much has changed other than generally if you didnt get the upgrade before check in then you generally flew in the cabin paid for.

Now all that will happen is that if you request your upgrade in advance and it hasn't cleared before check in you might get a nice surprise at the gate - you will still have points deducted.

Again I think this will reduce some OpUps - QF will see this as a way to make people happier (more upgrades confirmed when previously they wouldnt have been able to confirm an upgrade on the off chance that they might sell the seat) and more more burned.

Ahhhh. Got it. So basically instead of upgrades being process up until an hour or two before the flight, it's now up until the gate shuts. Fair enough.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Hmm, interesting. See if i know im flying business my attitude to the travel is different. Ie, I make sure I pack for carry on only, I'll make sure i'm there early to enjoy the lounge benefits, I'll have previewed the seat/meal/entertainment available etc. All adds to the fun of the trip.

Believe it or not i'm not sure an at-gate upgrade would be as pleasant as it sounds to me. Particularly as id' be all geared up to do the flight in Y as im queing up!

BTW we need another TLA for this - AGU? I'd prefer it be called "Gaterade"