Fiji Airways business upgrade status credits?

[delphiki89]

Hi Everyone, this is my first post here (but I've been lurking quite a bit)!.

I booked am economy ticket from Suva, Fiji to Sydney (via Nadi) on the Qantas website.

The flight is marketed as QF392 but operated as FJ911.

At Nausori airport (Suva) I asked if I could pay to upgrade to business class. The cost was FJ$470, and I quite enjoyed the new lounge at Nadi and the comfy seats on the A330.

A few days later I checked my status credits and saw that I earned 20 SCs for that flight. In the points activity page of the Qantas website it says "QF 0392 DISCOUNTED ECONOMY/FLEXIBLE BUSINESS."

Is 20 SCs correct, or should I be getting more? The partner earning table says it should be 40 SCs for a business class flight.

 

[defurax]

Business upgrades on Qantas flight numbers put you into "U" class which is the classic rewards/upgrade class. This means you earn status credits for the booking class ticketed, not the upgraded class.
A few airlines work differently in the case of cash upgrades (e.g. BA, UL), but not Qantas.

 

[delphiki89]

Thanks, that sounds about right. I'm used to buying economy and using points to upgrade. I did not know that paying cash for an upgrade was treated the same way.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Welcome to AFF @delphiki89

 

[Mattg]

Thanks, that sounds about right. I'm used to buying economy and using points to upgrade. I did not know that paying cash for an upgrade was treated the same way.

It would depend how the upgrade is processed. If you're changing the ticket and paying the fare difference between Y and J, you should get J points/SCs. But it sounds here like you just paid the last-minute upgrade price, not the fare difference.

What happened to you sounds about right to me.

 

[tdimdad]

In a similar situation, how would you get that kind of a 'fare difference' ticket generated (and earn at a higher rate) instead of an upgrade earning at the original rate?

 

[trooper]

You probably wouldn't want to..the cost would likely be horrendous....

 

[Mattg]

In a similar situation, how would you get that kind of a 'fare difference' ticket generated (and earn at a higher rate) instead of an upgrade earning at the original rate?

By contacting the airline (or your travel agent) prior to travel and changing the ticket to a business class booking. (This may or may not incur change fees as well as the fare difference, depending on the airline.)