Bronze international upgrades

[Adamdoherty]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone that is Bronze status has ever been successful in gaining an upgrade to business on an LAX flight. I tried last year with no luck and know that there were still available seats. I even purchase points to make sure I had enough to upgrade myself and my wife.

 

[blu]

In Xmas or school holidays?

 

[Adamdoherty]

No mate totally off peak. Mid August last year, it was a Monday flight in QF93.

 

[mannej]

1 points upgrade for a NB on that route is highly unlikely let alone 2.

What makes you say that you knew there were seats available, and that there weren't others above you in the pecking order that had applied for upgrades?

 

[mviy]

With upgrades they would consider things like status, the fare you booked etc. Single passengers get upgraded ahead of bookings with more than one person. So a couple at the Bronze level may well be bottom of the upgrade queue.

They won't necessarily fill the Business cabin if not forced to by overbooking. After all they do want to encourage people to pay for the Business fare rather than rely on getting upgraded.

 

[Adamdoherty]

1 points upgrade for a NB on that route is highly unlikely let alone 2.

What makes you say that you knew there were seats available, and that there weren't others above you in the pecking order that had applied for upgrades?

I asked at check in and they told me there were seats available but would have to pay the difference. I wasn't upset just wondering if anyone had been successful. Last time was a breeze to upgrade to business but I was alone and it was only Perth to Melbourne

 

[travelislife]

Domestic is totally different to international. No confirmed or in lounge upgrades on international, all the 'lottery'. Where domestic you can get confirmed upgrades at time of booking.

 

[Himeno]

I was bronze the first time I got an upgrade. Points upgrade Y>W on QF11, then op up into J when I checked in.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

My tip would be to
a).buy comfort seat so you and wife would have a whole row of 3 between you and her, easier than trying the lottery as a NB.
b).you join QP (QF lounge), one member can bring in a guest free, on international flight, if that guest is travelling with you.
With (a) and (b) above done, while its no J class upgrade, will serve a similar purpose, ie comfort on a long flight.
If I was flying with another person, this/that is what I would do.
Currently I am QF SG, probably fall to QF PS, but have bought comfort seat before (ie, empty seat next to me), also am a QP member.
Not quite business class, but serves the purpose of a bit of comfort on a long trans Pacific trip.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Two NB friends won the Y>J upgrade lottery to LAX in December a couple of years ago.

 

[mviy]

AustraliaPoochie whilst a comfort seat (or a Platinum shadow) does help, it does nothing to address the limited recline, and the knees in the back of the seat in front problem and poorer food and drink offerings which make flying economy vastly inferior to flying Business.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone that is Bronze status has ever been successful in gaining an upgrade to business on an LAX flight. I tried last year with no luck and know that there were still available seats. I even purchase points to make sure I had enough to upgrade myself and my wife.

I asked at check in and they told me there were seats available but would have to pay the difference. I wasn't upset just wondering if anyone had been successful. Last time was a breeze to upgrade to business but I was alone and it was only Perth to Melbourne

If there were seats available in J and you had opted in to upgrade at the airport you would have got them provided any WP, SG etc had their upgrades already cleared first. It's quite likely that there were not enough seats for all people who had opted in for upgrades on the day. Those seats would still be available for sale until the flight closed at which time they are allocated to the people on the upgrade list in order of frequent flyer tier status.

A lot of people don't tick the box to opt in to upgrade at the airport (during the upgrade request process) but think they have so miss out as you can't request an international points upgrade at the airport.

 

[Sdtravel]

I got an upgrade on QF107 years ago from JFK to SYD (via LAX) year ago from Y+ to J.
I was a QP NB at the time. Single pax.

 

[Anna]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone that is Bronze status has ever been successful in gaining an upgrade to business on an LAX flight. I tried last year with no luck and know that there were still available seats. I even purchase points to make sure I had enough to upgrade myself and my wife.

Yes I have heard of bronze members getting a points upgrade on flights to LAX, but only if they were travelling solo. The trouble is you can't rely on getting the upgrade, which is why it is called the upgrade lottery. I would never buy points in the hope of getting an upgrade, the chance of wasting your money is too high.

It doesn't depend on available seats for sale, it depends on available seats for upgrades which is a different fare class.

flying economy vastly inferior to flying Business.

Sometimes I prefer to fly Y rather than waste my money on J only to find that I can't sleep anyway because there are snorers or babies in the cabin, or lead-footed staff tramping up and down the aisle all night, blazing all the lights on 3 hours away from landing and deliberately being noisy with the breakfast service so that everyone wakes up.

If you select the right seat and bring your own amenities, even long haul Y can be fine if you plan it correctly. And then you don't have the sinking feeling of money down the drain when J turns out to be disappointing. I frequently choose to fly Y to/from LAX because I'm not prepared to pay QF's extortionate prices on that route for a J product that quite often disappoints me. The upgrade lottery to F is unreliable therefore IMO not worth the extra money for a J fare on the off chance.

 

[PaulST]

As a NB, I've had a points upgrade (PE to J) on HKG-SYD and as a PS I've had upgrades (also PE to J) on MEL-LAX and JFK-LAX-SYD (my neighbour on this flight was a upgraded NB too). Domestically, as a PS, I've had success Y->J on SYD-PER. I was travelling alone on every occasion.

There's always hope.

 

[trooper]

Lol...that's true...BUT......faint hope perhaps?

My ONLY op up EVER was on CX....and I have never had any OW status ...

That was J to F (amazing) but yes..I was solo,

 

[RichardMEL]

Reality is the chances are slim but not none.

A higher cabin (eg: Premium Economy) will absolutely help. Also a singleton trying to upgrade will beat out couples(if there's only a seat free, for example).

If I was trying to max the chances I'd pick a NON peak J travel time, so a Tue/Wed/Thu(maybe Monday) departure from either end (not a Mon ex-AU to LA) during a non peak travel period

Reality is it comes down to any one flight on any one day and circumstances. eg could be wide open prior to a cancel and fill up, or be delayed and pax move to other flights and space opens up, and so on.

My sister is NB. 2 years ago on an August trip I surprised her with an upgrade Y->J but it was a bit of a cheat as I used my P1 status to up her priority. It seemed like she did get one of the last seats on that flight, but I can't confirm that in any way just from how EF looked before and after her upgrade cleared.

I honesty wouldn't expect it to happen, but I wouldn't say never either.

 

[Deleted member]

The only way to find out about these things is to engage with the group, ideally 12 months out from your flights. That said, there has been some informative contributions made. Let's hope you get your wish.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Mrs Nick and myself have been successful twice as NB but they were J-F which I believe is actually easier than Y and Y+ to J. Once on QF107 to LAX and again on QF7 to DFW. We are actually 2 for 2 in the upgrade lottery across the ditch

Have made it a habit to always depart on a Tuesday and one of the advantages of being a self funded infrequent flyer is that it helps get me to gold for the next year and a bit as well as no real downside if I do miss out having J to fallback to if the upgrade doesn't come through

 

[ellen10]

I have a request in for upgrade from Y+ to J to LHR for next Tuesday. But there are 2 of us so I would think my chances are very slim.