Booking flights then upgrading with points

[RichardMEL]

I actually think the classic awards still come out of U inventory, but they are treated separately to upgrade awards, but I could be wrong on this since the changes last year. I do agree that in general seeing a classic award seat (which doesn't come out of J inventory, that's full fare Business and the last thing to sell out of rather than the first taken from) available will indicate U is probably there, but definitely checking via a tool like KVS or ExpertFlyer (or getting a friendly AFF type to) is what you need to be sure.

There is anoter option that may be a mix or options - although this could be problematical post 18th Feb, but booking a Flexi fare, which yes is more than the red-e-deal, but would (in theory) accrue double the SC's and lower the number of points for the upgrade, also making the ticket flexible / changeable should one for example see another flight on the same day that may be more appealing and have U open up, or have, for example, the new Business Suites on it. It does cost more of course. Everyone's mileage varies.

And to the OP yes, I am like you I would want to "lock it in" specially if you have no QF status waiting till day of departure is almost ensuring you won't get a seat in the pecking order, specially out of PER with all the FIFO types who prob have status through all their work trips and the like. Best to do it now while you can then relax and look forward to the more comfy ride

best of luck.

 

[JohnM]

I actually think the classic awards still come out of U inventory,

And to the OP yes, I am like you I would want to "lock it in" specially if you have no QF status waiting till day of departure is almost ensuring you won't get a seat in the pecking order, specially out of PER with all the FIFO types who prob have status through all their work trips and the like. Best to do it now while you can then relax and look forward to the more comfy ride

best of luck.

Correct about U inventory, as far as I can understand - classic award or UPG.

The only way to totally protect your @rse for an UPG is to check whether there is any U inventory available for your desired flight. But, that said, my suggestion is to be flexible if you really want an UPG. In/out of PER, there is usually little U inventory showing way out for times of the day that 'businesspeople' or FIFOs will be flying. If you are prepared to fly at sparrows, then you may have a chance. Otherwise, buy Red-E as far out as possible and put yourself in the hands of the UPG/status competition gods by registering online for an UPG (ie. first in-best dressed - so long as a higher status pax doesn't trump you.)

If the OP gives a desired date, EF will allow me to show exactly what I mean across the whole day's flights.

 

[JohnM]

Booked PER - MEL in May for myself and wife, $205 each plus 20000 points for upgrade. Great value in my book considering J cash fares in excess of $1600.

Booked flight then immediately did upgrade request and almost immediately received confirmation.

Hope this helps OP.

I interpret this that you didn't have 'inside' information through EF or KVS. If that's the case, you were @rsey. But, that said, you clearly understand the huge value equation in this .

Remember, back in the day, most flex fares were not upgradeable. The ability to UPG Red-Es has been THE only great and true QF 'enhancement' of the modern era .

 

[NVRENUF]

Thanks, dont have an date yet, but around end of September / early October for about 4 days

 

[JohnM]

Thanks, dont have an date yet, but around end of September / early October for about 4 days

Good, it's a long way out. Make an educated guess and I'll show you what I mean.

 

[NVRENUF]

Let's say I would leave Perth 18th September and come home 22nd

 

[greenfish]

Let's say I would leave Perth 18th September and come home 22nd

You can check this yourself by logging into the Qantas website and then searching for classic awards. You need business availability

I've done this and there's heaps of availability in both directions.

EDIT - Sorry, I see someone is going to check on EF, which sounds sensible. But it looks pretty good to me, you'd have to think it'll be Ok.

 

[JohnM]

Let's say I would leave Perth 18th September and come home 22nd

Easy-peasy:





Heaps of U inventory. Book a Red-E on any flight showing U now and you are guaranteed an UPG .

 

[NVRENUF]

Thanks , what screen is that mine looks different,
also when it shows the U and a number does the number say how
many of those class seats are free

 

[JohnM]

Thanks , what screen is that mine looks different,
also when it shows the U and a number does the number say how
many of those class seats are free

Not sure what you mean by 'what screen'. I've just taken a snip of the EF screen - but a subscription is needed to get that.

You'll notice that the number after each fare bucket is never more than 9. It means 'at least' the number shown. It's a commercial-in-confidence type of thing for the competitors.

But don't forget that each fare bucket within a cabin is not exclusive - ie. 9 for each of J, C, D, I, U does not mean 45 seats (it can't - the J cabin is 28-36 on QF DOM). They overlap. It means what's available right now to sell in any of those buckets. It's dynamic. U is the Business Classic Awards/UPG bucket.

 

[JohnM]

You can check this yourself by logging into the Qantas website and then searching for classic awards. You need business availability

I've done this and there's heaps of availability in both directions.

EDIT - Sorry, I see someone is going to check on EF, which sounds sensible. But it looks pretty good to me, you'd have to think it'll be Ok.

This is another way to do it. If Classic Awards are available in Business, it automatically means that U class is available for upgrades.

Apart form sticking the whole day's flight availability on one screen, EF has many more functions such as seat alerts that make it a cool tool.

 

[NVRENUF]

Awesome thanks. I'm sure once I have done it a few times I will feel more confident

 

[JohnM]

Awesome thanks. I'm sure once I have done it a few times I will feel more confident

We've all been there. Don't hesitate to ask by posting or PM. It's the whole point of AFF!

The worst possible thing is to not get an UPG because of ignorance/uncertainty/reluctance to ask. That is what is anathema to an AFFer .

 

[JohnPhelan]

There have been a few recent reports, and I have experienced this, of an error in the online system and Upgrades are rejected even with U availability.

This seems to be the case most often with TA-booked tickets. But ring the QF call centre and get them to do it for you. Make sure you note that you triedk to do it online and it would not allow you to do so - this should ensure they don't charge yopu the assisted booking" fee.

 

[RichardMEL]

Perhaps a bit of a nit pick, but I thought I'd clarify with the fare buckets in inventory - as stated they are not coughulative in a class of service (eg: J/D/I/U in Business) but also the numbers do not reflect "actual" as in physical seats, but the number the airline is willing to sell ("sell" still applies to U/award inventory since it's "paid" for with points). For example, you may see a flight with J9 D9 I9 U9, say someone grabs the 9 U, it could well drop to J3 D1 I0 U0 or perhaps stay at J9 D6 (depending on the aircraft, route, history of paid demand, etc). This is the kind of system that leads to oversales (usually in Y) where the airlines can sometimes sell more fares on a flight then there are seats for.

Not really relevant to this thread, but though I'd pop my 2 cents in anyway It's nice to see so much U available this far out.. the REAL trick is choosing a date then hoping a/c has Business Suites on it - though by Sept you'd think a fair proportion of the dom 332's would be converted. Hopefully!

 

[medhead]

I actually think the classic awards still come out of U inventory, but they are treated separately to upgrade awards, .

Read this last night and again now. I still don't know what it means. Yes classic awards in business use U fares. (I thought that was mentioned fairly consistently).

Automatic upgrades on domestic flights (automatic doesn't happen for international flights) also relates/depends on U availability. This is why searching for a classic award in business is a good indicator of automatic upgrade availability.

Both options will exhaust U fares. I'm not entirely sure what you mean about being treated differently. In terms of getting a seat in business via either classic award or automatic website access I'm not sure there is much difference.

There will be a difference with wait listed upgrades, of course. But these are taken from the other business fare classes, since U would be exhausted when putting in the upgrade waitlist request.

 

[Quickstatus]

I agree with the above method. However it can go wrong:

I did the above for a SYD-BNE flight Red e deal then rang QFCC to upgrade with points to U.

The itinerary I got was that my original booking got cancelled and i was booked on a Classic Award U ticket - therefore not technically an upgrade

 

[RichardMEL]

Read this last night and again now. I still don't know what it means. Yes classic awards in business use U fares. (I thought that was mentioned fairly consistently).

My only point was just that I think there can be some confusion for some people when equating inventory buckets with "fare types" and how they are treated. So the basic gist being that while an upgrade award and a classic award both come out of U class inventory, your upgrade will still be linked to the original fare basis paid (eg: N, O, Y etc) and appropriate credit given for that, as opposed to a ticket booked ONLY in U class as an award, which gets nothing (since the removal of JASA's booking into U even though there are still legacy bookings active of course, but let's not confuse things further ).

Hope that helps to explain what I was trying to express better

 

[medhead]

I agree with the above method. However it can go wrong:

I did the above for a SYD-BNE flight Red e deal then rang QFCC to upgrade with points to U.

The itinerary I got was that my original booking got cancelled and i was booked on a Classic Award U ticket - therefore not technically an upgrade

Sounds like a failure by the CSA.

My only point was just that I think there can be some confusion for some people when equating inventory buckets with "fare types" and how they are treated. So the basic gist being that while an upgrade award and a classic award both come out of U class inventory, your upgrade will still be linked to the original fare basis paid (eg: N, O, Y etc) and appropriate credit given for that, as opposed to a ticket booked ONLY in U class as an award, which gets nothing (since the removal of JASA's booking into U even though there are still legacy bookings active of course, but let's not confuse things further ).

Hope that helps to explain what I was trying to express better

I see now. Sorry for being slow.

 

[Quickstatus]

Sounds like a failure by the CSA.

Thats what I thought. Anyway it was reversed and I got my Red e-deal SC and points on the U flight.