Can I upgrade a booking with points ?

[auspal]

I have paid for economy flights from Sydney to Dubai and have requested an upgrade with my points, and also booked economy from New York to Sydney and requested an upgrade. As a request is not guaranteed, although I have been very lucky so far, is there any way I can pay a bit extra and use my points and pay to get a guaranteed upgrade without too many additional charges ?

 

[travelislife]

No. Only way to get guaranteed upgrade is pay cash.

 

[auspal]

Thanks for letting me know, saved me a lot of pointless research and phone calls

 

[travelislife]

Thanks for letting me know, saved me a lot of pointless research and phone calls

Should have also said this is assuming you are flying Qantas. Other airlines it can be possible to get guaranteed upgrades.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Which airline are you using auspal?

 

[auspal]

My points are with Qantas and I always book with them.

Perhaps I should pay to upgrade to Premium economy and then request an upgrade from there ?

 

[mannej]

Perhaps I should pay to upgrade to Premium economy and then request an upgrade from there ?

But you are still part of the lottery, which ultimately would lead to disappointment should you not get your upgrades.

 

[auspal]

I agree, but at least Premium Economy is a lot better, I will just have to check on the price . I got an upgrade recently from Brisbane to Singapore with points prior to an onward flight which was lovely, but didnt get one on the way back. I asked in the Qantas Lounge and the flight didnt have Premium Economy seats, I should have looked into it a bit better. Does anyone know if I will have to pay fees if I try and upgrade to Premium Economy ?

 

[travelislife]

Any change of fare type will attract a change fee and fare difference.

 

[auspal]

Thanks, I will contact Qantas and enquire, but I do think that if you are wanting to spend more money with them, they shouldn't charge you on top of that. I am wondering often if my loyalty to Qantas is worth it ??

 

[mviy]

What status do you have with QANTAS Frequent Flyer?

 

[auspal]

The lowest one I think .

Yes , just checked and it is bronze.

 

[RichardMEL]

Thanks, I will contact Qantas and enquire, but I do think that if you are wanting to spend more money with them, they shouldn't charge you on top of that. I am wondering often if my loyalty to Qantas is worth it ??

It all depends on the original fare you have paid and the conditions of that fare. EVERY AIRLINE DOES THIS so your point about loyalty or not is a bit moot as you'd have the same issues on Cathay, Singapore, Emirates, American, Aeroflot etc.

This is the whole idea of fare structures - if you purchased a flexible economY ticket then your fare change fee would be probably zero, but if you purchased a deep discount fare, then the change fee is associated with that fare type (because it is so much cheaper) NOT that you are wanting to pay for a higher fare type (for example, many cheap fares have change fees for date changes, which is not an upgrade to the fare type)_

Having said that some high tier elite FF members can have some fees waived, but more often than not the change fees on cheap tickets are fairly binding for that reason - they're priced cheaply with those specific conditions as part of the pricing model.

I'm not meaning to have a go at you personally, but this is basically the model. Again, if you have purchased a more flexible fare type then change fees will be less, or even 0, to upgrade the fare - but this is why it's a flexible ticket as opposed to a deep discount or sale fare.

The best way to guarantee a seat in the cabin of your choice is to either pay for it up front with $$$ or points(if an award seat is available). The rest is a lottery based on the specific flight loads and demand and other passengers with upgrade requests that may be ahead in the queue based on fare type and/or status.

And a final note, you mention SYD-DXB as a flight - make sure it is not a QF codeshare on an Emirates flight (eg QF8xx_) which you would not be able to upgrade on with QFF points. So you'd be looking at QF1 and not something like QF843

 

[Mattg]

Thanks, I will contact Qantas and enquire, but I do think that if you are wanting to spend more money with them, they shouldn't charge you on top of that. I am wondering often if my loyalty to Qantas is worth it ??

Sorry, but this isn't the case. I bought an Economy ticket to SCL last year. I later decided to pay the fare difference to upgrade to Premium Economy, and they still charged the change fee on top of the fare difference. You'd think that they'd make it easier for you to give them more money - but that's not really the case!

FWIW I think it was worth it though - I had a good flight.

 

[RichardMEL]

Sorry, but this isn't the case. I bought an Economy ticket to SCL last year. I later decided to pay the fare difference to upgrade to Premium Economy, and they still charged the change fee on top of the fare difference. You'd think that they'd make it easier for you to give them more money - but that's not really the case!

FWIW I think it was worth it though - I had a good flight.

The change fee is associated with the original fare *to change it* - it's irrelevant if it's a higher fare or a date change(for some fare types) or whatever. the whole point of the fee on top of a cheap (discounted) ticket is to make up for the cheaper fare price - thus making it less flexible unless you're willing to pay to change it. You could be willing to pay to full fare Business or First - that's not the point - the original fare has the conditions attached, not the new fare.

 

[mannej]

I've seen a number of threads here and elsewhere complaining about some of SQ's non-refundable or changeable fares. It's fairly consistent across airlines that they will apply the fare conditions of the original booking class even if one is looking to upgrade the booking.

 

[auspal]

My flight from Sydney to Dubai is flight QF1 so I have been able to request an upgrade. I paid the normal price for the fares so I might give them a ring and see how much it will cost to upgrade to Premium economy, especially on the New York to Sydney flight, as flight time is 22 hrs as we have to go via LA. That is flight QF12. Thanks for the advice and help everyone. I only travel for holidays rather than business, so not as savvy as most of you

 

[travelislife]

My flight from Sydney to Dubai is flight QF1 so I have been able to request an upgrade. I paid the normal price for the fares so I might give them a ring and see how much it will cost to upgrade to Premium economy, especially on the New York to Sydney flight, as flight time is 22 hrs as we have to go via LA. That is flight QF12. Thanks for the advice and help everyone. I only travel for holidays rather than business, so not as savvy as most of you

Is there such a thing as a 'normal price'? The price doesn't really matter. It is all about the fare class. Which is a single letter. You can then check on Qantas' website what the change fee will be and also what the fare difference would be. Still worth a call though.

 

[JohnPhelan]

My flight from Sydney to Dubai is flight QF1 so I have been able to request an upgrade. I paid the normal price for the fares so I might give them a ring and see how much it will cost to upgrade to Premium economy, especially on the New York to Sydney flight, as flight time is 22 hrs as we have to go via LA. That is flight QF12. Thanks for the advice and help everyone. I only travel for holidays rather than business, so not as savvy as most of you

In case you don't know, you will also change aircraft in LAX. Your flight JFK-LAX is on a B747, then you'll change to an A380 for the LAX-SYD. Same flight number (QF12) all the way, though. You'll stay airside and just change aircraft. (The B747 then becomes the flight to BNE, QF16).

 

[juddles]

As per RichardMel, this is standard across all airlines. IMHO premium economy purchase + requested upgrade to business is a perfect combo. If you get the upgrade, great, if not, PE is a reasonable way to travel