Can't upgrade Intl ticket (ex HKG) online this week?

[sxc]

I currently have a ticket HKG-SYD-HKG in Premium Economy (Sale fare).

Last week I went to make a change to the booking because I wanted to change the dates of my sectors. At the time, I was presented with the flight and fare options, and one of the options was to change the sectors to Business Class. I was able to see this on two separate days last week. I didn't make any changes to the ticket.

Today I went to do the same, and now I am only presented with Premium Economy options. I called the call centre and the guy said to me that it is not possible to upgrade (and pay fare difference) online, but had to be done over the phone. He was adamant this was the case, even though I had seen it with my own eyes.

Was he correct, and why would I have seen the Business options last week? Or is this just a temporary aberration in Manage My Booking and the J option will come back eventually?

 

[serfty]

Generally online you are allowed one change with Qantas bookings, after that you need to call.

 

[sxc]

In my case I haven’t made any changes and the system is still allowing me to change to another premium economy flight.

What I’m confused about is why I could upgrade to J last week but this week there are no options to do so. Availability isn’t the problem as all classes are “9”

 

[Spongbob]

I cannot help you SXC with your issue, but I am curious as to why you buy PE sale fares, and then want to upgrade to a J fare (and pay the the difference between the cost of each fare)?
I would just look for J sale fares.

 

[sxc]

The reason is that at the time of booking I wanted to fly PE, but now I want to fly J and pay the extra. The cost in J now is about the same as back when I booked PE plus the change fee (ie J now costs the same as if I booked J back then).

 

[sxc]

I guess in summary my question is....do other people with an international booking have the option to change cabin if they look at their change options?

I used to, but don't this week. The call centre tells me I should never have had the option, but I don't think this is true. The screenshot on this help screen also implies I should be able to:

Change Your Flights | Help

I'm wondering if the current presence of a flash sale ex-HKG is affecting the change options I can see.

 

[serfty]

I presume this related to the availability of the "Change" option on MMB - and it is still active but no longer offers other classes.

The online tool for Qantas has been undergoing a lot of changes in recent times - I suspect the functionality (Business options when changing an economy booking) you saw has been removed - whether it was there for a short time or will be coming back, one can conject.