Chance or experience on upgrading on China Airlines reward ticket by Qantas?

[buggy00]

Hey everyone, bit of a open question.

Has anyone booked a reward ticket on China Airlines using their QFF points and have tried their luck whether at check-in or prior for an upgrade to J? I'm curious as I have a red eye PE flight with them next week followed by a long layover in Taipei before arriving in Japan and wanna see if people have tried upgrading themselves, was it possible and how much?

 

[VPS]

Hey everyone, bit of a open question.

Has anyone booked a reward ticket on China Airlines using their QFF points and have tried their luck whether at check-in or prior for an upgrade to J? I'm curious as I have a red eye PE flight with them next week followed by a long layover in Taipei before arriving in Japan and wanna see if people have tried upgrading themselves, was it possible and how much?

As far as I'm aware you can not upgrade with Qantas points on carriers other than Qantas.

 

[Noah Count]

Hey everyone, bit of a open question.

Has anyone booked a reward ticket on China Airlines using their QFF points and have tried their luck whether at check-in or prior for an upgrade to J? I'm curious as I have a red eye PE flight with them next week followed by a long layover in Taipei before arriving in Japan and wanna see if people have tried upgrading themselves, was it possible and how much?

I don't like your chances, I have booked and have bookings on CI, my strategy has just been to book the best available and take what I can get. On my last CI flight booked with QF points I was pulled out of the boarding line as my boarding pass was QF branded and not CI. It was no great deal as CI just held up Y boarding until I was sorted out. IMO CI is an under rated carrier, their product is actually very good.

 

[buggy00]

As far as I'm aware you can not upgrade with Qantas points on carriers other than Qantas.

Ah i should of stated saying like a cash upgrade at check-in or over the phone, not with Qantas points.

Like just curious to see if people have upgraded themselves on China Airlines having originally booked via a Qantas reward ticket. I'm not too fussed about flying in PE, but CI's business class looks pretty nice to not give it a try given the right upgrade price.

 

[AuSammy]

IMO CI is an under rated carrier, their product is actually very good.

Agree

The transit times can be a real pain though. e.g. Au-Taiwan-YVR can be 18hr wait in TPE

 

[Noah Count]

The transit times can be a real pain though. e.g. Au-Taiwan-YVR can be 18hr wait in TPE

Totally agree with this comment. My parents were looking to go SYD-YVR on points, I had suggested CI but the layover would be longer than they wanted and they should consider heading into Taipei for the day, I would. They have now booked ANA (cash) and I am now finding myself trying to provide advice to mum and dad on how how to transit HND without knowing their flight details, also they have no status. Mum thinks my status just works, if it was not mum and dad I would just throw my hands up and say it is your problem to deal with.

 

[Nexus007]

There was definitely no chance to upgrade. I tried to upgrade my Y class ticket to J class for the Taipei to Melbourne flight at TPE airport last year Dec 2025, even going to two different counters in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 to try my luck.

Both counters checked and confirmed they couldn't make any changes because my ticket number starts with 081, which means it was ticketed by Qantas. I offered to pay cash and they checked with their supervisor too - unfortunately they advised that the only way to change or upgrade would be to contact Qantas directly.

I checked with Qantas, but there was no availability for an upgrade, so I just stuck with Y class.

 

[torks]

Hey everyone, bit of a open question.

Has anyone booked a reward ticket on China Airlines using their QFF points and have tried their luck whether at check-in or prior for an upgrade to J? I'm curious as I have a red eye PE flight with them next week followed by a long layover in Taipei before arriving in Japan and wanna see if people have tried upgrading themselves, was it possible and how much?

If you've booked a reward ticket I've seen reward space in business open up within 24 hours of departure and had success changing the Y award to a J award for the 5k points fee, so that could be one to keep an eye on.

 

[dylarr]

As far as I'm aware you can not upgrade with Qantas points on carriers other than Qantas.

Qantas do have Partner Airline Upgrades, AA is the only airline supported currently. It's only relatively new.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/use-points/partner-airline-upgrades.html