Classic Upgrade Reward - first time experiences

[mstgrv]

I'm a Platinum frequent flyer and I've just done my first ever upgrade request... My flight is 38 days away, and I'm just wondering, what's the usual length of time it takes for an upgrade request to be accepted or denied?

 

[RooFlyer]

Come comments on timing of domestic upgrades in general, here.

 

[mannej]

Domestic or international?

 

[cmon0005]

As a data point I recently did SIN-MEL and had an upgrade request in (booked in Flex Y), as a WP my upgrade should come within 48 hours, it actually came at ~26hours if I remember correctly.
There is no hard and fast rule, I think its more based on how many competing upgrade requests in the queue, how many business seats prior to departure and how likely they are to sell those seats that determines when they do them.
many many years ago as a Bronze I got an upgrade confirmed at about T-60, but it was a very lightly loaded A330 flight, with business only 20% occupied on departure.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I had an upgrade come through at T-60 for SYD/HNL in Feb. The three of us were all on separate pnrs but got our sms ftom the upgrade fairy within minutes of each other.

We were then able to go to MMB to allocate seats together & pre-order our Qeat meals for the flight.

The flight was full in J on the day but not sure how many pax were in J courtesy of points upgrades.

 

[medhead]

The upgrade can be granted anywhere from 2 weeks before right up until you get on the plane

 

[mstgrv]

JFK - SYD... got my fingers crossed!

 

[mstgrv]

Flight is 3 days away and still no love on the upgrade... Generally speaking, do upgrades that were requested >1 month prior to the departure date get approved earlier than 3 days prior to departure?

Expertflyer shows there's 12 open seats in Business right now as well, so there's seats available...

 

[Katie]

For QF11 on Friday, as a WP upgrading from Y+ to J, my SMS came at about T-17. I've had three days before for lightly loaded flights, but if there's a decent to heavy load, I don't count on hearing much earlier than T-23 or so.

Unassigned seats in EF aren't necessarily a reliable indicator of those seats being a available for upgrade, just that no-one has yet selected them. There are some people out there who mightn't get a seat allocation until they check in, as odd as that seems to most FFs here.

 

[mstgrv]

Thanks for that Katie - you're talking T-17 minutes, yeah?

 

[Hvr]

Thanks for that Katie - you're talking T-17 minutes, yeah?

Actually hours. At T-17 minutes the doors are generally closed.

 

[mstgrv]

Haha yes, of course! Thanks very much.

 

[Katie]

Thanks for that Katie - you're talking T-17 minutes, yeah?

No, sorry, hours. I haven't yet had an upgrade go as far as the boarding gate, but if you've selected that option, it can go that close, depending on supply and demand.

 

[Anna]

My experience as WP asking for int upgrades is that if they are going to come through, it's usually between T48-T24. If it's past T24 with no confirmation I have almost never been successful in being upgraded. YMMV of course.

 

[Ausbt]

No, sorry, hours. I haven't yet had an upgrade go as far as the boarding gate, but if you've selected that option, it can go that close, depending on supply and demand.

Last Feb at NRT flying Q I was handed a PE upgrade at check in ...however my wife was left sitting in Y. Following that was a tense couple of hours in the NRT QP debating 'strategy'. My wife was very reluctant to take my PE boarding pass and I left it at "well, that's your choice darling". Then, at the gate ...her BP was swapped out for PE. Thank goodness, marriage saved ...for a little while at least !

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Last Feb at NRT flying Q I was handed a PE upgrade at check in ...however my wife was left sitting in Y. Following that was a tense couple of hours in the NRT QP debating 'strategy'.

My wife was very reluctant to take my PE boarding pass and I left it at "well, that's your choice darling". Then, at the gate ...her BP was swapped out for PE. Thank goodness, marriage saved ...for a little while at least !

FYI the statement "well, that's your choice darling" usually means one of the of the following statements:

a) fine, do so at your own risk
b) fine, but I will mention this at all future family gatherings when the subject of travel arises
c) fine never means fine