Flight upgrades using points

[Alexh92]

Hi guys, is it hard to upgrade classes using points with Qantas? I want to fly to LA in September and having left it so late (spontaneous decision) I can't find any reward flights. Instead I am thinking of booking a ticket than upgrading to business class with points. Would this be hard to do? Is it guaranteed?

I have no status with Qantas, however have approx 225,000 points to burn.

Thanks in advance

 

[Anna]

It's not hard to put in an upgrade request as long as you have bought an upgradeable fare, but there's no guarantee you will get it. However - 2 people I know who have no QF status other than bronze both got points upgrades from economy to business from SYD to LAX on separate flights in July, so you might be lucky. They didn't get upgrades on their return flights though.

If you make an upgrade request you will find out whether you have been successful in the last 24 hours before the flight.

 

[eminere]

Indeed, with no status and on such a popular flight it is pretty much a lottery.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi guys, is it hard to upgrade classes using points with Qantas? I want to fly to LA in September and having left it so late (spontaneous decision) I can't find any reward flights. Instead I am thinking of booking a ticket than upgrading to business class with points. Would this be hard to do? Is it guaranteed?

I have no status with Qantas, however have approx 225,000 points to burn.

Thanks in advance

Upgrading for international flights is a lottery - and entirely dependent on your status. As a bronze, the chances of a successful upgrade are extraordinarily slim. Even putting in a request to upgrade costs money.. you have to buy a more expensive 'eligible for upgrade' fare.

Again, because of the way status upgrades work with Qantas, anyone with higher status than a bronze, even requesting the upgrade at the last minute, will get priority ahead of you. So if you requested an upgrade 6 month's in advance, but a silver requests one three days before the flight, they will get priority.

 

[Alexh92]

Hmm okay thanks guys. I might just see what the cheapest flight would be rather than flying Qantas if there is a slim chance of an upgrade and use my points in the future.

I can get a flight back with points if I go with Virgin but the flights there are a lot higher at moment so don't have quite enough points to book both ways. For the cost difference in booking a one way there and booking return I might just save those to.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hmm okay thanks guys. I might just see what the cheapest flight would be rather than flying Qantas if there is a slim chance of an upgrade and use my points in the future.

I can get a flight back with points if I go with Virgin but the flights there are a lot higher at moment so don't have quite enough points to book both ways. For the cost difference in booking a one way there and booking return I might just save those to.

Can you use QF points one way and Virgin the other? (possibly even with partner airlines Japan or Cathay via Tokyo/HKG respectively)

 

[Alexh92]

I can't seem to find any flights out of Sydney to LA. Can you use Qantas points with partner airlines can you? Can you do this online?

 

[Alexh92]

I can definitely get a free virgin flight back with points no issue. I just don't have enough points for the current out going flights with virgin as they are double the price at the moment for some reason and no Qantas availability

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can't seem to find any flights out of Sydney to LA. Can you use Qantas points with partner airlines can you? Can you do this online?

You can use Cathay or Japan Airlines. Cathay availability should be available on the QFFF website - you'll need to break it into two - Australia-HKG and then HKG-USA.

Japan Airlines doesn't show on QFFF. You can either call and find out, or join JAL Mileagebank (free) and search that way.

 

[NM]

Also note that most of the cheapest Qantas fares are not eligible for upgrades. So not only do you enter the lottery for an upgrade, but you generally have to pay more than the sale/cheap fare price for the privilege of entering the lottery. Plenty of people have been caught out, either buying the cheap fare and not being eligible to enter the lottery, or paying for the higher fare and not winning the lottery.

 

[Alexh92]

You can use Cathay or Japan Airlines. Cathay availability should be available on the QFFF website - you'll need to break it into two - Australia-HKG and then HKG-USA.

Japan Airlines doesn't show on QFFF. You can either call and find out, or join JAL Mileagebank (free) and search that way.

Thanks heaps for the suggestion, there seems to be more availability with HKG. I am trying to do it online however it is saying I can't fly in and out of HKG on the same day and would have to stay overnight unless I am doing something wrong or haven't made allowances for time changes? Bit of a noob with this! I'm trying to fly into LA on the 3rd as there is a music festival I want to attend starting the 4th

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks heaps for the suggestion, there seems to be more availability with HKG. I am trying to do it online however it is saying I can't fly in and out of HKG on the same day and would have to stay overnight unless I am doing something wrong or haven't made allowances for time changes? Bit of a noob with this! I'm trying to fly into LA on the 3rd as there is a music festival I want to attend starting the 4th

multi-city booking should be ok... just check the flight times as you say... departing late night here will get you into Hong Kong +1, and also make sure the departure from Hong Kong, if it's just after midnight, isn't the day before you actually need it (for example, if you arrive into HKG on the 1st, the flight to LAX just after midnight you'll need to look for the 2nd, even though you'll only be a couple hours in Hong Kong)

 

[Alexh92]

multi-city booking should be ok... just check the flight times as you say... departing late night here will get you into Hong Kong +1, and also make sure the departure from Hong Kong, if it's just after midnight, isn't the day before you actually need it (for example, if you arrive into HKG on the 1st, the flight to LAX just after midnight you'll need to look for the 2nd, even though you'll only be a couple hours in Hong Kong)

Hmm I think I found why I was getting stuck, all of the flights seem to arrive at 6pm into HKG with no flights after that until the next day which makes it kind of unviable. Can't seem to get Tokyo options to come up on the qantas site. Will continue to try and play around with it

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hmm I think I found why I was getting stuck, all of the flights seem to arrive at 6pm into HKG with no flights after that until the next day which makes it kind of unviable. Can't seem to get Tokyo options to come up on the qantas site. Will continue to try and play around with it

japan sir lines flights don't show on the qantas site. you'll need to call to get availability, and they will have to book them for you.

for Cathay, there's a group of flights to America leaving around midnight... so that would give a layover of 6 hours, which isn't too bad. if you are running into difficulty, you can call qantas... they will help find seats if there are any. Once they find the Cathay flights, you might be able to them book them yourself on line, saving the assistance fee.

 

[Alexh92]

japan sir lines flights don't show on the qantas site. you'll need to call to get availability, and they will have to book them for you.

for Cathay, there's a group of flights to America leaving around midnight... so that would give a layover of 6 hours, which isn't too bad. if you are running into difficulty, you can call qantas... they will help find seats if there are any. Once they find the Cathay flights, you might be able to them book them yourself on line, saving the assistance fee.

Awesome thank you so much for your help. Will try call them today

 

[Chrizztofa]

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but in determining points upgrades, I know it depends on the status of the flying passengers...but what do Qantas use as a tie-break for Bronze passengers? Is it random / Qantas Club membership / status of requester / date of request?

 

[Anna]

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but in determining points upgrades, I know it depends on the status of the flying passengers...but what do Qantas use as a tie-break for Bronze passengers? Is it random / Qantas Club membership / status of requester / date of request?

It is status of requester in order CL, WP1, WP, SG, PS, QC, NB then date of request. So if you are bronze but you can find a CL family member to put in the request for you, you will jump over everyone else in priority.

It is not supposed to be random but I sometimes wonder

 

[Mattg]

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but in determining points upgrades, I know it depends on the status of the flying passengers...but what do Qantas use as a tie-break for Bronze passengers? Is it random / Qantas Club membership / status of requester / date of request?

One of life's great mysteries! I suspect having Qantas Club membership would help your case. Otherwise, I'm really not sure. My gut feeling would be fare class (i.e. those on flex fares might get priority) or perhaps the date of the request.

 

[Chrizztofa]

It is status of requester in order CL, WP1, WP, SG, PS, QC, NB then date of request. So if you are bronze but you can find a CL family member to put in the request for you, you will jump over everyone else in priority.

It is not supposed to be random but I sometimes wonder

I thought "jumping the queue" only applies for CL and WP1? So if the requester is WP or below the bronze member wouldn't get any additional priority?

I've made an upgrade request for my sister and brother-in-law on QF29/30 in December/January...I'm (nearly) WP but they're bronze so I figure they have next to no chance...just wondering where they stood on the list! Can't hurt to try though - especially four months out.

 

[Basalt]

For what it's worth, we recently received an upgrade from premium economy to business with Qantas - MLB to HKG for myself and my partner. We're both bronze FF and I put in the request only 3 or 4 days before hand. Was a bit surprised but very happy we both got the upgrade!
Must have been our lucky trip, because we received a free upgrade from premium economy to business with Cathay from Dusseldorf to HKG on the way back. Didn't ask - when we checked in, the premium economy counter was busy so we were directed to the business counter and voila, free upgrade. Might need to try that in the future - checking into premium economy at the business counter! :-D