Hello! My points need to go on holidays

[kangarooflyer88]

I’m a new Platinum QFF- I requested business upgrade for SYD-DFW. I didn’t get it. As I was boarding the plane- seeing all the people sitting in Business and Premium Economy, I doubt they were platinum and I doubt they paid full price. The Business fare was $14K and Premium Economy was 6K.

You are probably right. Some of those passengers probably booked premium economy or business class using points (after all Qantas does release so many seats to frequent flyers), others may be working for a company where they are obligated to be flown in business class for long haul flights (I know quite a few colleagues who would dress quite casually for those flights back when I was working in industry), still others may be connecting in Sydney to Dallas from Bora Bora on a Qantas business class error fare (a story for another day).

I think it may be because I was traveling with an infant and flying with someone who is Bronze. I wonder if that drags me down the matrix of upgrade priority rather than my Platinum lifting them up?

At the end of the day, irrespective of what program you belong to, upgrades are not a guarantee. It's really a cough shoot if they will clear. Yes, there are certainly things you can do to increase your odds, such as looking at flights with more business class availability, but even then it's not a guarantee. It would also make sense to familiarize yourself with how Qantas prioritizes upgrade requests. Many people believe it is based solely on status, but there may be other factors (such as fare booked, when upgrades are requested, when you checked in) which determine how ties are broken between Platinum members requesting an upgrade for a given flight.

As for your +1 that should not affect your upgrade odds in the sense that everyone would be treated as though they have Platinum status for the purposes of the upgrade.

I don’t think I’ll strive for Platinum anymore. Gold seems fine if I can’t get a priority upgrade!!!

That is very much a judgement call. Look, I was Platinum last year, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit as I could pick up the phone and request Qantas release business class or even last minute economy flights. I enjoyed the extra baggage allowance I had with American moving back to Canada. And of course the First Class lounges in Sydney, Melbourne and LA were a nice touch. I would not consider improving your odds of an upgrade clearing as a benefit of any airline frequent flyer status* as again, it's very much up in the air.

However, there is a significant requirement to fly OneWorld airlines to keep said status. At the same time, even with Qantas Gold (OneWorld Sapphire) you can enjoy a number of benefits when flying Qantas and OneWorld carriers like business lounge access and check-in, extra luggage and seat selection on Qantas and OneWorld airlines for considerably less status credit accrual (just 600 to retain Gold).

* an exception can be made for LATAM Status whereby Black and Black Signature status is the key driver in determining upgrade chances. Holding those statuses puts you at the top of the queue irrespective of fare booked and they do a very good job publicizing how prioritization is done. Consequently I've always had success using my LATAM Black upgrade coupons to upgrade to business class long haul.

-RooFlyer88

 

[DownUnderFlyer380]

You are probably right. Some of those passengers probably booked premium economy or business class using points (after all Qantas does release so many seats to frequent flyers), others may be working for a company where they are obligated to be flown in business class for long haul flights (I know quite a few colleagues who would dress quite casually for those flights back when I was working in industry), still others may be connecting in Sydney to Dallas from Bora Bora on a Qantas business class error fare (a story for another day).

At the end of the day, irrespective of what program you belong to, upgrades are not a guarantee. It's really a cough shoot if they will clear. Yes, there are certainly things you can do to increase your odds, such as looking at flights with more business class availability, but even then it's not a guarantee. It would also make sense to familiarize yourself with how Qantas prioritizes upgrade requests. Many people believe it is based solely on status, but there may be other factors (such as fare booked, when upgrades are requested, when you checked in) which determine how ties are broken between Platinum members requesting an upgrade for a given flight.

As for your +1 that should not affect your upgrade odds in the sense that everyone would be treated as though they have Platinum status for the purposes of the upgrade.

That is very much a judgement call. Look, I was Platinum last year, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit as I could pick up the phone and request Qantas release business class or even last minute economy flights. I enjoyed the extra baggage allowance I had with American moving back to Canada. And of course the First Class lounges in Sydney, Melbourne and LA were a nice touch. I would not consider improving your odds of an upgrade clearing as a benefit of any airline frequent flyer status* as again, it's very much up in the air.

However, there is a significant requirement to fly OneWorld airlines to keep said status. At the same time, even with Qantas Gold (OneWorld Sapphire) you can enjoy a number of benefits when flying Qantas and OneWorld carriers like business lounge access and check-in, extra luggage and seat selection on Qantas and OneWorld airlines for considerably less status credit accrual (just 600 to retain Gold).

* an exception can be made for LATAM Status whereby Black and Black Signature status is the key driver in determining upgrade chances. Holding those statuses puts you at the top of the queue irrespective of fare booked and they do a very good job publicizing how prioritization is done. Consequently I've always had success using my LATAM Black upgrade coupons to upgrade to business class long haul.

-RooFlyer88

I had no idea I could even call up to request business class seats to be released until your post. I’m such a rookie. FML
Thanks so much for your excellent reply. I learned a lot here.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I had no idea I could even call up to request business class seats to be released until your post. I’m such a rookie. FML
Thanks so much for your excellent reply. I learned a lot here.

No problem. One word of warning, the call up and request a seat released isn't a guarantee. You call up and make the request and they'll ask the computer whether to release an award seat for you. I have had mixed success with this program

Successes

• Melbourne to Sydney on Dec 23 in economy
• Sydney to Perth on 8th of January in economy for 2 pax
• Sydney to Los Angeles (via Brisbane) on February 21st in business

Failures

• Sydney to Nandi in economy on October 21
• Sydney to Santiago anytime in February of March in business class for even just one pax
• Perth to Paris in business in early January ( only First available)

I'd encourage you to look at the thread I linked to in order to get a better sense of what is possible. Usually there is a negotiation involved. For instance, I originally wanted to fly out to Dallas from Sydney but they couldn't request any availability in business on the day I wanted to travel or +/- 1 days either direct from Sydney or via Melbourne. Checking Vancouver or San Francisco also yielded no results. It was only LAX where they could find availability and only via Brisbane, which I didn't mind as that meant extra status credits for me.

-RooFlyer88