How to tell which QF fares ares upgradeable economy to business for points?

[4lex]

Anyone know? I tried calling them and the woman just said 'you can't tell'. Can't be true, surely?

 

[Ansett]

Anyone know? I tried calling them and the woman just said 'you can't tell'. Can't be true, surely?

Apparently so till you have booked and paid then it tells you which Booking Bucket you are in. It really is not good enough and many have complained but it falls on Death ears.

Red E Deals may or not be upgradeable as per below ----- Sad thing is that this is also the same wording for the Saver fares




The whole fare terms and conditions seems to be a real mess and in desperate need of a revamp

 

[CaviAck]

Try ringing up and asking the operator what booking class the fare is booked into. I remember doing that once and was able to determine what bucket it booked into. Although that was when I was changing the date to my flights and wasn't a completely new booking.

 

[Newk]

There is a thread here somewhere.... And indeed it is a failing of the QF booking process.

 

[docjames]

You'd think with the website revamp this would be resolved but no.........

 

[TheDan]

You could book and select "Payment via BPAY" as it also saves you 30$ CC fees. Then you go to your booking, check the fare bucket and if you aren't happy you just dont pay (or call the hotline to cancel)

 

[Ansett]

You'd think with the website revamp this would be resolved but no.........

They were too interested in removing the ability to book MASA on line and removing the ability to see Y and J on the same page so that we can see if classix awards are available and trick people into using poits plus pay. To do something that may actually be benificial to the consumer

 

[Deleted member]

Some time ago I was thinking how some contributors to this site were venting their frustration with QF and basically saying that they had , had enough and would change carriers. At the time I wondered if they were being petty.
But I am beginning to understand their point. QF seem in many small ways determined to p*ss everyone off with irritating and seemingly pointless "ENHANCEMENTS " and to what end?
I would have thought making doing business with them easier and more accessible would be their goal.
But it seems I am wrong.
I am bewildered

 

[medhead]

You click on the name of the fare type at the top of the column. That brings up a separate window with all the fare details including whether it is eligible for upgrades (under the heading Qantas Frequent Flyer). You then screenshot that information before booking as proof in case there are any hassles after booking.

Having said that the following rules of thumb apply:
1. All domestic fares are upgradable
2. Red-e-deals on international flights are not upgradable. This varies sometimes by country of sale.
3. International red-e-deals are upgradable if there are "Sale" fares available. The "Sale" fares are not upgradable.
4. Other international fares are upgradable.
5. These are only rules of thumb, there are always variations and they are not hard and fast
6. Getting an international upgrade is like winning the lottery. You really need to consider if the extra cost is worth the chance.
7. Awards are not upgradable.

 

[Limewood]

When you see Flight Upgrade Awards are not Eligible on all Red e-Deal Fares - so why have it as they are not upgradable, it should say they are not.

 

[Newk]

When you see Flight Upgrade Awards are not Eligible on all Red e-Deal Fares - so why have it as they are not upgradable, it should say they are not.

SOME red-e-deals ARE upgradable. It sure is confusing.

 

[serfty]

Anyone know? I tried calling them and the woman just said 'you can't tell'. Can't be true, surely?

It can be done but is not obvious.

It requires looking at the review code source.

You can do it manually, or I have written a script to do it for you on Chrome and Firefox browsers.

See here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....gram/qf-booking-class-22124-2.html#post849126

 

[4lex]

Thanks very much all.

You could book and select "Payment via BPAY" as it also saves you 30$ CC fees. Then you go to your booking, check the fare bucket and if you aren't happy you just dont pay (or call the hotline to cancel)

I like this as an idea, but may not be feasible due to...

Red E Deals may or may not be

Ah, but this booking originates at LGW, the economy fares on offer are called 'Roo', 'Saver', 'Semi Flex' and 'Flex'

You click on the name of the fare type at the top of the column. That brings up a separate window with all the fare details including whether it is eligible for upgrades

And there it is, thanks. In this case, 'Roo' and 'Saver' are ineligible, the 'Semi Flex' and 'Flex' are eligible, but...

6. Getting an international upgrade is like winning the lottery. You really need to consider if the extra cost is worth the chance.

Oh no, really? I'd naively formed the opinion it was just a case of pay the points, get the upgrade.

The scenario is this. My folks live in the UK, I live in Perth. They'd like to come and visit and would pay for business class. My mrs and I have 80k odd miles each on our accounts, but as it's ultimately a lot cheaper (let's avoid debating this point) to fly in steerage I take the view that I'll put up with the discomfort for the brief periods we have to tolerate flying - which essentially means I don't get the best value out of the QF miles I accumulate.

To buy a business return ex LGW is about GBP 4.2k for the period they're looking at. The upgradeable economy return is GBP 1.3k, they get ~ 44k miles for the booking. Upgrade cost is 120k miles, so nett we'd be out 76k miles, giving the miles a notional value of AUD 0.065 each, seems to be about the best usage of said miles?

Is there any way to ensure a points upgrade?

Cheers,
Alex

 

[markis10]

Thanks very much all.


I like this as an idea, but may not be feasible due to...


Ah, but this booking originates at LGW, the economy fares on offer are called 'Roo', 'Saver', 'Semi Flex' and 'Flex'


And there it is, thanks. In this case, 'Roo' and 'Saver' are ineligible, the 'Semi Flex' and 'Flex' are eligible, but...


Oh no, really? I'd naively formed the opinion it was just a case of pay the points, get the upgrade.

The scenario is this. My folks live in the UK, I live in Perth. They'd like to come and visit and would pay for business class. My mrs and I have 80k odd miles each on our accounts, but as it's ultimately a lot cheaper (let's avoid debating this point) to fly in steerage I take the view that I'll put up with the discomfort for the brief periods we have to tolerate flying - which essentially means I don't get the best value out of the QF miles I accumulate.

To buy a business return ex LGW is about GBP 4.2k for the period they're looking at. The upgradeable economy return is GBP 1.3k, they get ~ 44k miles for the booking. Upgrade cost is 120k miles, so nett we'd be out 76k miles, giving the miles a notional value of AUD 0.065 each, seems to be about the best usage of said miles?

Is there any way to ensure a points upgrade?

Cheers,
Alex

Upgrades can only be done on QF metal, which wont be on offer for LGW to PER

 

[4lex]

Oh yes, so I see in the fare conditions. Seems to me that these miles are largely without value.

 

[4lex]

I have written a script to do it for you on Chrome and Firefox browsers.

Brilliant, love your work

 

[Ansett]

When you see Flight Upgrade Awards are not Eligible on all Red e-Deal Fares - so why have it as they are not upgradable, it should say they are not.

I take that as some are and some arent ?????

 

[Newk]

"You may request an international Flight Upgrade Award from:

• Discount Economy[SUP]#[/SUP] (excluding E, N, O, Q and X class) to Premium Economy (where available[SUP]+[/SUP])
• Economy[SUP]#[/SUP] to Premium Economy (where available[SUP]+[/SUP])
• Discount Economy[SUP]#[/SUP] (excluding E, N, O, Q and X class) to Business
• Economy[SUP]#[/SUP] to Business
• Premium Economy (where available[SUP]+[/SUP]) to Business
• Business to First"

and:

• "Flight Upgrade Awards are not eligible on all Red e-Deal fares.Flight Upgrades can only be redeemed on Qantas operated flights."

I just did a dummy booking Melbourne to LHR. First time I did a mix of sale and saver and got a message "not eligible for upgrade." Then a saver and saver and got the latter message above, which is really quite unhelpful, because you then have to look up/somehow find the fare bucket. I can only keep saying that this is a big failing of the QF booking engine.