Last Minute Sydney->LAX Upgrade + Noob Questions

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worstFlyerOce

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2024
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Hi All,

Company has booked me on a PE seat from Syd - LAX of QF11. I have requested an Upgrade (up to the gate as a solo traveler) to BC.

Thing is I only have 50k Qantas Points available, On the off chance that I get the ticket I want to make sure I have the points available. However, I also have an overnight 5h flight from Perth to Sydney which I could upgrade for 25k Points (Expensive!) But worth it to get some sleep. Should I:
  • Give up on my dream of a Syd -> LAX Upgrade and use points on the overnight domestic flight.
  • Pray to QANTAS Upgrade Gods. ( QF flyers give me a % chance, if possible, I ballpark a 10% chance which I deem acceptable risk)

Don't usually fly QANTAS so not a member FF QC member or whatever. I do have Gold Emirates status, which I hear will get me in the Qantas Business class lounge. Or can I (my company) pay for a better lounge in Sydney?
 
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Knowing the currend load on your flights (specially the syd lax) could help your decision. If J is full, there is no upgrade, and you might have saved your points for nothing, pottentially missing out on PER SYD upgrade
 
Not having any QF Status won't help either. you'll essentially be at the back of the pack for Upgrade requests from other status holders.
 
worstFlyerOce said:
Hi All,

Company has booked me on a PE seat from Syd - LAX of QF11. I have requested an Upgrade (up to the gate as a solo traveler) to BC.
Click to expand...
If you can post the date of the QF11 and the details of the Perth to Sydney Leg (presume it is overnight) I can check Expert Flyer to tell you how full business is on these flights and that will help you aim your upgrade request to the flight with the best chance.

I am presuming that if both upgrades are available, you want the one on QF11?
 
Wow thanks for all the quick input, very much appreciated.

Here is the flights and current BC Request

1706845366766.png


Solo Traveller so perhaps some BC tickets may open up last minute due to cancellation.

Curious as to why Perth to Sydney is 27k but Sydney to Perth is only 11k.

Also, 6hours in Sydney I heard the BC lounge sucks, any other avenues to the FC Lounge given my Emirate Status and points (like paid entry) Alternately any other Paid lounges that you recommend?

I have around 200k NAB points (think I can swap them for Velocity Point) and Around 50k Emirates Miles, but after a quick search they are pretty much useless to me for my QANTAS Trip, are there any methods that i may have missed to trade them to something useful for my trip?

Alos probably pushing my luck with noobish questions here. But i have a laptop that has a 130W charger given the QF Flights only output 75w, do you guys have any tips or tricks to stay juiced for the 14hour flight?
 
Oh if you are in Y+ for a Feb flight I would absolutely hold out for SYD-LAX. Your upgrade changes are very good.

The difference in rates for SYD-PER is you would be in flex Y outbound which means lower points to upgrade.

Edit - actually just looked at the flight loads and looks like they've handed out all the upgrades. You might have just missed out.

F1 A0 P0 J1 C0 D0 I0 U0 W9 R9 T0 Z0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V0 S0 N9 Q9 O9 G0 X4 E0

PER-SYD doesn't look much better. Maybe just keep your hat in the ring for LAX, someone might cancel.

J2 C0 D0 I0 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q0 O0 G0 X0 E0
 
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1706845968262.png
1706846043736.png

You were not kidding about short notice.
Both those flights are within 24 hours

The above are the tickets available on the 2 flights, tonight for perth-> syd
Tomorrow for Syd->LAX

The business class seats are J,C,D,I & U and as you can see there are just 2 business seats available right now from Perth and 1 from Sydney

Keep in mind that FF upgrades will have generally gone out by now, so it is possible that many have already been satisfied and an 'at the gate' may be available from the last few they have held back.

Don't like your chances though.

With such bad odds I personally would ask for both and see what happens.
 
I'd suggest putting the eggs in the QF11 basket, given you have points for for either 2 * PER or 1 * LAX at the moment. Essentially, the longer the flight, the higher the cabin. And if you slum the first flight in Y but manage to score J on the second, you can try to sleep off what you lost on the first night.

On those bigger flights (A380) there is always movement with no-shows, last minute changes, etc. The chances for a upgrade at the gate are slim but do exist (I've gotten them twice in the past year). And if you end up staying in PE, that's a perfectly adequate way to get to the destination.
 
I would lean towards put your eggs in the QF 11 basket, if that fails QF12 when your points PER-SYD post.
 
snabbu said:
Possibly because QF654 is a scheduled 738 service without lie flat seats whereas QF654 is a 332 with full lie flats.
Click to expand...
The operating equipment (737 vs A330) has no bearing on the points cost to upgrade. The difference here will be that QF654 is booked as a Red e-Deal (Discount Economy) and QF645 is booked as a Flex (Flexible Economy) fare type.
 
worstFlyerOce said:
I do have Gold Emirates status, which I hear will get me in the Qantas Business class lounge.
Click to expand...
Emirates status is not applicable to flights to/from America. You will be eligible on the domestic flights but not the international ones.
 
henrus said:
Emirates status is not applicable to flights to/from America. You will be eligible on the domestic flights but not the international ones.
Click to expand...
I believe that is for access to the EK lounge.

For access to the QF int J lounge, per this page, EK Gold should get in on the QF11 flight number.


Now, the issue is to have upgrade request in, that would be under the QFF#, so would need to swap to EK to access the lounge. Tricky.
 
No Problem getting into the BC lounge in Sydney using the Emirates Gold Staus, He did look confused at first and didn't think it was that common.

No Upgrade Unfortunately, The PE seat was way better than expected and there were a few empty PE seats (It seems strange that they would rather leave them empty than let the economy people upgrade?) So, I snagged a Ailse seat without any Neighbours which was good.

Thanks for all you input guys really helpful. Wish me luck for the return punt!
 
...Fml.

So didnt hear anything for my upgrade request and resigned to it not going through for lax-Sydney qf12 tonight. Feeling dejected I blew some qanatas points in a bit of anger. Of course not 30 mins later I get a message you qf upgrade was unsuccessfully due to insufficient points.

I realise I'm my own worst enemy sometimes, but do I have any hope of redemption, happy to shell out a couple of grand for the upgrade but I could buy points and then perhaps the upgrade is already gone (likely)

I'm soo sad right now, anyone offer me a glimpse of hope?
 
Twice I have been upgraded at the Gate, when attempting to board and getting rejected. Unfortunately no option, although PE is not bad
 

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