Liklihood of upgrade from Discount economy to Business Mel-Lhr

[ajb]

Hi everyone,

I have recently earned enough points to request a Discount Y to J upgrade for my partner and I for QF9 from Mel-Lhr on the 15th of December. (192K)

I am QFF Gold partner is only QC Bronze..., so I know don't get the earlier confirmation like WP etc, however I was wondering what your collective experience in these matters might tell me regarding my chances.
Fingers crossed it comes through on the day, but like all of these things I know there are many variables.

Thanks in advance!
AJB

 

[lovestotravel]

If it's going to happen, expect it about 24 hours before your departure time

Good luck

 

[markis10]

We dont know who your competition are but the flight has seats as of now, lot can change closer to the day, keep an eye on flight stats which gives free availability

Available Seats:

First:	7 (at least)	Business:	9 (at least)	Coach:	9 (at least)	Other:	n/a
Fare Classes:	F/7 A/7 P/0		J/9 C/9 D/9 I/6 U/0		W/9 R/5 T/5 Z/0 Y/9 B/9 H/9 K/9 M/9 L/9 V/0 S/9 N/9 Q/0 O/0 G/0 X/0 E/0

 

[ajb]

Thanks for that Markis10, I'll keep an eye on it for sure. Who knows if it will actually come through, it will be my first time in International business so fingers and toes are crossed!

 

[ajb]

Thanks for clarifying that, it will be an awesome day if it comes through!

 

[thecat]

Well, I flew out on QF9 on Dec 10th last year, so about the same time period you're looking at. I'm just a lowly NB, yet managed to score a Discount Y -> J upgrade. Whilst a notification didn't come through until I was at the airport, points were taken late the night before (~11pm from memory). An excellent experience, and whilst I was a sole traveller, its definitely possible!

And yes, it couldn't hurt to keep your fingers and toes crossed between now and December...every bit helps!

 

[Melburnian1]

One factor working against you is that QF has reduced the number of business class seats on most of its 380s a little.

Given that you are travelling at a peak pre-Christmas time (although the following week should be even busier), this may make it slightly harder to secure an upgrade if all business class seats are booked (or overbooked by the usual percentage that airlines do given that each can make an intelligent guess as to how many in each class are unlikely to front on the afternoon in question).

Of course, what is peak season for business class on any airline may not be the same for economy class and vice versa, and the business class seating was presumably reduced because the now gone J seats were on average not selling as frequently as QF thought replacement economy seats might.

 

[brenton-t]

I wasn't aware that you could upgrade from discount Y - J.
I am booked on QF11 Syd - LAX on 24-11-2013 and LAX - SYD on QF12 on 30-11-2013. This is a discount Y fare and the option to upgrade is not available in my bookings as upgrade from discount economy to business is not allowed.
I would have thought this would also apply MEL-LHR

 

[markis10]

I wasn't aware that you could upgrade from discount Y - J.
I am booked on QF11 Syd - LAX on 24-11-2013 and LAX - SYD on QF12 on 30-11-2013. This is a discount Y fare and the option to upgrade is not available in my bookings as upgrade from discount economy to business is not allowed.
I would have thought this would also apply MEL-LHR

Some discount fare buckets are upgradable, and from time to time Qantas open up requests for all for short periods.

 

[kempvet]

Good luck, like others have said, you probably will not know until you are at the airport, being the lowest tier to be upgraded means that it is a lottery, and there may even be empty J seats on the flight as they may only allocate a certain number of your tier to an upgrade

 

[ajb]

Thank you all for your replies, I'll hopefully get that message T-24!

 

[ajb]

Hi all,

so it's just ticked over T-24.. and I haven't seen any sign of an upgrade.

Does this mean that it won't happen at all? Does checking online now affect a future chance of the upgrade clearing?
Flightstats still shows:

Available Seats:

First:	6 (at least)	Business:	9 (at least)	Coach:	9 (at least)	Other:	n/a
Fare Classes:	F/6 A/5 P/0		J/9 C/9 D/9 I/0 U/0		W/7 R/7 T/1 Z/0 Y/9 B/9 H/9 K/9 M/9 L/9 V/9 S/9 N/9 Q/9 O/9 G/0 X/0 E/0

Does this mean anything?

Thanks for all of your help, fingers and toes still crossed.

ajb

 

[OATEK]

Expert flyer much the same:

F6 A5 J9 C9 D9 I0 W8 R8 T1 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0 E0

According to seatmap, PE has 9 blocked, 1 free, and J has 13 blocked and 1 free, so looks like they might be up to offering upgrades. If under airport control I think all would show as blocked.

Still hope I think...