paid for at Gate upgrade

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all I was talking to a friend in the USA last night and they were talking about at check in upgrades, he said that if you ask for a paid for upgrade they will often sell a J seat for an extra $200 US, I was wondering if that happens here in AUS, like asking Emirates how much they would charge for an upgrade at check in MEL LHR. I have a friend who is travelling with his wife and kids on Wednesday in Y so it may be worth a try has any one tried this and did it work

Emirates MAY offer cheap upgrades. Friends were recently called (2 days priort to departure) and offered a $200 upgrade economy to business for SYD-bangkok.

Especially now with the major downturn in traffic you might be lucky (that is, if you are flying via BKK).

 

[dlivo]

Jetstar Honolulu to Sydney is $US500 upgrading from economy to StarClass one-way at check-in.

 

[excell]

Air Pacific often offer paid upgrade at check-in approx $300 to J class

 

[markis10]

Air Pacific often offer paid upgrade at check-in approx $300 to J class

Thats not much less than booking j in the first place depending on your Y fare.

 

[anabolism]

I did it the other day in the USA. I paid $45us for Y-A upgrade on a short AA MIA-MCO flight, but when you consider that I would have paid $25 to check my bag on AA (no bag fee exception for me ) it was only $20, and it was well worth that to skip the bag drop and TSA lines (insane at MIA!) and to walk on without a bloody group allocation!

If this was AA, then presumably this was done at the check-in kiosk and not with a check-in agent nor at the gate.

AA offers to sell upgrades via the kiosk when there are enough empty premium seats that they know they won't sell and they won't need them for frequent flyers who have requested upgrades. The price is based on how long the flight is (in miles).

It has only credited as Y on QF but I've sent them an email hoping to get it fixed, I'm not sure what I'm entitled to so fingers crossed!

You should only get credit for the original fare.

 

[Spizz]

I am flying UA internally in the US from LAX-JFK in Business P.S. Does anyone know if UA offer a paid upgrade option at the Checkin desk from Business to First?

 

[Sprucegoose]

Jetstar Honolulu to Sydney is $US500 upgrading from economy to StarClass one-way at check-in.

How does that compare with the ticket purchase say a month out?

 

[trooper]

p.s flights?

Don't know if UFC is offered.. but the general view on FT seems to be that p.s. F isn't worth much over C...

P.S. mrgreen I flew in F JFK-SFO last year and it was pretty decent.... but NOT worth what they usually charge for it... (I got in on the briefly available "A" fare...)

 

[Mal]

I saw a desk at Gatwick airport (for BA) which was where you could approach and find out if you could upgrade your class of travel. Wasn't manned though, and no idea of cost involved.

BA used to have on-board upgrades available, where you could pay the purser a fixed amount and get an on-board upgrade. I believe this has been stopped by BA though.

 

[straitman]

BA used to have on-board upgrades available, where you could pay the purser a fixed amount and get an on-board upgrade. I believe this has been stopped by BA though.

Cynical me has to ask if it was stopped as too many pursers were making too much money on the side. :shock:

 

[Hvr]

In January I paid for an upgrade from Y-J on JAL domestic HND-CTS, only 1,000 Yen and the SCs came through thank you very much. I was on a visit Japan fare and it only cost me 10,000 Yen for the fare anyway. Did the same on the return as well.

I just asked at the J check in desk (courtesy of OWS).

 

[samh004]

In January I paid for an upgrade from Y-J on JAL domestic HND-CTS, only 1,000 Yen and the SCs came through thank you very much. I was on a visit Japan fare and it only cost me 10,000 Yen for the fare anyway. Did the same on the return as well.

I just asked at the J check in desk (courtesy of OWS).

If you didn’t miss a '0' there, wow, that’s good value. I want to start flying through Japan for some SC chasing.

 

[anabolism]

In January I paid for an upgrade from Y-J on JAL domestic HND-CTS, only 1,000 Yen and the SCs came through thank you very much. I was on a visit Japan fare and it only cost me 10,000 Yen for the fare anyway. Did the same on the return as well.

I just asked at the J check in desk (courtesy of OWS).

JAL has been offering a 1,000 Yen (about $10US) upgrade from Y to what they call "Class J" (domestic J) for a while now. It's offered space-available, but is well worth it in my view.

 

[midnight]

My wife and I just flew Air Pacific Honolulu/Nadi/Brisbane and asked about upgrade in Honolulu. They said "todays price" is $400 US each. Asked them if that was all the way to Brisbane or just Nadi, but it was only to Nadi so we declined. If it was Brisbane it was touch and go whether we would do it but didn't have to make that decision.
Stupid thing is 5 of the 8 seats flew empty Honolulu/Nadi and I think 4 possibly 5 Nadi/Brisbane and the plane was less than 2/3 full Honolulu/Nadi. I always thought airlines were supposed to try and make money.

 

[straitman]

My wife and I just flew Air Pacific Honolulu/Nadi/Brisbane and asked about upgrade in Honolulu. They said "todays price" is $400 US each. Asked them if that was all the way to Brisbane or just Nadi, but it was only to Nadi so we declined. If it was Brisbane it was touch and go whether we would do it but didn't have to make that decision.
Stupid thing is 5 of the 8 seats flew empty Honolulu/Nadi and I think 4 possibly 5 Nadi/Brisbane and the plane was less than 2/3 full Honolulu/Nadi. I always thought airlines were supposed to try and make money.

midnight,

Welcome to the wonders of yield management.

If the airlines always sell the last J seats at a discount upgrade price you can quickly get to the point where people do not book the J seats they simply expect and ask for gate upgrades which leaves the airlines in a worse financial position than if they do it the way they currently do.

 

[midnight]

Good point Bill and I totally understand the yield management theory. Many many discussions could be and have been had as to whether those that want a J class seat will take the risk of doing it at the gate. I have worked in hospitality for years and run hotels and backpackers and have learnt to treat a bed (in this case airline seat) as a perishable product. The moment the plane door closes those seats have reached there use by date and the airline will never be able to sell them again.
As you say "the wonders of yield management".

 

[straitman]

Good point Bill and I totally understand the yield management theory. Many many discussions could be and have been had as to whether those that want a J class seat will take the risk of doing it at the gate. I have worked in hospitality for years and run hotels and backpackers and have learnt to treat a bed (in this case airline seat) as a perishable product. The moment the plane door closes those seats have reached there use by date and the airline will never be able to sell them again.
As you say "the wonders of yield management".

Also read post #2 in this thread. Straight from our DJ 'spy'.

 

[yohy?!]

Never say never...



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