Paid upgrades on BA

[bussyboy]

A quick search failed to find a general thread for BA so here goes - anyone had any luck with a discounted (paid) class upgrade on BA flights recently? Is there reasonable value, given that it's not an auction system?

I know they're only just returning to Australia post-covid, but worth a shot... I'm booked in a couple of weeks and saw this email today...



This was quite surprising as I'd book a Classic Reward fare in J through Qantas.

Not so surprising, the link on the email didn't show me an upgrade option - could be I was 2 hours too late in reading the email, and with only 8 F seats, it's pretty limited! Maybe better luck on the return leg at the end of April...

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Recently? No. I did upgrade short haul with BA back in 2019 flying DUB > MAN for €59. Some might say this was too much to pay given the flight is literally just 50 minutes in length, but for me it was decent value on a number of accounts. First, I had access to the BA lounge at DUB (as I didn't have OW status at the time), second I had priority security which for someone who has a panic attack sitting in security queues for more than 5 minutes was a win, and lastly I had a pretty decent meal on this short flight to MAN which turned out to be a wise option since all the restaurants at DUB close super early:


So to answer your questions:

• Is it reasonable value? It depends on how much you value the added perks of flying J/F over what you originally booked. At a bare minimum, though, I would expect the upgrade offer plus how much I paid on the fare to be less than what the premium fare currently or previously cost.
• When are these upgrades available? Generally when BA has an excess inventory of unsold Premium cabin seats available close to departure. Indeed, I would not be surprised if the offer you received in your email doesn't appear in your manage your bookings or during check-in for the flight.
• Will you earn additional miles and tier points as part of the upgrade? It depends! On this flight I did end up earning the tier points and Avios at the Business Lowest (R,I) despite me booking that sector as a cheap saver fare costing €18.

Everyone places a different value on premium travel. So long as you aren't paying more for the upgrade than you are willing to spend and are satisfied with what you're getting, that's all that matters.

-RooFlyer88

 

[andye]

My understanding is that you should get the higher SCs and points on a BA paid upgrade offer ( I have done previously though they seem pricier than they used to be)

 

[serfty]

The only time I did it five years ago, it rebooked from O into U class.

Did get business earning however. YMMV

 

[SYD]

The J SCs can be good value depending on how much they’re asking. In the past, I would get the offers randomly but I’d only know by checking my bookings on BA.com.

The only and kind big caution is paid upgrades generally make the fare non-refundable/non-flexible once you take the upgrade.

Just had three Euro/UK domestic sectors and zero from three upgrade offers.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

BA does have some good deals on upgrades… and some not so good deals! Friend flew yesterday LHR-SAN and the Y->W upgrade offer was ‘just’ USD2758 and Y->J ‘just’ USD5700!

 

[justinbrett]

You can generally get a better deal at the airport, if there's still seats left.

But it won't be a great deal. I'd guess 2-3K ($A) for J to F. A couple of years ago I flew KUL-LHR and they wanted A$1300 for Y+ to J.

I've got a BA J award SYD-LHR later in the year, but I wouldn't bother paying for F. If it was Y to J, absolutely.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've got a BA J award SYD-LHR later in the year, but I wouldn't bother paying for F. If it was Y to J, absolutely.

And miss out on the world’s best business class!?

 

[justinbrett]

And miss out on the world’s best business class!?

I don't mind it at all. I think BA has excellent service (actually prefer it to QF - but don't tell the others in the QF forum). I get the window seat in the last row that has direct aisle access - and you don't need to put your feet in a vice to sleep. Done it quite a few times and every flight has been great.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I should also point out that there is some strategy involved in playing the upgrades game. One thing I try to do whenever possible when flying in Y (especially long haul) is to choose those dates and times that have the highest amount of unsold J. Some airlines like United provide that information out of the gate via Expert Mode, whilst for other airlines the details can be found using tools like ExpertFlyer. Ideally you want to be in a J9 situation when you're making the booking, and sometimes it may even make sense to change the date as you close in to the flight if you see other flights have more unsold inventory (this can sometimes even be done free of charge).

Some airlines also tend to be more generous with their upgrade offers than others. For instance, I've found United to be reasonable for a lot of the paid upgrade offers they make available, including a $900 USD upgrade from a discount economy to Polaris business class flying AKL to SFO and once had a $500 USD upgrade offer for ORD > HNL on United in BusinessFirst (passengers last).

There's a lot of things to consider when requesting an upgrade using an upgrade instrument be it through points, an upgrade certificate, paid upgrades, etc. It's not like business award flights where either there's availability or not but in my opinion it pays off. I can get nearly 3 one-ways in Polaris J from AU to North America with United nearly the same number of points as a one-way business saver award with them.

-RooFlyer88

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't mind it at all. I think BA has excellent service (actually prefer it to QF - but don't tell the others in the QF forum). I get the window seat in the last row that has direct aisle access - and you don't need to put your feet in a vice to sleep. Done it quite a few times and every flight has been great.

Common reference to BA F = world’s best business class

 

[justinbrett]

Common reference to BA F = world’s best business class

Ah right.