Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user!

[lili2]

Re: Citi Gold Visa benefits? and Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user!

people are speaking about benefits of Citibank Visa. I have a Citi Gold Visa and have never redeemed their rewards (except for transferring to qantas ff points) mainly because i can never login to their site despite trying different usernames/ passwords. And they charge you points to have someone do it for you on the phone. Can anyone tell me the other rewards with Citi gold visa? eg. what other airline loyalty programs can i transfer my points to? ( apart from QFf, I am in Miles and More, Jal and Virgin Atlantic)

On another point re Q Ff upgrades... excuse my ignorance, i am new to this... I am wanting an upgrade from Prem Economy to Business on flights from Syd to La and S Fran to Syd in early May ( 1 way Syd- LA, ret S Fran to Syd). I am presently just Bronze but will achieve Silver after taking my first flight over to USA> i have already requested an upgrade on way over.What i was wondering was should i request an Upgrade from Prem Econ for my ret flight NOW? or should i wait until i am Silver level to request Upgrade? ( but then that upgrade request will only be about 6 or 7 days before i need it on Ret journey) That is, is it more advantageous to ask for Upgrade early as a Bronze or wait til i am Silver with only about 7 days before wanting upgrade?
Also Is there any more chance for me to get upgrade from Prem Econ to Business than from normal Economy? eg because i paid more buying Prem econ will it lift my chances as a lowly Bronze or new Silver?

I appreciate any views on this, sorry if i sound naive, am new to this! But you people are so knowledgeable, I am hooked on this site as i am a compulsive traveller! thanks

 

[lovetravellingoz]

As a Bronze on a very popular route you would only have a very small chance of gaining an upgrade.

 

[MelUser]

I would put the upgrade request in.

Then when you hit silver cancel it and put it in again.

The qantas computer looks at your status when the upgrade is requested and remembers it.

Before everyone jumps on me - this information was given to me by Qantas.

 

[medhead]

I would put the upgrade request in.

Then when you hit silver cancel it and put it in again.

The qantas computer looks at your status when the upgrade is requested and remembers it.

Before everyone jumps on me - this information was given to me by Qantas.

Not jumping on you at all. But I just don't know how that would work. the request is based on status and time. So the first request as a bronze is not going to count in terms of the length of time because it gets cancelled. unless the time factor is some how transferred to the request as a silver.

 

[MelUser]

Sorry a bit misleading.

The time of bronze request doesn't count but I just suggested having the request in eg: what if the flights don't credit properly and you don't end up sorting it out until you get home - at least there is some sort of upgrade request in.

 

[lili2]

Re: Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user! Re Upgrade from Prem Econ to Bus

thanks for answering me! are you saying that as Bronze Qantas Club the (early) time you put in for Upgrade is not counted? also is there more chance i will get my Upgrade to Business as i bought Premium Economy? not Economy? The fact that i paid more and there is less "distance" up from Prem Econ to Bus than from normal Econ to Business?
thanks everyone! I am now obsessed with this site

 

[medhead]

Re: Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user! Re Upgrade from Prem Econ to Bus

thanks for answering me! are you saying that as Bronze Qantas Club the (early) time you put in for Upgrade is not counted?

The time will always count. What I mean is that if you request the upgrade and cancel it when making silver, the earlier time of the bronze upgrade request doesn't actually do anything for you. But Meluser did mention some other reasons for doing it, which I don't really understand.

also is there more chance i will get my Upgrade to Business as i bought Premium Economy? not Economy? The fact that i paid more and there is less "distance" up from Prem Econ to Bus than from normal Econ to Business?
thanks everyone! I am now obsessed with this site

I don't know, sorry.

 

[serfty]

Just to clarify; some years ago Qantas noted in the QFF t&C's that time of upgrade request had bearing over upgrade priority. This is no longer so indicated.

It's now appears that the following attributes of a booking comprise some or all of the determinants in priority:

• Frequent Flyer Status
• Booking Class (≈Fare Paid)
• Years of QFF membership

Whether time of request is still used is not publicly known, but almost certainly comes after those two.

 

[docjames]

Just to clarify; some years ago Qantas noted in the QFF t&C's that time of upgrade request had bearing over upgrade priority. This is no longer so indicated.


It's now appears that the following attributes of a booking comprise some or all of the determinants in priority:

• Frequent Flyer Status
• Booking Class (≈Fare Paid)
• Years of QFF membership

Whether time of request is still used is not publicly known, but almost certainly comes after those two.

Serfty, do you have a link for this - I was still under the assumption that fare class mattered less than status and time of request (ie. Gold @ T-50 ahead of Gold at T-40 ahead of silver at T-90 etc)

 

[JetLagged]

Re: Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user! Re Upgrade from Prem Econ to Bus

also is there more chance i will get my Upgrade to Business as i bought Premium Economy? not Economy? The fact that i paid more and there is less "distance" up from Prem Econ to Bus than from normal Econ to Business?

Actualy, the relevant qwuestion revolves around the fact that you can ONLY upgrade from one level to the next i.e. Economy to PE, PE to J, etc. So as you have bought a PE ticket, and given ALL the other considerations which other members have raised re stat and date etc - I'll leave you to work out your overall chances! :evil:

 

[QF WP]

Serfty, do you have a link for this - I was still under the assumption that fare class mattered less than status and time of request (ie. Gold @ T-50 ahead of Gold at T-40 ahead of silver at T-90 etc)

QF website relevant pages - here and here

 

[docjames]

16.3.5 Flight Upgrades will be awarded to Members according to their Qantas Frequent Flyer status levels in the following order: Platinum Members first, then Gold Members, then Silver Members and then Bronze Members.

and

Upgrades are allocated according to your membership level: Platinum Frequent Flyers first, followed by Gold, Silver and then Bronze. When using your points to upgrade an eligible family member, the upgrade will be awarded according to the eligible family member's priority not the status of the Qantas Frequent Flyer whose points are being used.

Although some believe in practice the last sentence is not always correct!


So in my question to serfty, LW's links dont actually answer my query and serfty's statement, ie:
Whilst it lists fare classes which are valid to upgrade, I can see no reference to the fact the fare class plays any role in whom actually gets the upgrade where demand > supply of UG seats.

 

[QF WP]

You don't actually expect QF to tell their members exactly how their system works - that would be to much for most to understand :shock:. Simpler to let them know it's based on status. They also declined to add CL membership....of course (because it's an unheralded membership level)

In reality, I'm sure it also has to do with profitability (ie. fare purchased) within the membership categories, on each flight.

 

[serfty]

... So in my question to serfty, LW's links dont actually answer my query and serfty's statement, ie:
Whilst it lists fare classes which are valid to upgrade, I can see no reference to the fact the fare class plays any role in whom actually gets the upgrade where demand > supply of UG seats.

No link; simply anecdotal evidence.

The removal of the 'time of request' clause from the T&C's can be indicative.

In any case, look at this thread: International Upgrades - the pecking order

 

[medhead]

Re: Qantas FF upgrade question from Naive New user! Re Upgrade from Prem Econ to Bus

Actualy, the relevant qwuestion revolves around the fact that you can ONLY upgrade from one level to the next i.e. Economy to PE, PE to J, etc. So as you have bought a PE ticket, and given ALL the other considerations which other members have raised re stat and date etc - I'll leave you to work out your overall chances! :evil:

Upgrades are not limited by level as you suggest. You can upgrade from discount or full or premium economy to business. If fare class comes into it as Serfty has mentioned that I expect that premium economy will beat other economy.

Flight upgrades are available on:

• Discount Economy^ (excluding E, N, O or Q class) to Premium Economy*
• Full Economy to Premium Economy*
• Discount Economy^ (excluding E, N, O or Q class) to Business,
• Full Economy to Business
• Premium Economy+ to Business
• Business to First.

Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Flight Upgrades - About Flight Upgrades

 

[Must...Fly!]

They also declined to add CL membership....of course (because it's an unheralded membership level)

To my surprise I noticed the appearance of "Chairmans Lounge members" multiple times in the Feb QF magazine.