Qantas upgrade policy

[DJ737]

Hi there

Does anyone know QF's upgrade policy?

Got a upgrade on QF 73 this morning from MEL-SYD using a rock bottom Red E-deal fare, can't imagine a 744 being full from MEL to SYD on a sunday morning, had my QF FF (NB) number in the booking, as the fare class doesn't earn anything on AA.

Never had this situation before, perhaps the check in chick liked the look of me:shock:

Cheers
DJ737

 

[NM]

If you had not requested the upgrade using points or upgrade credits, then it would only have been provided if they needed your economy seat for another purpose.

At what point did you find out you had been upgraded? Was it at check-in or at the boarding gate? If check-in, then it would normally mean the flight was in fact full. If at the boarding gate, its possible they needed your seat to allow a group (family perhaps) to travel together, or you had been allocated the bassinet position and they found they needed it for an infant. So instead of moving you to another economy seat (which you may not like as much) they will sometimes move you up to business class for the "inconvenience".

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

I was allocated 24A at check-in, all i asked for was a window seat. I don't know how full the Y cabin was but there were empty seats in that first section of economy (rows 26-28?)

Cheers
DJ737

 

[Mal]

Some people here have a feeling that certain airlines sometimes give a complimentary upgrade to a fairly new/ low status Frequent Flyer with that airline.

Many anecdotal occurances of this (as well as many other refutions )

What is it that drug dealers can do to get people hooked? Free/cheap samples. What happens when you've experienced the nice Skybed on a sampler short trip?

Are these two events similar?

You be the judge...

See also:
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/websites-and-software/free-upgrades-an-update-5903.html

(There was another thread that discussed it more, but I can't find it right now!)

 

[NM]

Hi there

I was allocated 24A at check-in, all i asked for was a window seat. I don't know how full the Y cabin was but there were empty seats in that first section of economy (rows 26-28?)

Cheers
DJ737

Did you get business class service? Sometimes they use the lower deck business class cabin for economy passengers. Still get economy service (meals etc) but a much nicer seat. Did the boarding pass say Business Class?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I would tend to guess (along with the reasons above)that the flight number means that it is an International Flight ona domestic leg...as such many people such as myself avoid them as it means going through customs etc which takes more time even with the domestic line...and you have get there earlier as well.

So supposition is that most experienced would avoid it....so hence even just beinga NB QFF would make you ahigher status person it...and that others would not pay for Busisiness on sucha flight if they could avoid it = business being deplteed...and so hence a much improved chance of free upgrade.

I would suggest that if it wasa QF plus flight the oidds of a free upgrade would bea lot less fora NB.

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

Yes, it was full J service although there were only 3 pax in my cabin, there seemed to be a group in the forward J cabin (QF 73 is a 2 class aircraft)

I did present my AA plat card at check-in, so that Sapphire status was printed on the BP, although i asked for the miles to go to QFF, ended up with both FF numbers on the BP, so who knows where the miles will end up

Can QF check other OneWorld partner FF programs for your recent activity?

Cheers
DJ737

 

[Dave Noble]

Hi there

Yes, it was full J service although there were only 3 pax in my cabin, there seemed to be a group in the forward J cabin (QF 73 is a 2 class aircraft)

I did present my AA plat card at check-in, so that Sapphire status was printed on the BP, although i asked for the miles to go to QFF, ended up with both FF numbers on the BP, so who knows where the miles will end up

Cheers
DJ737

Being OW Sapphire is quite different to being a QF Nobody. If there was an oversell , then it is not that surprising that you could be selected for an upgrade

According to EF, QF73 is 3 class; was there no 1st cabin in Zone A?

Dave

 

[DJ737]

Hi there

Flight was operated by VH-OJJ a 2 class aircraft. Came off LAX-AKL-MEL.

Cheers
DJ737

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Being a domestic leg....and as Qantas I do not I think sell First Class Domestic ??would they just have opearted it as two class......even though IF they had sufficent some would sit in First class seats??

 

[Dave Noble]

Being a domestic leg....and as Qantas I do think sell First Class Domestic ??would they just have opearted it as two class......even though IF they had sufficent some would sit in First class seats??

QF73 shows on Expert Flyer as having F

Dave

 

[NM]

QF73 shows on Expert Flyer as having F

Dave

Actually, it shows F0 A0 Z0 P0 every week. So although it shows F, there is never any available for sale MEL-SYD.

 

[NYCguy]

... But as for upgrades at the checkin desk, look, sometimes you just get lucky. But don't bet on it - it's about as likely as winning Powerball these days.

I lived in Cairns for 18 months back in the early 1990's, and made frequent (2nd-weekly) trips to BNE or SYD. I joined AN's Golden Wing club and I was given many an upgrade ex-CNS, even from deep-discount economy to row 1. There were a few times it happened ex-BNE, mainly early am departures on J tickets when they only had a few front-cabin pax and so put us all in F.

These days it seems most unlikely - coming back from BNE into SYD last weekend, there were 5 of us in the 30-seat biz cabin of a 767, leaving several of the Loungers who had been waiting with me in Y, when it would surely not have bankrupted Qantas to move them forward a few rows. How much can a dozen extra servings of teriyaki chicken with hokkien noodles and a couple of bottles of sauvignon blanc cost? Little touches like occasional free upgrades on short sectors make people feel important, and more inclined to stay loyal to their carrier/hotel chain/credit card of choice.

 

[Commuter]

Little touches like occasional free upgrades on short sectors make people feel important, and more inclined to stay loyal to their carrier/hotel chain/credit card of choice.

I agree there. But I guess QF doesn't feel too threatened by Virgin and so they don't feel inclined to offer it.

From my perspective, I'd rather fly QF because I usually get to pick the seat I want, whereas I can never do it on Virgin even when I use the web check-in 24 hours before departure (because except for once, they didn't offer row 1-9 for my booking).