Qantas upgrade without points?

[blueflamenco]

Two different friends of mine on (three!) different occasions have been upgraded without using points or requesting upgrades. It seems they just .. get upgraded.

They are bronze QFF members, purchase economy sale fares and make on average one international flight per year

What are the chances of this? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

either your friends are pulling your leg or they are extremely lucky.

 

[tuppaware]

Maybe they look the part!

Look nice and be upgraded?

 

[DMMatlin]

I have personally received such an upgrade on the following occasions in my travels..

SIN to MEL: BA upgraded me from Y+ to J - I was a Gold QFF at the time
SAT to ORD: AA upgraded me from Y to F - I was a Gold QFF at the time
MNL to SYD: QF upgraded me from Y to J - I was a Silver QFF at the time
POM to SYD: PX upgraded me from Y to J - I was a Bronze QFF at the time

I did not request these upgrades, nor had FF points deducted from my account. The last 3 of these on the list were actually at the boarding gate upgrades. On the Air Nuigini flight I asked the Boarding Attendant why I had received the upgrade, she simply said "Courtesy of QANTAS".

 

[blueflamenco]

Hehe. No.. they weren't pulling my leg.. In a way I wish they were because I'm feeling pretty duped!

And as far as looking the part... I don't know what part they would be looking? Certainly they don't look like business travelers.

 

[blueflamenco]

Courtesy of Qantas eh! How do I get in on that!

 

[samh004]

When I was younger travelling with my parents many years ago, upgrades were quite regular, but even fairly recently, I’ve had free upgrades when only being OW Ruby (Silver).

The bottom line is, no one really knows quite how the system works, and sometimes you just get lucky.

 

[codash1099]

I've mentioned in another thread that my brother, who is NB and an infrequent flyer has been given QP passes on each of his last three trips.

The machinery of QF grinds extremely queer.

 

[anat0l]

Sometimes op ups (operational upgrades) are necessary due to too many pax in a lower class (so you have to bump up a few of them to a higher one), but I guess there would be some annoyance if a WP was passed up for an op up in favour of a NB esp. if they were on the same fare bases!

I never got an op up until I was a WP. It's still really all just a luck of the draw game.

Op ups are one of the only ways to get an upgrade without footing any additional cost (points or cash). Sweet talk may also work in very, very rare occasions (or at least it should only work in very, very rare occasions!)

 

[FlyboyAl]

I arrived in LAX last friday after being op uped at Mel. went from Y to Y+ at the gate, and they guy just said to me "congratulations, you have been upgraded". When I got on the plane (A380) I was upstairs in 34K. During the flight I went for a walk around and economy was totally full, including the seat I had originally been allocated (77A).
The guy next to me was a little peeved as he had paid the full fare, and he only found out because the crew came and introduded themselves and asked me how come I was not on their list? I just told them that I'd been upgraded at the gate.
This happenned to me last year on 4 out of 6 international flights when I was upgraded from discount Y to Y+ and J. 2 of the upgrades (to J) were at check in, and the other 2 (Y+) were at the gate.
Last year I was bronze, and I am now silver, but I still do not know what makes it happen, although I'm pretty sure the flights last year were also very full in Y.
One of my upgrades last year to J was interesting - there were only 4 of us in the entire J cabin from LAX to AKL, then it filled up from AKL to home.
It's a great feeling when they scan the boarding pass and it keeps bombing out, then you get refered to someone else who goes away and comes back with the upgraded boarding pass.

 

[JohnK]

In an ideal world someone with top tier status should get the op-ups first but this is not always possible. One needs to be extremely lucky to receive op-ups without status. It does happen and will continue to happen for operational reasons.

I still remember being op-uped on both legs of a SYD-BKK return trip in 2004-2005 and I was only QF Silver at the time. For the first leg the op-up was at check-in and I don't think I went into the QF Business Lounge before the flight. For the return leg I was given an op-up at the gate. Made for a wonderful trip and I will never forget it.

 

[HardieBoys]

Back in the day, friends who worked for QF were sometimes able to arrange upgrades, but I'm not sure this happens any more.

I would estimate I get an op-upgrade annually (usually do 3 to 5 long-haul returns a year), and sometimes more than that. Once got an upgrade on a discounted Y ticket from SIN to SYD: having been refused a points upgrade, I was bumped up at the gate. Best result was treating myself to a J RTW one year: received op-upgrades to F from SYD - HKG, HKG - CDG (CX) and LHR - JFK (BA). The only upgrade I could've got but didn't was Santiago - SYD. Still, very happy with this.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I arrived in LAX last friday after being op uped at Mel. went from Y to Y+ at the gate, and they guy just said to me "congratulations, you have been upgraded". When I got on the plane (A380) I was upstairs in 34K. During the flight I went for a walk around and economy was totally full, including the seat I had originally been allocated (77A).
The guy next to me was a little peeved as he had paid the full fare, and he only found out because the crew came and introduded themselves and asked me how come I was not on their list? I just told them that I'd been upgraded at the gate. .

Sounds like some muggins printed the passenger manifest prior to finalising the flight. You were still probably showing as being seated in 77A

It's a great feeling when they scan the boarding pass and it keeps bombing out, then you get refered to someone else who goes away and comes back with the upgraded boarding pass.

As long as that's the only reason that it beeps. Sometimes it happens if there's been an aircraft swap where the seat you had when you OLCI doesn't exist on new aircraft.

 

[anat0l]

As long as that's the only reason that it beeps. Sometimes it happens if there's been an aircraft swap where the seat you had when you OLCI doesn't exist on new aircraft.

One time I got a beep at the gate and thought to myself, "Oh my, another op up?"

It wasn't to be. The FA simply had inserted the BP into the reader the wrong way. What a tease

 

[notzac]

One time I got a beep at the gate and thought to myself, "Oh my, another op up?"

It wasn't to be. The FA simply had inserted the BP into the reader the wrong way. What a tease

I had something similar happen - still being an op-up virgin I got to the gate for a MEL/BNE flight not too long ago and my boarding pass beeped ... started to get excited but turns out I was apparently already boarded.

Oh well, I'll get my turn sometime

 

[anat0l]

I had something similar happen - still being an op-up virgin I got to the gate for a MEL/BNE flight not too long ago and my boarding pass beeped ... started to get excited but turns out I was apparently already boarded.

Come to think of it, I've also had one such experience, too. And funny enough, also on a MEL-BNE.

 

[blueflamenco]

So it sounds as though its something the system just does??

I know on one occasion the story my friends told me was.. They asked for an upgrade at check in at LGA and were told no. Then the boarding passes printed and the staff member was surprised to see that they had already been upgraded.

So it truly is just the luck of the draw?!

 

[1022]

Never happended to me on QF - Though I'm only NB and tend not to fly QF much on international trips.

Slighlty off topic, but probably my best op up was on Dragonair from HKG-NRT about 5 years ago. On a heavily discounted Y ticket, which was too cheap to even earn any miles on my CX Asia Miles account, boyf and I got bumped from Y, past J right up to seats 1J and 1K on a 3 class A330. Such a shame it's only a 3 hour flight!

 

[straitman]

I have only had one such upgrade and it came through for three of us. Booking was a Red e Deal and and the upgrade came at the gate. The flight was HKG-MEL and my daughter was 4 months pregnant so it was really appreciated.

 

[Syl78]

I flew from New York to Sydney last year and we were upgraded to Premium Economy on Qantas.

Actually I think everyone (well most) people sitting in the Premium Economy were upgraded. We weren't told, and only realised when we got onboard that our seats were bigger and comfier than the ones behind the curtain!

While trying to act as if we belonged there, the lady sitting next to me asked how to pull the TV out, turns out everyone in the row were upgraded. It was a great way to end the holiday