The Operational Upgrade Thread

[fels]

Got upgraded to J 3 times in 2010. 3x the Beep From Heaven at the gate.. All flights were discount eco fares.

Jan 1 QF5 SIN-FRA
SEP 3 QF15 BNE-LAX
DEC 12 AA70 DFW-FRA

As ex-PS with about 10 long-haul segments per year that seemed to be quite a good rate

I also flew J from FRA-SYD for an additional 500€ at the biz counter in June :shock:

 

[Danger]

I also flew J from FRA-SYD for an additional 500€ at the biz counter in June :shock:

With QF? How did that work?

 

[fels]

I asked the lady at the counter how high my chances are of getting bumped. She said that there was no chance but she could offer me a business class ticket for another 500€.

In some AFF thread I read that you would normally pay the difference between the eco fare and the cheapest business ticket and ±1300€ + 500€ seems rather far away from that.

Has that ever happened to anybody else?

 

[medhead]

The Qantas Operational Upgrade Thread

I asked the lady at the counter how high my chances are of getting bumped. She said that there was no chance but she could offer me a business class ticket for another 500€.

In some AFF thread I read that you would normally pay the difference between the eco fare and the cheapest business ticket and ±1300€ + 500€ seems rather far away from that.

Has that ever happened to anybody else?

Seems about right depending on the time of year based on first class FRA-SYD via LHR being available for 2900euro. Also random search for May has a business saver for about 1800euro

 

[ArseneV]

Also upgraded at the SATS First/Biz counter, PE to J on QF 32 SIN - SYD 29 January. No mention of an upgrade at the counter only noticed my boarding pass on the way to the first class lounge. Was also allocated 11A on the A380, not a bad seat at all. Thank you QF

11A too! Very nice.

 

[smarty11]

It's funny that I have been cooped more times with BA (being a QF FF - SG) then by QF itself.

Here's the history:

Jul 09: SYD - SIN on BA (BA ticket as well) PE to Business
Jul 09: SIN - SYD on BA (BA ticket as well) PE to Business
Sept 09: SIN - SYD on BA (BA ticket as well) PE to Business
April 10: SIN - SYD on BA (BA ticket as well) PE to Business
29 Sep 10: SIN - SYD on BA (BA ticket as well) PE to Business
Aug 10: SYD - SIN on QF PE to Business (A380 as well) Yippee!!!
Jan 10: BKK - SYD on QF Y to PE

Jan 11: MEL - SYD Y to J as they cancelled a couple of flights and what they were offering me was 3 hours later, when I complaint they just put me on next avaliable flight in J... It was a 738.. only downside.. but they I am not complaining..

I have been a SG for about 6 years now..
I have been co-oped a few times before 2009 as well.. just don't remeber the dates..
Have a nice day!

 

[simongr]

I can see the rationale for not upgrading a WP in certain circumstances.

If the move is so a whinging family can sit together its going to be easier to move the NB into J who will create the required togetheryness space then moving a WP into J and the NB into the WP's seat.

 

[JohnK]

I asked the lady at the counter how high my chances are of getting bumped. She said that there was no chance but she could offer me a business class ticket for another 500€.

Very interesting. Did you actually get a receipt? The cynic in me says you may have in fact been given an 'op-up' and someone pocketed the money.

In some AFF thread I read that you would normally pay the difference between the eco fare and the cheapest business ticket and ±1300€ + 500€ seems rather far away from that.

Qantas is not in the business of selling 'cheap' business class seats. As far as I understand you can upgrade to business at the airport and visit the sales desk and pay the difference between your original airfare and full business class airfare + change fee.

Has that ever happened to anybody else?

No. Apart from the people who were canvassed during the GFC a couple of years ago travelling to the USA.

 

[Ewing]

A NB friend of mine received an op-up on SYD-BNE last night.
Original seat: 47J
New seat: 2A

The flight was running 35 mins late meaning that he had a *very* tight connection in BNE (ie: second flight was due to depart 10 mins after the new arrival time of the first flight with the second flight being the last one of the day) so they wanted him off the plane as quickly as possible. He wasn't about to complain

 

[smarty11]

Qantas is not in the business of selling 'cheap' business class seats. As far as I understand you can upgrade to business at the airport and visit the sales desk and pay the difference between your original airfare and full business class airfare + change fee.

I agree with JohnK, last year in Oct.. coming back from Chicago to SYD via SFO... I was willing to pay reasonable fare for upgrade but was told that I will have to buy a Business Class as Qantas did not have a provision for paid upgrade from PE to J... the fare difference was working out ti be U$8,000!!!!! Needless to say I didn;t take it.. Lucky for me the aircraft has first two rows of PE in the J cabin.. so I could sleep all the way back from SFO to SYD on the Skybed.

 

[fels]

Very interesting. Did you actually get a receipt? The cynic in me says you may have in fact been given an 'op-up' and someone pocketed the money.

Qantas is not in the business of selling 'cheap' business class seats. As far as I understand you can upgrade to business at the airport and visit the sales desk and pay the difference between your original airfare and full business class airfare + change fee.

I did neither keep the receipt nor did I check it. I was just happy to escape 20 hours next to German tourists and backpackers

I paid around 1300 for a return flight so the 500€ were still cheaper than the business saver rates..

 

[medhead]

The Qantas Operational Upgrade Thread

I paid around 1300 for a return flight so the 500€ were still cheaper than the business saver rates..

Oh well there you go. Your previous post implied the 1300 was for a one way fare.

 

[m_ratt]

Received an op-up last night on QF10 (SIN-MEL) from Y to Y+. It seems that the flight was full of evacuees from Cairo (via Frankfurt and/or LHR) returning to Australia. That's 2 from 2 for me SIN-MEL.

 

[smarty11]

Hey forgot to mention an interesting op-up I had a few years ago..

I was flying CHC - SYD.. booked in Y, while checking at the Qantas Club/Business Counter the Agent said " Hello Mr. S... I see that you are a staff and I have a note here saying that you be upgraded".. Well I don't work for Qantas,, remotely (affiliates, agents, operators of Qantas)... but hey free upgrade.. I wasn't complaining..

So I had a 3+ hours flight in J... as maybe someone accidently put me down as staff..

Maybe that person will make the same mistake every time I have to fly..!!!

I am off to Melbourne next week and Perth the week after... Anyone take that down?!

hehehehehehe

 

[MrHyde]

I have just been given an upgrade on WLG-SYD-MEL today (QF118 and QF 421). The check-in person did not even mention an upgrade... just handed me business class boarding passes. When I queried it, they mentioned that I fly a lot with them, so assumed I already knew.

I have been flying WLG-MEL fairly regularly for the last three years, but this is the very first time I've received an upgrade in this sector. The best that has happened is WLG-SYD-MEL is changed to WLG-MEL when QF048 is running slightly late. The changeover is nice, except last Friday, when WLG-SYD-MEL changed to WLG-MEL, which then changed to WLG-MEL-SYD-MEL due to storms in MEL.

Anyway, happy to finally receive an upgrade on QF. I'm trying to think back to the last op-up, and can't honestly remember one on QF. I might have got MEL-SYD, but can't remember it at all.

 

[pauly7]

I've had a great run of op-ups this year, 50% of my last 4.... All on the golden triangle as well - the flights are just packed at the moment - heaps of codeshare, espcially MU I've noticed...

As I use NGCI, you don't get the 'beep from heaven' anymore, it just receipts a new seat number without announcement - so I didn't even realise until I boarded and the CSM directed me down the 'wrong' aisle (as I was still thinking I was in 24K), then I looked at my seat number and it was 1A.....

Now i'm checking my NGCI receipts more closely

 

[smarty11]

QF420 MEL SYD 18 Feb

I had similar experience to Paul7 yesterday from MEL to SYD. I checked - in using NGIC and didn't check the sms.. When I was boarding.. was directed to the wrong aisle and then checked my receipt.. Voila!!!! 5B..

Nice!!!

 

[pauly7]

The Qantas Operational Upgrade Thread

QF420 MEL SYD 18 Feb

I had similar experience to Paul7 yesterday from MEL to SYD. I checked - in using NGIC and didn't check the sms.. When I was boarding.. was directed to the wrong aisle and then checked my receipt.. Voila!!!! 5B..

Nice!!!

My SMS was still my Y seat, was yours? Only upgraded at boarding receipt.

Here is an idea, maybe QF will lean towards upgrading NGCI/mobile pax over other methods (all other things equal)...???

Saves quite a bit of time at the gate, no 'beep from heaven', divert to side, new boarding pass, back to front of queue, rescan. Just one scan of the card/phone, one receipt, board....?

 

[KateMayo]

Here is an idea, maybe QF will lean towards upgrading NGCI/mobile pax over other methods (all other things equal)...???

Saves quite a bit of time at the gate, no 'beep from heaven', divert to side, new boarding pass, back to front of queue, rescan. Just one scan of the card/phone, one receipt, board....?

Sounds very sensible

 

[smarty11]

My SMS was still my Y seat, was yours? Only upgraded at boarding receipt.

Here is an idea, maybe QF will lean towards upgrading NGCI/mobile pax over other methods (all other things equal)...???

Saves quite a bit of time at the gate, no 'beep from heaven', divert to side, new boarding pass, back to front of queue, rescan. Just one scan of the card/phone, one receipt, board....?

No when I checked my sms it was J already.
Yes I agree with you.. This is a good idea.. This will save some time..

Talking about NGIC it is amazing how many times I have heard from FAs on boarding "Oh this is our first time using this.." or "I don't know how to use this card".. Seems Qantas missed training a lot of FAs on the new system..
That being said it is not a big issue..!!