Upgrade at all possible here?

[SilenceFOOL!]

Booked Melb-Alice Springs rtn. Boths ways flying 737 in Economy O class
Travelling with elderly person with mobility 'issues'. Q has emailed me saying can't upgrade
using my QFF points, too bad you're stuck in O so there
Im keeping my eyes on the flight and business class is virtually empty on both legs.
Is anyone of the opinion that I may be able to get an upgrade to business on the day purely by asking the question?
Or might I be asked to pay for the upgrade at a reduced rate (thats OK but what would be the going rate do you think)?
Is there a more reliable way to check FOR SURE whether this flight is not full esp. in business class?

Thanks to all in advance for any tips on this.

 

[Mal]

Advise Qantas via phone that your travelling companion is a mobility impaired pax.

If it's a 737-800, then they should be able to allocate seats in row 4 which have improved leg room - and legroom nearly as good as what you'd find in J.

Other planes in the Qantas fleet also have better legroom seats that they may be able to allocate.

As for upgrading, I believe you're just about out of luck, Best you could do is to change your fare to a higher class that allowed upgrading (maybe $200 per flight per person) and see if upgrades are available. Paying the outright difference between O and J would probably be somewhere around $1000 per person per flight.

 

[SilenceFOOL!]

Advise Qantas via phone that your travelling companion is a mobility impaired pax.
If it's a 737-800, then they should be able to allocate seats in row 4 which have improved leg room - and legroom nearly as good as what you'd find in J.

Thanks Mal...already had done so -perhaps not v.obvious in my post
They came back to me saying they cant pre-allocate any seats, cant guarantee preference for aisle as requested, cant uprgade you to business using your points and so on.
'Only' arranged for wheelchair at both ends.

Oh well.....

 

[Mal]

Thanks Mal...already had done so -perhaps not v.obvious in my post
They came back to me saying they cant pre-allocate any seats,

That's correct. But what they *should* do is flag the ticket for special seating allocation. Basically it *should* get processed before the other seats are allocated and end up in row 4 (in the 737-800 example)... But as they claim, there is no guarantees on this.