sinophile888
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
- Posts
- 836
In July, I was booked PER - MEL – PER on the cheapest fare. I received an email from Qantas asking if I wanted to bid for an upgrade x2 on the return leg. I bid 4000 points and $250 pp and was successful.
At the end of last year, we received news that required us to fly from PER - MEL – PER again, probably requiring us to travel the first leg on New Year’s Day. The cheapest fare was $550 and the flex fare $620. I read all the cancellation information and decided to go for the Flex fare as we weren’t absolutely sure of dates. While making the booking, I saw a button for upgrade so thought that I’d give it a go. I was surprised that it only cost 10000 points pp.
I didn’t hold out much hope as the plane for the first flight was a 737-800 with only 12 Business class seats. But at 29 hours to go at 5am, both mobiles pinged. There were 9 in “Business” class including us which also surprised me that no other people had applied. I thought that maybe it was because this aircraft’s Business class was barely a premium economy setup.
But it did mean that I felt more confident about our return flight as it was on a flight with 28 Business class seats on a 330-200. And happily, at 28 hours to go whilst on a Melbourne tram, both mobiles pinged again. I was happy with the seats I then chose. But when I checked early yesterday morning I thought that the Qantas app wasn’t working as I couldn’t see the booking any more. I took the chance to do some shopping before we were due to go to the airport, when my phone rang followed by my husband’s phone, both of which calls we missed. They fortunately rang my phone again and my Frequent Flyer knowledge free husband spoke to a Qantas rep. It seems that the 15:35 flight we were booked on had had an aircraft substitution, so Qantas offered us the choice of the 13:05, the 20:35 or something today. So, we hightailed it back to the hotel, packed hastily and sped out to the airport to catch the 13:05 flight. This still left us over an hour in the lounge.
I have never tried booking a Flex fare and applying for an upgrade. But it seemed to work well in both directions and quite different circumstances. I will probably do it again but possibly book an earlier flight to give us more flexibility.
Is my experience pretty typical or did we just get very lucky? Any suggestions about maximizing our chance for future flights?
At the end of last year, we received news that required us to fly from PER - MEL – PER again, probably requiring us to travel the first leg on New Year’s Day. The cheapest fare was $550 and the flex fare $620. I read all the cancellation information and decided to go for the Flex fare as we weren’t absolutely sure of dates. While making the booking, I saw a button for upgrade so thought that I’d give it a go. I was surprised that it only cost 10000 points pp.
I didn’t hold out much hope as the plane for the first flight was a 737-800 with only 12 Business class seats. But at 29 hours to go at 5am, both mobiles pinged. There were 9 in “Business” class including us which also surprised me that no other people had applied. I thought that maybe it was because this aircraft’s Business class was barely a premium economy setup.
But it did mean that I felt more confident about our return flight as it was on a flight with 28 Business class seats on a 330-200. And happily, at 28 hours to go whilst on a Melbourne tram, both mobiles pinged again. I was happy with the seats I then chose. But when I checked early yesterday morning I thought that the Qantas app wasn’t working as I couldn’t see the booking any more. I took the chance to do some shopping before we were due to go to the airport, when my phone rang followed by my husband’s phone, both of which calls we missed. They fortunately rang my phone again and my Frequent Flyer knowledge free husband spoke to a Qantas rep. It seems that the 15:35 flight we were booked on had had an aircraft substitution, so Qantas offered us the choice of the 13:05, the 20:35 or something today. So, we hightailed it back to the hotel, packed hastily and sped out to the airport to catch the 13:05 flight. This still left us over an hour in the lounge.
I have never tried booking a Flex fare and applying for an upgrade. But it seemed to work well in both directions and quite different circumstances. I will probably do it again but possibly book an earlier flight to give us more flexibility.
Is my experience pretty typical or did we just get very lucky? Any suggestions about maximizing our chance for future flights?
