Who gets priority on upgrades!?

[lufcbrown]

I'm flying Sydney to Tokyo in October in premium economy and have requested an upgrade with points to business. (I'm only a bronze ff)

Would I get priority of an upgrade over someone in economy requesting an upgrade to business who is either silver, gold or platinum?

My other half is silver ff and I've read it's better to request the upgrade through her account is this right!?

 

[mviy]

I'm flying Sydney to Tokyo in October in premium economy and have requested an upgrade with points to business. (I'm only a bronze ff)

Nice

Would I get priority of an upgrade over someone in economy requesting an upgrade to business who is either silver, gold or platinum?

I don't think it's clear how cabin class compares with status when it comes to upgrades.

My other half is silver ff and I've read it's better to request the upgrade through her account is this right!?

Yes. I believe anecdotal evidence suggests that upgrade requests for a booking are assessed at the status level of the passenger that makes the upgrade request. If she doesn't have enough points do a family transfer to her from your account.

 

[lufcbrown]

Nice

I don't think it's clear how cabin class compares with status when it comes to upgrades.

Yes. I believe anecdotal evidence suggests that upgrade requests for a booking are assessed at the status level of the passenger that makes the upgrade request. If she doesn't have enough points do a family transfer to her from your account.

Yeah the plan was to do the points transfer but i wanted to get opinions here from other people first before i spend time doing the transfers. Thanks for you response.

 

[mviy]

Even NB status passengers have been known to get upgrades from economy at times to some destinations using points. You have to apply to have a chance.

It depends on various factors such as how full the cabins are (Is economy oversold? Is business full of paying customers?), status of various passengers applying for upgrades etc. One would certainly think the fare paid and class booked would be a factor but QANTAS only gives very vague information as to how they determine who gets an upgrade.

QANTAS would rather upgrade someone using points than give an op-up. If a lot of high status passengers are flying but not applying to use points for upgrades then you should rank ahead of them for upgrades if you are trying to upgrade using points.

 

[JohnK]

Yeah the plan was to do the points transfer but i wanted to get opinions here from other people first before i spend time doing the transfers. Thanks for you response.

I think you'll find it is the status of the passenger that's taken into consideration when processing points upgrades not the status of the person requesting upgrades.

 

[mviy]

I think you'll find it is the status of the passenger that's taken into consideration when processing points upgrades not the status of the person requesting upgrades.

I thought if two people were travelling together then anecdotal evidence suggests the status of the passenger on the booking that is requesting the upgrade is what counts, but if not travelling on the one booking then the status of the passenger on the booking is what counts? Or has this changed?

I had another look back and I guess it's not clear if lufcbrown is travelling alone or not. I assumed he was travelling with his other half.

 

[lufcbrown]

I thought if two people were travelling together then anecdotal evidence suggests the status of the passenger on the booking that is requesting the upgrade is what counts, but if not travelling on the one booking then the status of the passenger on the booking is what counts? Or has this changed?

I had another look back and I guess it's not clear if lufcbrown is travelling alone or not. I assumed he was travelling with his other half.

Yep, i'm travelling with my other half and she is silver FF.

 

[mviy]

Well even if turns out it's just a myth that the passenger on same booking with higher status applying for the upgrades is better it's certainly can't hurt to do it that way.

 

[Mattg]

I suspect that as premium economy passengers, you would be given priority over other Silver FFers, but not Gold and above.

(It could be in QF's interests to upgrade you ahead of an economy passenger, as they would then free up two premium economy seats to upgrade economy passengers into.)

 

[Quickstatus]

The chance is not zero

However there may be SG and above in PE vying for J as well.
Additionally the chances of 2 pax on the one booking being upgraded will be LESS than the chance of one person being upgraded.

The airline will either upgrade ALL the passengers on the one booking or NOT at all.

I can't remember when the upgrades are processed but if there are not enough points in the account to upgrade both, the airline will NOT conditionally give you the 2 upgrades and ask you for the points. You have to have the points in the account when the airline processes the upgrade.

 

[lufcbrown]

Thanks for all of your responses. I transferred the relevant points and changed to upgrade request to my other half's account so we shall see what happens. Not flying until October so there is a bit of time yet although had a look on expert flyer and there is loads of space so hopefully no one wants to travel on that date!

 

[eminere]

I can't remember when the upgrades are processed but if there are not enough points in the account to upgrade both, the airline will NOT conditionally give you the 2 upgrades and ask you for the points. You have to have the points in the account when the airline processes the upgrade.

You need to have sufficient points to upgrade all passengers in the booking both at the time of requesting the upgrade and at the time the upgrade is confirmed.

 

[RichardMEL]

1. Yes, I would put the request in from the Silver FF's account. It's a small, but not zero improvement in priority when upgrades are considered
2. As pointed out earlier, for scarce J seats, single pax from PE and Y would likely get priority over doubles - specially those of higher status (eg: a Platinum or P1 in Y, though again it would depend on various things like their fare class and PCV and the like)
3. Good luck! You can only give it a go

 

[njba]

before i spend time doing the transfers

All of 90 seconds? ;-) (sorry, couldn't resist)