moving up a class

[Jimster]

I have enough ff miles for my wife and I to fly to Europe next year, but only enough for a saver fare. I would prefer to move up from economy class (wouldn't everyone). Does any one have any good ideas about the best way to accomplish this? Could I buy an upgrade? Does anyone know how to get bumped up? How about an upgrade using ff points-are there any tricks here? If you don't want to tell the whole world, please PM me.

 

[Dave M]

Could I buy an upgrade?

No. I don't know of any FF programs that allow you to upgrade a coach award ticket, other than to trade it in for a business class or first award and spend the extra miles, which it appears you don't have.

Does anyone know how to get bumped up?

The best way is to buy a coach ticket and use your miles for the upgrade instead of the basic ticket. However, check the airline's FF rules for upgrade awards. Depending on the particular airline, you might have to buy a coach ticket at a cost higher than the lowest fare available and/or have elite status to upgrade for the least number of FF miles.

So-called "op-ups" or operational upgrades are usually offered only when the flight is oversold in coach and there is available space in business or first. Normally those upgrades go to those holding high elite status in the airline's FF program or those holding full fare tickets. Even then, such operational upgrades are rare.

The other way to get upgraded is to fly a lot! Earn high elite status in the airline's FF program and use the various upgrade certificates you earn (or pay for the upgrade certificates) to upgrade coach tickets that you buy.

How about an upgrade using ff points-are there any tricks here?

See above.

Bottom line: Unless you buy a coach ticket and either have status or use FF miles to upgrade, your chances of getting an upgrade are almost nonexistent.

 

[Pat H]

Which airline? Do you have enough miles in one account for 1 business class ticket and 1 upgrade? If so that would be the way to go. Give us some more details. You can also go to FlyerTalk.com and read a lot.

 

[Jimster]

upgrade

I only have a bit over 50k miles in each of my accts- mine and my wife for United Airlines.

 

[3kids4me]

Which airline? Do you have enough miles in one account for 1 business class ticket and 1 upgrade? If so that would be the way to go. Give us some more details. You can also go to FlyerTalk.com and read a lot.

Pat,

Curious about your response...I just booked tickets for myself and my son to fly to England/Scotland for next year (on AA). We did have enough in one account for Business Class, but only enough in the other for Coach. So, I of course booked tickets in Coach. Is there an alternative that doesn't require actually buying an Coach ticket?

Sharon

 

[Pat H]

Pat,

Curious about your response...I just booked tickets for myself and my son to fly to England/Scotland for next year (on AA). We did have enough in one account for Business Class, but only enough in the other for Coach. So, I of course booked tickets in Coach. Is there an alternative that doesn't require actually buying an Coach ticket?

Sharon

Sharon,

You would have to buy 1 coach ticket and then upgrade with miles but at least you get miles on 1 ticket.

 

[Pat H]

I only have a bit over 50k miles in each of my accts- mine and my wife for United Airlines.

James,

The only thing you could do is buy coach tickets and use the miles to upgrade. UA does require you to buy a higher priced ticket to use the miles. It may or may not be a big $ difference.

 

[Jimster]

confused

I thought I understood, but after reading all posts on this, I am confused. As I understand it, I have two options.
Alternative One: I could redeem my miles for two coach saver tickets and travel in coach.
Alternative two: I could buy two tickets and use the points to upgrade to business class. If I do this, I will have to buy a higher priced ticket because I am doing an upgrade?

 

[3kids4me]

Sharon,

You would have to buy 1 coach ticket and then upgrade with miles but at least you get miles on 1 ticket.

I think with AA now, if you use miles to upgrade on an international flight, there is also a charge of $250...makes the whole proposition unappealing. (Not sure about UA for James, though.)

Sharon

 

[Pat H]

I thought I understood, but after reading all posts on this, I am confused. As I understand it, I have two options.
Alternative One: I could redeem my miles for two coach saver tickets and travel in coach.
Alternative two: I could buy two tickets and use the points to upgrade to business class. If I do this, I will have to buy a higher priced ticket because I am doing an upgrade?

That's right. You can play around on united.com. Expand the search options for flights. There is a drop down box that says "Upgrade Eligibility" where you can pick Upgrade with Miles. You can compare the price with a non-upgradable ticket for your dates.

 

[Pat H]

I think with AA now, if you use miles to upgrade on an international flight, there is also a charge of $250...makes the whole proposition unappealing. (Not sure about UA for James, though.)

Sharon

You've got that right. It's not worth it to me to pay an extra $500 + 50,000 miles to upgrade.

 

[Jimster]

So.....

It sounds like my best bet is simply to use my miles for coach tickets.... right?

 

[Pat H]

Depends on the price of the tickets and what's important to you. Personally, I'd rather fly in business and I feel I'm getting more for my miles by using them for an upgrade on an international ticket. How far away is your trip? If it's nt until the end of next year, both you and your wife could apply for the United credit card. Right now they are offering 20,000 miles plus 10,000 miles for balance transfers. That would give you each enough for a business class ticket. Have you looked to see if award tickets are available for your dates?

 

[Jimster]

miles

I already have a United CC. I am traveling several times between now and then so I will rack up more but probably not enough. Certainly we won't both have enough. I have a choice as to which flight to use these on. I am going to both Paris and Rome at two different times but I am still almost a year out for the first trip so I can't look for availability yet. I have the actual date when I can seek tickets circled on my calendar. As to flying Business Class, i certainly prefer that too but if I can't get there with an upgrade, I'm not going to spend alot of additional money on a Business Class ticket. I'll unhappily endure in coach. lol

 

[JanB]

When we travel from the west coast to Europe, we dig deeper in our pockets to purchase upgradeable coach tickets and use our ff miles to upgrade to business class. It is sooooooo worth the extra cost - sometimes twice the cheapest coach ticket. We arrive at our destinations with minimum jetlag. The ff account we use most is United. We are heading to Spain and Portugal in May 2006 and have enough ff miles to upgrade - a definate "Will Do!"