Frequent flyer questions – upgrades

As promised, I am answering some of Wendy Perrin’s readers’ frequent flyer questions. The second batch of answers are about upgrades.

Mary asks:

“My husband and I love to travel and are loyal United fliers (and Perrin Post readers!). We have Mileage Plus accounts and our home airport is Denver. We have never in all our years flown first or business before, and dream of doing so to Europe one day. How does one find success in booking an upgrade without spending a fortune since it seems the categories for upgrade eligibility are so expensive? This would be so appreciated as my husband is 6’4″ and we seem unusually vulnerable to Murphy’s Law (ie, ending up in the very last row on a flight from London to Chicago the last time we went to Europe!  Needless to say, that meant no reclining for us and a very claustrophobic seat in our faces for the 8 hour flight! Ugh.). Thank you!”

My answer:

“Since 12 January 2010 more United fares are eligible for upgrades, but there is a catch in that co-pays are required for upgrades from the cheaper (and some not so cheap) fares. A co-pay plus cheap eligible fare is in many cases cheaper than a more expensive fare which does not have a co-pay to upgrade.

As for more comfortable seat, check out seatexpert for the emergency exit row and other seats with more legroom and request those seats when you purchase your tickets. If you don’t succeed then try again at check in as the seat may have been freed up in the interim.” 

Scott asks:

“My question deals with upgrades both from status and from using miles. If you get domestic, free upgrades on a trip with a friend do you feel the need to turn down the upgrade to sit with your friend or to give said friend the sit?

On long haul flights (7 hours or more) when you want to use your miles to upgrade yourself and are traveling with a friend do you feel the obligation to upgrade that friend on the trip or simply say “see ya at the gate in SEA?”"

My answer:

“There is no right answer to this. If the accompanying traveller was my boss or partner, then I’d likely offer my upgraded seat to them.”

Ian Reutlinger asks:

“One of my biggest dilemma’s came when I just had enough to do a transatlantic for my fiance to see me on my year abroad for an economy on the way there and the Businessfirst on the way back? The worse part is that the day that she will be flying economy is her birthday, I refuse to pay for miles, so hopefully I will have enough to change the reservation before she flies so she will be in Businessfirst on the way there also. The importance of her having it on the way back is that she will be flying back with me. What would you do in this situation? Would you buy the CO miles?”

My answer:

“As long as an upgrade is reasonably likely to clear, then buy the miles (assuming you’ve exhausted other ways to quickly and cheaply earn the miles) and get the brownie points.”

Peter Brunk asks:

“Here’s my suggested dilemma for use in the movie:

OK– my confirmed last two confirmed regional upgrades on UAL (CR-1 or CRU as the airline calls them) are set to expire at the end of the year. Do I upgrade my boss who is flying with me next week or upgrade my mother who is 74 years old and needs a wheelchair and who is flying in for Christmas from Las Vegas for the Christmas Holiday?”

My answer:

“Answer is too late for you but I’d upgrade mother ahead of boss. Bosses are temporary, but mothers are for a lifetime and far more deserving. Who did you end up upgrading?”

Nikki Spear asks:

“I by no means have hundreds of thousand of miles to use, been saving them for years and hoping to use them in the next couple to take a upgrade to business class for a trip to Italy with my husband. The problem is that there are so many restrictions with grades of tickets , the list goes on and on. I have both United and Continental miles and can’t figure out what will be my best bet to use. I want to know who would be best so I can concentrate on where to put my purchases on so I can get best bang for my buck.”

My answer:

“I assume you do not have elite status in either program and will not have it in the period before your trip, thus ruling out various elite upgrade instruments. Both OnePass (Continental) and MileagePlus (United) offer mileage upgrades.

OnePass mileage upgrades are available on flights operated by Continental on almost all fares, but the lower your fare the lower the upgrade priority. Mileage upgrades are also available on most Star Alliance airlines, but for economy to business class this is only from the expensive Y and B booking classes. OnePass complimentary elite upgrades are not valid on flights to Europe but may apply for connecting USA domestic flights on Continental or United Airlines.

Mileage Plus mileage upgrades are available on flights operated by United on almost all fares (since 12 January 2010), but most economy fares require a co-pay to upgrade – nil for expensive booking classes Y & B and $250 to $500 each way for other booking classes for flights to Europe. Mileage upgrades are also available on most Star Alliance airlines, but for economy to business class this is only from the expensive Y and B booking classes. Mileage Plus elite upgrades for flights to Europe require a SystemWideUpgrade and are valid only on United and Lufthansa flights in booking classes Y, B, M, E, H, U, Q, V and W.

In general elite upgrades provide more bang for the buck than mileage upgrades since they are free, clear earlier and are valid on more (ie cheaper) fares.”

Michael asks:

“Simple. To upgrade a ticket with miles you have to call to process or even wait-list using miles. You also have to give all your payment info and it always takes 10min +. Why can’t using or requesting milage upgrades be just as easy as it is with stickers? Also once you request and are wait-listed, no way to confirm you are listed or verify via AA.com.”

My answer:

“It is true that airline websites do not have all the functionality we’d like or expect. There are some airlines, like Air NZ, where you can check the status of an upgrade request online. Otherwise you could try the relevant ticket lookup tool (for American it is Virtually There) and check your class of travel and seat assignments there.”

mkilmo asks:

“This is a very standard Lufthansa-rant/problem.

Whenever I fly other airlines of the *A, I get upgraded very frequently, despite my special meal restrictions (either they bring in the food from economy, or we succeed to find something edible in the front).

But, whenever I fly Lufthansa, being my carrier of choice (at least when it comes to miles collection, go Senators!), when I book a flight with special meal, I am doomed to never get upgraded.

I hear voices (mostly inside my head and on Randy’s Flyer Talk), saying that I need to stop ordering special meal (and bring my own food), and then I will be upgraded. On the other hand, for long flights its kinda annoying to bring your own food (ever tried to bring decent food for a flight of 12 hours?). So my questions is: How to determine when it is good to give away my special meal to get upgraded on Lufthansa (on a “free”, only amazingly high fuel surcharges, flight!) and when not to?”

My answer:

“I feel your pain – I’ve never had an operational upgrade (op-up) on Lufthansa, yet I know some people who get it nearly every flight. I’ve had conflicting information from various airlines over whether special meals affect upgrades or not – some say they do and others say it makes no difference.

On the whole, op-ups are relatively rare and so special food (especially if for dietary reasons) would take precedence over the unlikely possibility of an op-up being lost to you. There are, however, some flights where an op-up may be more likely due to very high volumes of non-status economy passengers. For those it may be worth the gamble (assuming you accept the special meal means no op-up theory).”

The next set of frequent flyer questions and answers will be on the topic of mileage devaluation.