Do you get miles with upgraded Econ. fare

Old Jan 13th, 2017, 04:07 PM
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Do you get miles with upgraded Econ. fare

I am thinking to book an economy fare from LAX to Sydney with United and upgrade to biz class using miles. I know a flight booked entirely on miles will not get a mileage but what about a purchased and then upgraded fare?
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Old Jan 13th, 2017, 04:11 PM
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I haven't done that recently, but I used to do it every year. And, yes, we got miles as if we had flown economy. So much has changed with ff programs, I'd call and ask.
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Old Jan 13th, 2017, 05:19 PM
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Ok. I'll let you know. I tried to book it today but have to wait a day or so as the return is not available yet
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Old Jan 13th, 2017, 05:47 PM
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Good luck, Larry.
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Old Jan 13th, 2017, 06:43 PM
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Last time I tried this I got miles but like others it's been 2 years -- look forward to hearing your results.
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Old Jan 13th, 2017, 09:21 PM
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I think you get miles for what you purchase but UAL changed their policy from straight miles to so many miles per dollar spent.

Two yrs. ago we purchased 2 biz class seats on AC which is a star alliance partner and then we got 2 miles per dollar but last Oct. we flew UA from Chicago to Rochester NY 1st class and got miles based on not actual flown miles but I think it was 5 miles per dollar.

I will let you know asap.

Larry. .
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 05:31 AM
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I do this a few times per year and currently have a couple of tickets for this year that are economy tickets upgraded with miles or Global Premier Upgrade certificates. Yes, you will earn miles--calculated as dollars spent times a multiplier based on your status level (base multiplier is 5x). In the flight search engine, if you click on the >Details link (it's in the left column just to the right of the flight times and duration), the drop-down will show how many base award miles and Premier qualifying miles, dollars and segments you would earn for a specific fare. I don't think that shows the bonus award miles if you have Premier status, but that would be on your e-ticket receipt once you purchase the ticket.
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Old Jan 14th, 2017, 06:45 AM
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That sound quite definitive. Thank you. ��
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Old Jan 15th, 2017, 05:50 AM
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So I think what ms_go said is correct.

I tried to book per buying an economy ticket LAX-SYD through the UAL intl. desk and all was well until the very end. I had spent nearly an hr. on the phone but the agent did not realize that as the return was on Air New Zealand a biz upgrade was not available. She said you can upgrade from an economy purchase to biz on UAL only. She even said ANZ is not a partner carrier which of course it is so I suppose she meant that in reference to upgrading.

Unfortunately a discounted return ticket on UAL in economy was not available as it was on the outbound so it would have cost a ridiculous amount of money, like a total of 6k plus 80k miles EACH so that was out. Too bad because I wanted that NS on the outbound. Oh well.

I also looked into booking two one way segments but outbound to SYD on UAL would have been like 3.5k plus miles for two so that being know I did not bother to even look into a one way return using just saver award miles.

So today plan B was successful. Got a saver award biz for us on Asiana which is a better rated airline by far though the routing is a laborious. We go LAX-ICN with a 13 hr. wait, then on to Sydney. The aircraft to SYD is the A380 with the quadratic-smartium seats as is the return to LAX. so thats cool. The good news is that hotels near INC are quite inexpensive so once we get thru customs and immigration and assuming we are on time we can have 8-9 hrs. to sack out.

I know its much longer but the price was right. Approx. $250.00 in taxes for 2 biz tickets on a 5* carrier. I'll take it. .
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 06:38 AM
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I am glad I booked the saver award tickets yesterday because today they are not available. You can get them but the flight from Seoul Korea to Sydney is not business but is economy and that is a 10 + hrs. hour flight and it's the same for the return back to Chicago that you can get business from Seoul to LA but not from Sydney to Seoul. So the lesson here is get those saber awards as soon as you can.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 06:39 AM
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I mean "saver"
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 11:05 PM
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You need to check your FF program accrual chart against the face class of the upgraded ticket. Chances are though that an upgraded business class ticket is not eligible for miles or only 25-50% accrual.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 08:22 AM
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True I suppose though in this case upgrading from economy turned out to be out of the question
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 09:22 AM
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Bummer
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 10:22 AM
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Could be a lot worse. The cheapest I found this same Asiana flight was 8k.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 06:50 AM
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How far in advance did you book the tickets?
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 07:21 AM
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As soon as the return was available so I booked last Sunday for a trip leaving November 30 and returning December 18.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 06:21 PM
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I hope you get the scheduled aircraft on Asiana. They substituted another plane when we flew from Seattle to ICN in Biz and it was not a pleasant flight.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 10:51 PM
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I actually thought about that. Not sure why that happened. I do hope it was atypical. The air craft scheduled RT from Incheon to Sydney is supposed to have the newer fully flat quadra-smartium seats like the LAX-ICN legs so I hope there are no circumstances that change this. Yes the aircraft is a big part of the equation here.

I would have been disappointed too under your circumstances.
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