espinach1

Does anyone else find it exceedingly difficult to upgrade to business class using miles? We have AmEx miles and everytime I try to buy a ticket (this time to Europe) and want to upgrade it's never available. Anyone else find a way to solve this problem? Why give us the miles and make them so hard to use?

J62

For international flights the airlines would rather fly with an open business class seat than allow people to upgrade using miles. The reason being that they don't want to cheapen the perceived value of flying business class.

There are so many people with mega FF miles, and if they allow you or others to upgrade using miles, nobody will want to buy a revenue business class seat. Right now there are plenty of people willing to pay for business class. If they make it available to more people for less, revenue customers will be less inclined to buy tickets.

There are plenty of ways of using FF miles - upgrading on international flights, unless you are top level elite, isn't one of them.

Gardyloo

Respectfully disagree.

Airlines have different practices on release of business/first seats for mileage upgraders. Some are indeed stingy for all but their top-tier flyers; some require a "base" fare that's higher than the cheapest available in order even to ask for a mileage upgrade. But others are more liberal. For example, I just looked up upgrade availability between Chicago and London on American Airlines for the few days around July 1, and can see numerous flights where mileage upgraders can be confirmed as of today. Mid-summer, and plenty of availability.

gail

There are also many business travelers who have enough status to upgrade without paying with any miles.

They do not "give" you miles hoping you can use them - the give you miles hoping you will establish a loyalty to that airline.

Carrybean

Gardyloo, where do you check upgrade availability on AA? I haven't seen that on their site.

I ask because I always go to London on AA with a mileage upgrade (not Amex) but even booking it several months in advance I have to juggle my dates to get an upgrade seat, but always manage it by booking on the phone where they have some really good booking agents.

Plus I've discovered that closer to the date sometimes upgrade seats become available, I assume due to projected numbers of passengers.

AAFrequentFlyer

The only way I know3 of is a paid site:

www.expertflyer.com

For international mileage upgrades you need to specify <b>C</b> fare code when checking availibilty on that site.


Reporting from Manchester, UK. Going to the ManU vs Bolton match tomorrow and flying home on Sunday. Seat 3D on AA flight #55, if anybody is on the same flight. AA flight # 1254 to TPA, seat 3E, if anybody is on that flight.

Flagship Lounge invite for any Fodors member if in ORD, terminal 3, between 1:30-3:30 pm.

Gardyloo

AAFF is correct; it's a paid service that allows subscribers to see &quot;hidden&quot; inventory. And of course flexibility is the key. Note too that just because you don't see upgrade capacity for a given flight/day when you first look, it's worth checking back, because allocation of seats to awards/upgrades is a dynamic process with the airlines. They may well release seats for awards or UGs a few days or a week before the flight, while it would have looked closed out if you checked a month or two out.

For straight award availability (not upgrades) on most Oneworld services, another nifty method is to sign up for Qantas' FF plan, then use their award booking screens to see availability. Even though you may have no QFF miles, you can get a good indication of general availability through their site.

American recently hugely upgraded their online award booking capacity, but so far it's only for flights operated by American, not partners. One of these days...

BTW, for upgrades on 2-class domestic trips (e.g. Seattle - New Orleans) the AA upgrade bucket is &quot;A&quot; not &quot;C.&quot; Usually tons of availability.

Jed

espinich -Which airline(s) are you trying to use with your Amex miles?

Carrybean

Ahhh, thanks, AAFF &amp; Gardyloo. Not worth it for me to join that paid site for one trip a year.

AAFF, I'm jealous that
1. You're getting into the Flagship lounge. Just plain old Admiral's Club for me.

2. You're in First on a trans-Atlantic flight. Enjoy!

Gardyloo

<i>2. You're in First on a trans-Atlantic flight. Enjoy!</i>

Actually, he's in business class unless there's been a highly unusual equipment substitution. No FC on that route.

espinach1

Jed, We've tried Continental, Delta, KLM, Air France. I called Amex directly and airlines directly. My head is spinning from the run around and being put on hold. And we're flexable.

mrwunrfl

There is a way to find upgrade seat availability on united dot com.

First go to &quot;My profile&quot; to edit your profile. Choose to edit the display options and set the &quot;availability format&quot; to &quot;an expert&quot;.

Then go to the Mileage Plus page and under &quot;Redeem Miles&quot; select &quot;Book flight with miles&quot;. Do a search, in any class, for award availability. Hopefully you will find some availability for at least one of the legs of your trip. Otherwise choose alternate dates and/or change the class of service when you search.

If you find any kind of seat availability on two days (outbound and return) then you will be presented with one or more flight options for both legs. Mouse over the &quot;Show flight details&quot; line and you should see a little display showing Availability.

If you can only find one acceptable date for one leg of your trip then choose any other date for the other leg, so that you can get info for at least one.

Look for the NC code. It will be NC0, or NC1, or NC2, ..., NC9. The number after the NC is supposedly the number of business class seats available for upgrade from economy. NC9 means 9 or more.

For example, search for LAX-LHR, April 3-13 in business class. Right now you will see several options outbound and one return. For April 3, United 934 has at least 9 seats available for upgrade but United 924 currently has none.

I've only used that info a couple of times and it has been accurate enough, though there is some dispute about this on the United MP forum at flyertalk dot com where you will find the real experts on this.

AAFrequentFlyer

Buisness class only on this 2 class flight...

This time it's my status that gets me into the FL, not the class of service.

<b>Carrybean</b>,

EF has a very inexpensive option of 1 month membership. That's what I do when I'm planning a trip and want to see upgrade availibility.

mrwunrfl

If you go to flyertalk, where you will probably find a better description of what I just wrote, then start by reading the <i>Sticky: United Airlines FAQ</i>

Carrybean

Well, heck AAFF, I thought you would be up there with attendants peeling grapes &amp; tucking you in. However, it beats cargo.

Thanks for the info about the 1 month membership. That would be worth it.