Patty

Anyone have ideas on how you obtain upgrades through your credit card purchases or joining miles clubs or what? Thanx...PT

Lisa

I would contact the airline that you have frequent flyer miles with. They will explain how many points you need and if you have enough to do an upgrade. We were able to upgrade to business class this past summer but it cost 40,000 points each and we did not even get to use it for going over there. We did get it on the way back.

lisa

Every airline has its own policy. If you already have a coach ticket, call the airline you're flying on and they will tell you how/whether an upgrade is available. Sometimes they won't let you upgrade unless you purchased a full-price coach fare, sometimes you can use frequent flyer miles/points, sometimes you have to pay a little money, some airlines have booklets of "upgrade coupons" you can buy, sometimes you have to pay a LOT of money, sometimes if you're super lucky they'll do it for free, and sometimes you can't get one no matter how much you're willing to pay!

Sheila

We have a new travel mag in Britain published for the first time this month. It's aclled Escape. It has a very good article on this very subject.If you can't find it on the web (I haven't looked) send me a fax number and I'll copy it to you.

bo_jack

Lisa #2 gives a fairly accurate summary of the situation. However, here are some specific recommendations. <BR>Join the "frequent flyer" program for whatever airlines you may be flying; this is free, for filling out an application form. Then get an "affinity" credit card which is associated with the airline that you fly on most. These cards typically credit one non-basis mile to your associated frequent flyer account for every dollar spent; typically, the cards have an annual fee of $50 to $150 - depending on features of the card. For example, American Express Optima cards can be associated with Delta Frequent Flyer Program; Citibank AAdventage cards can be associated with American Airlines Frequent Flyer Program. Then, assuming that you are disciplined enough to pay off the card in full at the end of each month - run every purchase and bill that you can through the card. This, plus actual travel on the airlines, is the way to accumulate Frequent Flyer mileage relatively quickly. <BR>Each FF program has its own requirements; but most are relatively similar. Something like 25,000 miles for a domestic coach ticket and 15,000 miles for a domestic upgrade. Maybe 50,000 miles for a US-to-Europe coach ticket; 40,000 miles for a US to Europe upgrade. The problem is availability of upgrades when you need them. <BR>My own experience is that it is often easier to use an Upgrade Coupon (given periodically to "elite-level" FFlyers) than it is to redeem FFpoints for upgrades. (This sort of redemption policy makes no sense to me - but that's been my experience.) <BR>To actually get upgrades when you "plan" them, you may need to check availability a number of times --availability of upgrades changes with the seasons, the travel climate, competing fares, etc. Sometimes you can get them - sometimes you simply cannot; occasionally, they just happen at the boarding gate. <BR>