Who thinks the way QF does business class upgrade has changed?
It used to be that "Bid Now Upgrades will only be made available on flights where Qantas expects there will still some spare business class seats remaining after Classic Upgrade Reward requests have been processed." See the Ausbt Feb 10 2015 article, https://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-online-auction-lets-you-bid-for-business-class-upgrade, on this.
For example, I've got a Classic Upgrade request in for a flight in less than 48 hours (flex economy BNE to LAX). There are more than 10 business class seats still empty (via expert flyer) and QF has sent me a 'bid now upgrade' email (i.e. pay money and points) which I've ignored based on the above "Classic Upgrade Reward requests" first information.
However, upgrades are supposedly confirmed at 48 hours, often about 60 hours, and I'm definitely still in economy - no upgrade yet! It is the same story for my last 3 efforts at an upgrade (hilariously AA out of AKL upgraded me at the gate for zero points without a request). My QF status is WP.
I flew last week SYD-LHR return and received upgrade sms between 36 and 24 hours prior to flight both directions. Sounds like you should be OK if fair few seats left. There's no point checking every ten minutes - won't change if you get it or not. It's like the kid waking up every hour on christmas eve to see if Santa had been.
The 48 hours (or in practice about 60 hours) are the earliest Platinum upgrades may be processed. Anticipating last minute sales, no shows, missed connections etc. QF may not process some upgrades till the gate.
Seat maps don't necessarily indicate load, as it doesn't take into account those who haven't selected seats etc.
the expert flyer maps do
Not correct - they only show the seats that haven't been selected. This doesn't always correlate with load as it may be a case of pax not pre-selecting seats and not that the seat hasn't been sold.
I was on a Flex Y ticket once, put in minimum bid to upgrade to J, it was rejected, then sat behind a completely empty J cabin on the flight. I have no idea how it works.
I was on a Flex Y ticket once, put in minimum bid to upgrade to J, it was rejected, then sat behind a completely empty J cabin on the flight. I have no idea how it works.
If economy is not overbooked and no one has booked J at all then they can save money by leaving J empty (no need for J FAs, food to be loaded etc.).
If J is say about half full then filling it the rest of the way may make a lot of sense.
Well my upgrade came through - happy flight! - about 26 hours before departure. This leaves me with an classic rewards upgrade success rate around 20 to 25% (WP). I’m curious what others find with this (note this is the first time I’d bothered to check expert flyer for the load in business so I can’t offer any insight with this for previous unsuccessful attempts.
What are people classic reward (international across the Pacific) success rates?
My flights across the Pacific are revenue tickets with an upgrade request using points. I've got a 100% upgrade success rate for upgrades to Business on two return trips. One leg as a Silver member (from PE), One as a Gold (from PE) and Two as Platinum (from Flex Economy). I flew SYD-SFO return both times.
It's important to try to fly at an off-peak time of the year and/or an off-peak day of the week.
Flyers with Bronze status have been known to get upgrades, but every status tier you go up does increase your chances, all other things being equal.
My experience is if you are flying Q to the US and are platinum and buy a business (as long as it's not a Sale fare) ticket you will get an upgrade to first more often than not. Though these days I'm not sure Q first is really worth the points you have to use up, and my wife would rather fly business as she says quite rightly Q first is a bit anti social for couples flying together because of the seat layout.
green
green
Member since 05 Jul 2017
Total posts 13
Who thinks the way QF does business class upgrade has changed?
For example, I've got a Classic Upgrade request in for a flight in less than 48 hours (flex economy BNE to LAX). There are more than 10 business class seats still empty (via expert flyer) and QF has sent me a 'bid now upgrade' email (i.e. pay money and points) which I've ignored based on the above "Classic Upgrade Reward requests" first information.
However, upgrades are supposedly confirmed at 48 hours, often about 60 hours, and I'm definitely still in economy - no upgrade yet! It is the same story for my last 3 efforts at an upgrade (hilariously AA out of AKL upgraded me at the gate for zero points without a request). My QF status is WP.
Please wait...
mannej
mannej
QF
Member since 21 May 2014
Total posts 176
Seat maps don't necessarily indicate load, as it doesn't take into account those who haven't selected seats etc.
adv
adv
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 12 Apr 2017
Total posts 17
I flew last week SYD-LHR return and received upgrade sms between 36 and 24 hours prior to flight both directions. Sounds like you should be OK if fair few seats left. There's no point checking every ten minutes - won't change if you get it or not. It's like the kid waking up every hour on christmas eve to see if Santa had been.
mviy
mviy
Member since 05 May 2016
Total posts 322
The 48 hours (or in practice about 60 hours) are the earliest Platinum upgrades may be processed. Anticipating last minute sales, no shows, missed connections etc. QF may not process some upgrades till the gate.
mviy
mviy
Member since 05 May 2016
Total posts 322
Expert Flyer has loads e.g. J9, showing how many seats QF is willing to sell for a fare bucket. 9 means at least 9 seats (they stop counting at 9).
sdtravel
sdtravel
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 18 Jun 2015
Total posts 81
Last year as a WP i got my Y+ to J upgrade at outbound T60 & inbound around T28. So as above it can be very greatly.
mannej
mannej
QF
Member since 21 May 2014
Total posts 176
Not correct - they only show the seats that haven't been selected. This doesn't always correlate with load as it may be a case of pax not pre-selecting seats and not that the seat hasn't been sold.
jarydc
jarydc
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 28 Aug 2017
Total posts 1
I was on a Flex Y ticket once, put in minimum bid to upgrade to J, it was rejected, then sat behind a completely empty J cabin on the flight. I have no idea how it works.
mviy
mviy
Member since 05 May 2016
Total posts 322
If economy is not overbooked and no one has booked J at all then they can save money by leaving J empty (no need for J FAs, food to be loaded etc.).
green
green
Member since 05 Jul 2017
Total posts 13
Well my upgrade came through - happy flight! - about 26 hours before departure. This leaves me with an classic rewards upgrade success rate around 20 to 25% (WP). I’m curious what others find with this (note this is the first time I’d bothered to check expert flyer for the load in business so I can’t offer any insight with this for previous unsuccessful attempts.
aggie57
aggie57
QF
Member since 04 Apr 2014
Total posts 136
I do LA-MEL pretty often and get classic upgrades around 1/2 the time. I’m platinum.
JJJJJJJ
JJJJJJJ
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 18 Feb 2017
Total posts 60
Aggie57 then I have no chance - I’ll be silver on my next international flight :(
mviy
mviy
Member since 05 May 2016
Total posts 322
My flights across the Pacific are revenue tickets with an upgrade request using points. I've got a 100% upgrade success rate for upgrades to Business on two return trips. One leg as a Silver member (from PE), One as a Gold (from PE) and Two as Platinum (from Flex Economy). I flew SYD-SFO return both times.
KT
KT
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Jan 2018
Total posts 13
My experience is if you are flying Q to the US and are platinum and buy a business (as long as it's not a Sale fare) ticket you will get an upgrade to first more often than not. Though these days I'm not sure Q first is really worth the points you have to use up, and my wife would rather fly business as she says quite rightly Q first is a bit anti social for couples flying together because of the seat layout.
Heliduck
Heliduck
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Dec 2017
Total posts 6
and my wife would rather fly business as she says quite rightly Q first is a bit anti social for couples flying together because of the seat layout.
Ahh, the serenity.