Annoyed with FC call centre

Grrr

Myself and OH have K PE returns to LAX, returning from LAS next month.

I rang up FC on Sunday to see if I could upgrade one way, and just my ticket, to 'S' for the LAX section, then use 20k of my OHs miles to upgrade me to 'G', if that makes sense (she owes me some miles!)

They said this was fine but that I'd have to ring back on Monday as the fare department wasn't open on Sunday.

So I rang back last night, spend ages on hold again, etc., only to find out that the fare people in question only work 9-5 and that I'd have to ring back the next day.

Again, I clairifed that it was OK to just upgrade the outgoing section to 'S' and they said it was.

So I ring back this morning, get transferred to the UC guys, after some time pricing it up they come back and tell me I've got to upgrade both the outgoing and return segments - and as there's no 'S' availability on the way back then it would have to be an S/W combination, costing me around £1100 extra.

Really annoyed that I'd been told twice I could just upgrade to 'S' on the outgoing, I've now wasted about an hour of my time all in all.

Does anyone know if I'd be able to just upgrade to S then G at the airport (i.e. just for the outbound leg)?

Cheers
Andy

If your ticket allows upgrades and there is availability, then you can do it. I was told yesterday that there is a priority system in place, with upgrades going to Gold/Silver/Red etc. However, in the past when I have done this at Silver, it's been done straight away, even if it was the last available seat.
So my advice is get there as soon as you can, and ask at the airport.

That's the problem - my ticket doesn't allow upgrades as it's a K, and FC are saying to me I've got to upgrade to a flexible fare type both ways, which I don't want to do.

[RichardMannion]

Good luck - we had similiar issues at LHR last November when a number of us (all Gold) wanted to upgrade to Upper, we too had booked K's. Much stupidity ensued, and silly amounts of money were demanded and we passed.

If no S's are showing, then you are stuck and would have to go to a full W or W/S split.

Thanks,
Richard

Dammit - thanks Richard, ah well.

[RichardMannion]

I can understand it to a degree in advance, but at the airport is pure stupidity - they were quoting silly amounts of money on the day, I seem to recall about £799, and then the 20k miles! Decker, do you remember what the amount was? They were basically quoting us the diff between what we paid and a full roundtrip in W, as they couldn't see the S fares as it has AP reqs.

It is lunancy really, we were offering miles and money and it was just greed really. In the end we declined, and was astounded to find that we were moved to J anyway at the gate due to oversell. So they really did lose out on lots of miles being redeemed and us paying some cash.

Thanks,
Richard

Is it down to the airports discretion to do one-way upgrades? On a return from SFO last year they let us upgrade the OHs 'q' to an 'L' for that segment at the airport so we could both use miles to get into 'G' (I was already on an 'L')

[HighFlyer]

The phrase "all bets are off at the airport" would be appropriate. Depending on what loads are like on the day, fare based rules can be thrown out of the window. If your flight is full and some op-ups are required, they'll be only to happy to take your cash and miles. If you get a check-in agent who isnt familiar with the fare codes, you can easily upgrade non-upgradable tickets. Sometimes they are just in a good mood it seems, and at other times, upgrading a non-changeable fare is nigh on impossible, as i guess it probably should be, as that's why you got a cheaper fare.

Do try on the day. If your flight is looking full you will probably have a good chance of moving up a cabin.

Thanks,
Sarah

Thanks Sarah

The availability is

J7 D7 Z7 W7 S5 K0 Y7 B7 L7 M7 Q7 X7 N7

(VS 007 10/04/07)

I don't mind paying the extra to go from K-S but I only want to do it one way.

Cheers
Andy

[HighFlyer]

Still pretty open in all cabins, 7 or more seats in W. Surprising as its Bank Holiday flight.

Keep your fingers crossed and ask at Check-in. While i am horrified at the prospect of you leaving your better half in W while you upgrade to J , moving one passenger is a lot easier to achieve.

Thanks,
Sarah

LOL

Well to compound things, I'll be (hopefully) using her account to upgrade me as she 'owes' me some miles anyway.
If it makes you feel any better, I paid for her flight and hotel out of my bonus

Andy don't know if this helps but my experience is that it is possible although I have to agree it does seem to depend on the person you speak to.

I have upgraded from a K to an S at LGW flying to MCO paying £99 plus 20K miles. Asked for the same thing a few weeks later and was quoted £699 plus miles.

Twice coming back from MCO again on a K Fare, once was given the upgrade and no money was asked for and the miles never taken either and that was after calling the US number and told there was no way without upgrading the outbound too. Most recently this week - 20K miles but no money asked for.

Jilly

Cheers for the info Jilly - I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Fingers crossed!