Miles upgrades - advice

Afternoon all.

I have a 'Q' class economy fare booked LHR-SFO outward 27th July, returning SFO-LHR 31st July.

The ticket was bought from Thomas Cook (wouldn't normally, but I had several £100s of their vouchers to use up).

I would like to use miles to upgrade both legs to UC. Obviously I need to pay the difference to get the 'Q' classes to 'L's first of all.
VS say this can only be done for the outbound leg by Thomas Cook. TC screwed this up a couple of months ago and I so I missed the one 'G' seat available. Nice one TC.

Well I'm hoping availability in 'G' pops up again or alternatively they let me up with miles on the day. VS have said once I've flown the outbound leg they can upgrade the return 'Q' to an 'L', as it is then 'their' ticket rather than TCs.

So the advice I'd like from you is -

1) Should I get TC to upgrade both legs to 'L' in the hope that 'G' availability opens up nearer the time (I'm checking online every day)? My thinking being, if/when a 'G' pops up I can simply ring FC and get them to upgrade me.

2) How likely is it for more 'G' to become available? Current availability for LHR-SFO on the 27th is

J7 D7 Z5 W7 S0 K0 Y7 B7 L0 M0 Q0 X0 N0

and for the return on 31st

J7 D7 Z7 W7 S7 K7 Y7 B7 L7 M7 Q7 X7 N7

3) If I DON'T upgrade the outbound ticket to 'L' prior to travelling, would they let me do that at the airport (and then use miles to get into UC), or would it still be the case that the ticket would 'belong' to TC?

Thanks for your help!

Andy

'Fraid I don't know the answer to your question, Andy, but another thought springs to mind: Given there is no L availability on your outbound, would they let you upgrade to that anyway, or insist you took the ticket up to a B? I know it's all notional anyway if you are going to upgrade the ticket to G with miles in any case, but I just wonder about the process.

In any event, good luck with the G availability!

Best wishes

David

Damn, good point, I was so busy looking at upper I hadn't noticed the lack of 'L'! Rookie error

I would advise getting TC to upgrade the entire journey to L class (or B and L class if thats what is available) to save any hassles, as if and when G arrive into availability, you do not want to have to wait for an agent to speak with the fares department to see what it costs, or to add to the time at check-in (why waste clubhouse time???!!!) so see what they can do. If TC upgrade it to L class and you are prepared to pay that additional part, you will have a smoother trip at the airport.

Just my 2p worth.

Hope that helps,

Juliet

Cool, thanks Juliet. Probably what I'll do, I guess I'm just concerned that I pay the extra and then find there's nothing available in UC. A gamble..

Originally posted by AndyK
Cool, thanks Juliet. Probably what I'll do, I guess I'm just concerned that I pay the extra and then find there's nothing available in UC. A gamble..

but if you are willing to take that gamble, they can (and have in the past) upgrade you evenb at the gate if a last minute seat comes available, which they COULD NOT do if you had not paid that additional amount in the first place.

anyway, you are travelling outbound with a full-ish plane due to start of school hols, so might be a bit busy. The return you might have a bit more luck on.

Good luck with your upgrade quest![y]

Cheers for the input Juliet have now got TC to upgrade it to B out, L back , extra cost £145. Pretty reasonable provided I can upgrade to UC at some point!