I'm Prestige for the first time and am condering flying back to Canada in the coming weeks. AC is a few hundred bucks more than the other guys but all fares are upgradeable H and M. I've never used certs before to upgrade and so have a few questions.

1) Is ICN-YVR domestic or internationally configured J seats and service? If domestic, would I even need to use a cert or would all status holders be automatically put in J?
2) What are the best days to upgrade direct YVR-YOW flights?
3) If I stop over for a few days in Vancouver, would I have to use another cert or would the first one be good for the whole trip?
4) What are the chances and best days to upgrade on the red-eye YVR-YYZ or YVR-YYC-YYZ?

Agents here said that outside of Fridays and Saturdays, upgrading ICN-YVR should be no problem. I'm also considering flying UA in E+ on a 777 (PTV ) as it's about 300 bucks cheaper.

I'm not a regular poster here these days as I only post if I feel I've got something significant to contribute. But I read this forum often and really appreciate all the great advice and info people are willing to share.

Cheers,

freeflyer

make sure you check the J inventory and see how many seats are left unsold. Super Elites and Elites go ahead of you in the upgrade queue so seeing empty J seats doesn't mean you'll get upgraded for certain. if you aren't completely sure you can get upgraded, go for UA. at least you get more miles and you're in E+ with PTV
it can be very boring back there in coach on AC looking at the big screen.

It would be international configured 763 for the month of September.
Other than Mondays and Fridays, the other days should be alright. If you could book via YYZ, that would even be better.
You would have to use another cert. Each cert is good for origin to destination but not including stopovers.
The red-eye YVR-YYZ is often oversold but C inventory is usually available. So I would say your chances are not bad.

Right. That's what I would tell you as well. I would add Sunday to that list too.
The 777s that UA flies on transpac routes do not have E+.

Feel free to ask if you have anymore questions!

The 777s that UA flies on transpac routes do not have E+.[/quote]

Thanks, Empress! I made reservations today on AC, UA, and ANA today and will decide next week which one I'll fly. When I called UA I asked the agent to put me in E+, which she did. How can I verify if UA flights have E+ or not?

The ANA fare is "G", which I'm not sure will earn full mileage or not. This is all Aeroplan says, which I don't really understand.

When traveling on GIT/IIT fares, you earn 250 miles on flights up to 500 miles and 50% of actual miles flown on flights 501 miles and over.

The 777s that UA flies on transpac routes do not have E+.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Empress! I made reservations today on AC, UA, and ANA today and will decide next week which one I'll fly. When I called UA I asked the agent to put me in E+, which she did. How can I verify if UA flights have E+ or not?

The ANA fare is "G", which I'm not sure will earn full mileage or not. This is all Aeroplan says, which I don't really understand.

When traveling on GIT/IIT fares, you earn 250 miles on flights up to 500 miles and 50% of actual miles flown on flights 501 miles and over.

1. ANA "G" fares earn 100% of miles flown.

2. ICN-YVR is notoriously oversold in Y every single day. There are sometimes 22 involuntary upgrades in one day. I would say that your chances of using a Prestige cert is pretty much 100% as long as you're on an eligible fare.

You can tell by looking up the seatmap on www.seatmap.com. Put in "Y" for class and compare the configuration you see with www.seatguru.com.

United tends to sell the front section as "premium seats" even if they are not Economy Plus. If your aircraft does not have Eco+, I would only book the flight if 17A/B or 17H/J are available.

As stargold said - it's 100% of actual miles for G class.

The GIT/IIT fares refer to unpublished special tariff agreements with specific travel agencies. That's quite common in Japan.