New "secret" automatic upgrade on AA? Anyone heard of this?
I received an email blast from Cook Travel last week, referring to an article from First Class Flyer, claiming that both Delta and American now have a new fare to Europe that allows one to purchase a discounted economy fare, then get an automatic upgrade with a flat $250 co-payment (no miles). Apparently you have to book 60 days in advance, and only certain routes/inventories are available.
I searched all over the web, including AA's website, for more info on this, but nothing besides the original First Class Flyer newsletter article, which is behind a paywall.
Has anyone else heard of this? Anyone have details on the routes available, rules, etc?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crewfox
I received an email blast from Cook Travel last week, referring to an article from First Class Flyer, claiming that both Delta and American now have a new fare to Europe that allows one to purchase a discounted economy fare, then get an automatic upgrade with a flat $250 co-payment (no miles). Apparently you have to book 60 days in advance, and only certain routes/inventories are available.
I searched all over the web, including AA's website, for more info on this, but nothing besides the original First Class Flyer newsletter article, which is behind a paywall.
Has anyone else heard of this? Anyone have details on the routes available, rules, etc?
Thanks!
there is no way that any airline providing a true int'l J product is going to sell TATL J at a $500 premium over Y for a product that takes up the space of several Y seats and includes more expensive food/wine, lounge access, larger free luggage allowance, etc. Simply not going to happen. The numbers don't work. As suggested in the link, there are isolated times of the year where there are very cheap TATL J tickets (T-day and Xmas) and the spread between Y and J routinely decreases during summer (fewer business travelers, more leisure travelers). But a commonly available $500 premium. Forget about it.
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Looking at a couple of city pairs identified in the thread, JFK-MAD and ORD-FRA, I (with ITA Software) can't find business fares just $500 r/t more than cheapest coach, even when looking with 60-day adv purchase and variable length of stay, 5-10 nights.
Thanks for pointing me to that thread. I started one because I couldn't find an existing thread. However, I prefer to keep commenting here, as that thread seems to have devolved into a criticism of the travel agency, which Í'm honestly not interested in continuing.
According to First Class Flyer, this is a new category offered by Delta called "EasyUp" and not something limited to the travel agency. See the following "press release" about the newsletter: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...182430231.html
It also seems to say that American is following Delta, but nothing is available on AA.com, nor could I find anything official on Delta.com.
I'm going to try to get the newsletter via a trial subscription and will post further details if successful.
Yes, it's true. If you cruise on over to First Class Flyer, the December issue has lots of details about it. Unfortunately, some cities don't qualify (e.g., London).
Yes, it's true. If you cruise on over to First Class Flyer, the December issue has lots of details about it. Unfortunately, some cities don't qualify (e.g., London).
Hi Roadrunner - would you be so kind as to post a bit more about this here? I don't want to subscribe to the First Class Flyer newsletter, but would appreciate some additional details (i.e. cities, how does it work? Does the option appear when you're booking, or only afterwards, and when does it confirm you in J?)
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I find this offer incredibly hard to believe. This would kill not only loyalty program revenue, but also paid business travel revenue. Why book J when you can direct your employees to book this Y upgrade fare.
I'd appreciate a fare basis from ITA or an AA document/site that shows this new "product". Until that time, this smacks of those "70-80% off business class" spambanners we see from cooktravel and others.
I find this offer incredibly hard to believe. This would kill not only loyalty program revenue, but also paid business travel revenue. Why book J when you can direct your employees to book this Y upgrade fare.
I'd appreciate a fare basis from ITA or an AA document/site that shows this new "product". Until that time, this smacks of those "70-80% off business class" spambanners we see from cooktravel and others.
Because many corporate contracts will have the clause about your travel entitlement. Once it is signed the company have to respect the contracts.
Unless you work for the start-ups, or SMEs that do not care about talented people, or big company that think the middle management and below are perfect target for budget cut, you are unlikely to be booked in Y.
And there is always magic I class or P class to meet the needs for leisure travellers.
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More detail is available in the videos posted publicly on the First Class Flyer page on Facebook. Basically, my interpretation is that they found some low business class fares, and have decided to call them "automatic upgrades".
The first video demonstrates a search at Kayak.com for a "Business" roundtrip between NYC and DUB in March of 2013. DL comes back with a fare around $1200 (class S), which appears (from the video) to be bookable. While I didn't try the search myself, comments on the video on Facebook indicate that others found the fares to be gone on DL when they searched, but still available on AA (though which routes were not specified).
The second video is obviously aimed at non-elite flyers, as it mentions how adding checked baggage fees and fees for sitting in premium economy would add up to be about the same as the difference between the business fare they found in the first video and DL's normal economy fares. Then they describe the fare they found on Kayak as an "automatic upgrade", which is (in my opinion) misleading as it's simply a low business class fare, and then speculate that because the fare difference (compared to economy) is so low, that these kinds of fares will make mileage upgrades unnecessary (because it would be more cost-effective to pay the $250 difference between the economy fare and the low business fare than to cash in a bunch of miles for the upgrade). This is, of course, all assuming that the low business fare they found was intentional and that it will continue to be offered.
The third video basically suggests that flyers check for low business class fares before using miles to upgrade, and then speculates that these types of fares might have an adverse impact on elite flyers, as non-elites might buy the low business fares, thus taking up space that would otherwise be available for upgrades. They again call the low business fare an "automatic upgrade".
The fourth video encourages people to like the First Class Flyer page on Facebook in order to receive a free issue of the newsletter, or to sign up for a free trial subscription. If I get a copy of the report I will read it and post my thoughts.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chongcao
Because many corporate contracts will have the clause about your travel entitlement. Once it is signed the company have to respect the contracts.
Unless you work for the start-ups, or SMEs that do not care about talented people, or big company that think the middle management and below are perfect target for budget cut, you are unlikely to be booked in Y.
A lot of companies only book C level executives in business. Mere VP's/EVP's/SVP's ride in the back unless they upgrade themselves. Some have perk allowances that would allow them to pay a few hundred, but not a few thousand, for upgrades (unless they only want to do one a year!)
