Ok, let me run something by you...

US Airways is one of the very few airlines that count class of service (cos) bonuses for elite status. And that cos bonus is 50% for First Class and Envoy Class (thus 1.5 miles per mile).

And, am I correct with this: If a Elite flyer buys a Full-Fare Y ticket and upgrades it (at time of booking with no certs needed), it goes into the (revenue) F inventory, rather than the normal upgrade inventory (D?). So, it does receive the cos bonus, yes?

So, if an Elite flyer flys all on Y-fares, and all of them are upgraded at time of booking without certs, he or she can earn Chairman's status at 66,666 miles. And Gold at 33,333, and Silver at 16,666. Correct? (My math might be totally screwed up, as svpii knows from our recent chat trying to figure out the relative value of mileage runs!)

That's an awful lot of revenue geared towards US Airways, but it does lower the qualification levels a lot. If 50% of your travel is on Y-fares and the rest discount, you can get Chairman's for 83,333 miles, which is also a nice "discount".

Also, possible for those whose corporate accounts with US give them Y-fares at a cut. From talking to someone who company has such an agreement, he still gets cos bonus when traveling on a corporate ticket (the company buys a Y-fare but at X% of published fare...ticket still has all advantages of Y, such as refundability).

Just wanted to see if I have this all figured out! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Assuming your logic (=Y-fares getting the "cos" bonus and all) is correct, your numbers work out for me!

I think the same works for CO. The "cos" bonus for BIZFIRST and First Class is also 50% I think. And, like US it seems, on CO the upgraded Y-Fares gets the "cos" bonus (into first class booking class), so you get Platinum for 50 and Gold and Silver for the numbers you said.

I don't think this works for ANY other airlines!!

The Y to F at time of booking that you are referring to is the "A" fare basis. ("A" fares are only available in certain markets, mainly in the West)

But the same premis works with most full fares on US. When you buy a Y or BUS fare ticket then use certs to upgrade, the inventory also changes to "F" thus capturing the 50% class of service bonus.

I never thought of it that way but it's probably true. I know that my company gets deep deep discounts on AA full fare so that sometimes the full fare Y ticket is less than an advance fare. Yet I still get all the perks of Y such as qualifying for the platinum challenge very quickly since its based on points which is based on class of service.

Originally posted by BizJet:
And, am I correct with this: If a Elite flyer buys a Full-Fare Y ticket and upgrades it (at time of booking with no certs needed), it goes into the (revenue) F inventory, rather than the normal upgrade inventory (D?).

FYI, I believe normal upgrade inventory is G.

But unless you are Chairman Preferred, upgrades are still required except on certain routes - that is, Y-F auto upgrade isn't available on all routes...

US Airways has a Y4COACH fare in competive markets where anyone can get a confirmed First Class seat for that Y fare. This is exactly the same as TWA's FirstUp, Northwest's ConnectFirst, etc.

Additionally, any Preferred member who books a Y-fare, regardless of whether or not it is an A4COACH market, can upgrade to First Class at time of booking. Now, in my first post, I said that certs (for Golds and Silvers) were not required in such a situation, yet as svpii pointed out, and later confirmed by Gold Preferred Reservations, certs are in fact needed. But still there are no capacity controls in said situation and you thus get the 50% elite qualifying bonus.

If you pay the price, it's a very good "Fast track" to status. IMO much better than AA's point system, where it is only useful if you travel at a minimum Y-fare and occasionally F-fare. If you travel mostly discount with the occasional First or Biz fare, the point system does no good. The direct mileage bonus with US directly benefits even the occasional First or Envoy or Y-Fare travler!

FWIW, most fares obtained with a previously negotiated corporate discount -"Gold File" in US lingo- are not booked in "Y" inventory, but in "M". So while they have all the flexibility of a Y fare, the M booking code might prevent you from upgrading in advance.

Just a thought...

RZ
US2

Not necessarily. My company has a fairly generous discount on US, but the fare basis doesn't change because of it. Come to think of it, I don't ever recall seeing a M fare basis.