Swiss International Airlines - European Business Upgrade on UK routes

Just talked to Swiss.... Having a booking in Economy DUS-ZRH-LHR-ZRH-DUS I wanted to take advantage of this business upgrade option.

Although the discounted Business Class is available, I was not offered the online upgrade and called SWISS. They told me that if my itinery includes flights to/from London and Birmingham, I cannot be upgraded at all since these are the destinations not allowed for the european business upgrade.....

Anybody else heard about that before? I could not read anything like that on the website and was quite surprised

Rubbish! I've flown ATH-LON three times this year with a business upgrade, and I have a corresponding reservation for November.

They seem to have added Moscow to the business upgrade list, so I suspect the number of destinations available is getting longer, not shorter

They told me that if my itinery includes flights to/from London and Birmingham, I cannot be upgraded at all since these are the destinations not allowed for the european business upgrade.....

Birmingham has had online availability since the year dot. Good for miles, but it throws you into the first couple of rows of a F100.

Business Saver Europe Upgrades ex LON have been discontinued.

Here is the list of the current exclusions:
http://www.schumann.cc/lx/lx_j_exclusions.gif

Business Saver Europe Upgrades ex LON have been discontinued.

Here is the list of the current exclusions:
The link posted (as an invisible image!) requires a password to access. :(

On the UK LX site, there's no mention of Business Saver Upgrades but there are Business Class Offers ex-BHX to the following.

Athens from GBP 412.-
Barcelona from GBP 318.-
Belgrade from GBP 441.-
Berlin (TXL) from GBP 361.-
Budapest from GBP 330.-
Hamburg from GBP 323.-
Istanbul from GBP 386.-
Lyon from GBP 310.-
Milan (MXP) from GBP 327.-
Munich from GBP 333.-
Nice from GBP 340.-
Prague from GBP 361.-
Rome (FCO) from GBP 273.-
Stuttgart from GBP 297.-
Thessaloniki from GBP 293.-
Venice from GBP 252.-
Vienna from GBP 364.-

Although these fares are supposed to be booked by 26th July 2009, random checks suggest they are still available. BHX-VCE return for GBP252 and 8,000 (10,000 incl. exec bonus) miles plus any current promotion miles isn't too bad. No Business Class offers ex-LON or ex-MAN.

The link posted (as an invisible image!) requires a password to access. :(

Apologies, link has been changed to another server of mine and should work now.

On the UK LX site, there's no mention of Business Saver Upgrades but there are Business Class Offers ex-BHX to the following.

In the past, you could upgrade any ticket ex UK for the following upgrade amounts:

ROUTING RETURN FLAT ONEWAY FLAT
----------------------- ----------- -----------
GREAT BRITAIN - SWITZERLAND GBP 112 GBP 56
GREAT BRITAIN - BASEL GBP 44 GBP 22
GREAT BRITAIN - EUROPE GBP 112 GBP 56

Now, the only remaining option is ex MAN as well as ex BHX (except to Switzerland). The upgrade option ex LHR/LCY is completely gone.

On the UK LX site, there's no mention of Business Saver Upgrades but there are Business Class Offers ex-BHX


The business saver fares (e.g. from BHX and MAN), shown in by the site's booking engine, are business saver upgrades.

Follow the triple-asterisks (***) in the relevant column heading of the fares' table down to the explanation.

The business saver fares (e.g. from BHX and MAN), shown in by the site's booking engine, are business saver upgrades.

Follow the triple-asterisks (***) in the relevant column heading of the fares' table down to the explanation.
OK, thanks. But an interesting thing is on some dates/routes Business Flex (Z) is cheaper than Business Saver/Business Upgrade (J). :confused:

Hm, on my recent trips on these fares I did not see that many pax in Biz. I was even flying solo in C to LON on my last trip 2 weeks ago... Oh well, it was good while it lastet.

The link posted (as an invisible image!) requires a password to access. :(

On the UK LX site, there's no mention of Business Saver Upgrades but there are Business Class Offers ex-BHX

The prices NewbieRunner lists are often well in excess of what is now available ex BHX. Examples Berlin 262, Hamburg 241 and Vienna 268. These are "Business Saver" prices and book into J.

Strangely the "Business Flex" prices (booking into Z) are only Berlin 364, Hamburg 322 and Vienna 364. But the booking conditions seem to be identical to the "Business" fares (which appear in blue and book into J) which are actually a few pounds higher than the "Business Flex" fares.

Are LX no longer offering unrestricted C fares ex BHX?