US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Upgrade Question

I am going to LAS via PHL in May and wanted to use some upgrades. I want to make sure I am not in coach...do you think I will have a problem or is there no guarantee? I call a day in advance as Silver for the upgrade...right? What is the difference between an unrestricted and restricted fare?

"What is the difference between an unrestricted and restricted fare?"

A lot of money and a lot of rule differences. Unrestricted fares are refundable, carry few, if any rules, and are very expensive - probably about $900 - $1100 for transcon routes.

Restricted fares are non-refundable, carry loads of rules, and can be very cheap or expensive depending on the particular fare (V fare versus M fare).

Are you a Silver??? Most Silvers know what differences are inherent in restricted fares....


[This message has been edited by ITRADE (edited 04-24-2002).]

...careful...PHL-LAS nonstop has a very very reasonable refundable fare of about 400 r/t. It is, however, in -K- or -H-, therefore still not upgradeable with certs until the 7/3/1 window. If the trip is midweek, it should be ok, but if traveling thur-mon...I doubt it. Use the miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ITRADE:
probably about $900 - $1100 for transcon routes.</font>

Each way. About $1500-$2000 roundtrip for an unrestricted Y/A/B fare ticket. Those are the ones you can usually upgrade anytime in advance. And why shouldn't you be able to for that price!! Usually only a business person travels on them, booking last minute.

As a Silver, your chances of upgrade a day prior to the flight will be better if you are flying on a 757 or A321 since they have 24 and 26 F seats. The A319 has just 12.

Also remember - you can call for your upgrade at 9PM Las Vegas time the night BEFORE your return flight since the upgrade is handled by the East coast offices and the systems are on EDT.

If there's no upgrade available, they will waitlist you. That means that as of 12:01am the day of flight, your name goes off the waitlist and you must REQUEST AT CHECK-IN to be put on the STANDBY list. Unfortunately, this quirk in the upgrade process screws many unbeknowing DM members.

But no matter what, get your coach seats setup now. You can request exit rows as a Silver:

on the 757: 8A,B,C or 7D
on the 321: 9A,B,C, 21A,B,C
on the 319: anything in 9(C and D are aisles)

At least if you don't get the upgrade you'll have something a little less cramped than the rest of your fellow passengers.

Vegas is the best kept secret in the business when it comes to fare restrictions. Because of the nature of the market, most cheap fares do NOT require a Saturday stay. If you have a quick midweek trip to the Coast, booking in and out of LV is the way to go. Once there, most regular fares to major Western cities are pretty low. Combining these can produce an unrestricted fare for as much as a thousand bucks less than a point to point.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
Each way. About $1500-$2000 roundtrip for an unrestricted Y/A/B fare ticket. Those are the ones you can usually upgrade anytime in advance.</font>

Actually only those B fares with "US" in the fare basis code are upgradeable before the 7/3/1 window opens. I am travelling next Sunday PHL-SFO on a B4US designator and was able to upgrade both ways in advance. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Good thing 'cuz I'm coming back on the redeye Tuesday. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gardener:
Actually only those B fares with "US" in the fare basis code are upgradeable before the 7/3/1 window opens. I am travelling next Sunday PHL-SFO on a B4US designator and was able to upgrade both ways in advance. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Good thing 'cuz I'm coming back on the redeye Tuesday. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif</font>

Fare Basis codes are not considered when upgrading anymore. We only look at booking code. J/Y/B ( even B non refundable) can be upgraded anytime in advance for any DM mbr. If a non prederred wants to pay the upgrade charge ($50 per 1-800 miles) they can also.


Silver members cannot be waitlisted as the waitlist are not worked 1 day prior to flight. Silver can only waitlist on the J/Y/B if not available since those do not have the 7/3/1 window as other booking codes do.

[This message has been edited by BWI2MCO97 (edited 04-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by BWI2MCO97 (edited 04-24-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BWI2MCO97:
Fare Basis codes are not considered when upgrading anymore.</font>


Thanks, BWI! That is new news to me. Does anyone know if all B fares which are upgraded get the class-of-service bonus? I would expect yes as they would all be booked into "I" class under the new system, right?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BWI2MCO97:
Silver members cannot be waitlisted as the waitlist are not worked 1 day prior to flight. Silver can only waitlist on the J/Y/B if not available since those do not have the 7/3/1 window as other booking codes do.</font>

I had an agent tell me this too, but I still don't get it.

If I have an 11:00 PM flight on Friday night and am a Silver (which my girlfriend is), if I call at 12:01 AM on Thursday, what is implied is that the waitlist would not be worked between 12:01 AM Thursday and 11:00 PM Friday. Is that really correct? Honestly, I would hope not ...

My last two B fares were upgraded to I, and, yes, I did receive the class-of-service bonus. I wish I knew then that B fare NAU upgrades didn't fall under that 7/3/1 window. I ended up sweating it out at the gate.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gardener:
Does anyone know if all B fares which are upgraded get the class-of-service bonus? I would expect yes as they would all be booked into "I" class under the new system, right?</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
If I have an 11:00 PM flight on Friday night and am a Silver (which my girlfriend is), if I call at 12:01 AM on Thursday, what is implied is that the waitlist would not be worked between 12:01 AM Thursday and 11:00 PM Friday. Is that really correct? Honestly, I would hope not ...</font>

Yes...really correct . The only time a Silver can waitlist is off of those J/Y/B fares if the upgrade were not available at time of request. Here's some other interesting news I stumbled onto. A non elite level US4 can use a systemwide upgrade. If someone who was silver dropped down to regular DM and never used their DMUPSYS, they may upgrade ( based on availability) anytime in advance on J/Y/B or 1 day in advance ( like silver ) on M/H/Q/K/V* ( * except V transatlantic).