US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Upgrading to MAD

I'm flying on a discount fare to MAD in October, and the agent told me the fare is not upgradable. I've been a CP for 5 years and this will be a first, if it's true. Does anyone know if a gate agent can upgrade me anyway?

[This message has been edited by Rose (edited 08-12-2003).]

V fares and certain other random ones aren't upgradeable on international flights.

A gate agent can do an operational upgrade-- but s/he may or may not want to, regardless of your status.

If you bought the ticket through a travel agent, you may be able to return it and get a Q fare ticket (or higher fare class) instead in order to upgrade it; if you bought the ticket on usairways.com, you can cancel it within 24 hours after you bought it. You could always just ask the CP desk to cancel and reissue the ticket as a Q fare or higher-- and the $50,000 or so of revenue you've probably given to US Airways over the past 5 years, if you're a typical CP, may carry some weight.

[This message has been edited by NYCommuter (edited 08-12-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Rose:
I'm flying on a discount fare to MAD in October, and the agent told me the fare is not upgradable. I've been a CP for 5 years and this will be a first, if it's true. Does anyone know if a gate agent can upgrade me anyway?

[This message has been edited by Rose (edited 08-12-2003).]</font>

Some fares are upgradeable on transatlantic flights, others are not. The price difference varies. I would call the CP desk and see if it is accurate with your fare, and if so how much would it cost to change to an upgradeable fare (if you have to and need to). Then decide if it is worth it.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NYCommuter:
if you bought the ticket on usairways.com, you can cancel it within 24 hours after you bought it.
[This message has been edited by NYCommuter (edited 08-12-2003).]</font>


You can now cancel a ticket that was not purchased from USAirways.com online. All you need is the ticket number. Pretty nifty.

Specifically, the upgradeable discount fare classes for transatlantic travel are: M, H, K and Q -- that notably excludes L and V. This is true for DMUTA3's and 30,000-mile one-way upgrade awards. All the details are at: http://www.usairways.com/dividendmiles/redeemingmiles/howtoredeem/upgrades.htm

David

Rose - admittedly it gets trickier evey year following which fares are eligible for upgrade. Even 1.5 years ago, it didnt matter.

Last year, they added V-class to the no-upgrade list. This year, they basically added L-class by specifying those eligible (and L didnt even exist last year).

Since there is no easy way of seeing upgradeability, you can look at the fare classes of a ticket bought on usairways.com when the pricing comes up. I have also noticed that many travel agents (and of course the US res agents) know which ones are upgradable - just ask.

Just some tips on making sure you get the right one the first time..

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> ... I would call the CP desk and see if it is accurate with your fare, and if so how much would it cost to change to an upgradeable fare (if you have to and need to). Then decide if it is worth it.</font>

You may as well start with the CP desk -- at least your initial wait will be shorter but SFAIK they won't actually do anything except transfer you to international. And International treats all of us cattle the same.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TomBascom:
And International treats all of us cattle the same.</font>

International KNOWS when you have been transfered from the CP desk. It may not help - but they know.

I've dropped CP status with them before and it got them to open up award seats to MAD.

(PS when you going? I'm flying to MAD in October too)

Thanks everyone. It's amazing how much the international upgrade certificates have degraded. When I was flying to Europe every 6 weeks back in 2000 they could be used on any fare, at the time you booked your ticket. Then last year I was told I had to wait until 7 days before my flight, and now I can't use them at all.
I haven't flown roach to Europe since I was a student. Do they have a meal service, or is that gone too?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Rose:
Thanks everyone. It's amazing how much the international upgrade certificates have degraded. </font>

I agree. However, be aware that to my knowledge, US is the ONLY US-based carrier that still provides free transatlantic upgrade certs for ALL elite levels. &lt;IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif"&gt;
I switched to US from Delta when they did away with theirs. IMHO, we can count ourselves lucky we get them at all, what with the Europe upgrade mileage increased to 60k rundtrip.



[This message has been edited by lt1GM (edited 08-13-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by lt1GM:
I agree. However, be aware that to my knowledge, US is the ONLY US-based carrier that still provides free transatlantic upgrade certs for ALL elite levels. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif
I switched to US from Delta when they did away with theirs. IMHO, we can count ourselves lucky we get them at all, what with the Europe upgrade mileage increased to 60k rundtrip.

[This message has been edited by lt1GM (edited 08-13-2003).]</font>

sorry, double post...

In response to Catwood, I'm going from Oct 16 - Nov 02, which means I'll be flying out on the airbus, and coming back on the 767.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by lt1GM:
I agree. However, be aware that to my knowledge, US is the ONLY US-based carrier that still provides free transatlantic upgrade certs for ALL elite levels. &lt;IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif"&gt;
I switched to US from Delta when they did away with theirs. IMHO, we can count ourselves lucky we get them at all, what with the Europe upgrade mileage increased to 60k rundtrip.

[This message has been edited by lt1GM (edited 08-13-2003).]</font>

This is true and great if you're a Silver or Gold, but for top tiers, United is upgrade heaven. They give 1Ks 6 worldwide upgrades (valid on H fares and above, which are high to Europe but very reasonable for Asia imho). Additionally, this year they gave us 4 certs valid on almost every fare. Lots of complaining on the UA board about degradation of the certs but I still think it's generous.