US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Envoy Upgrade Buckets, Different for Q or B Fares?

I'm flying to London with my Mom, Aunt and Uncle in the early March timeframe. When I originally booked the flights (during a promo in the November timeframe) I booked them in the then existing Q class, intending to try and use my One Way Transatlantic Upgrade certificate (and companion cert since I am a CP), Star Code: DMUTA3 to upgrade at the 7 day window.

The fare bucket for the flight over (US #98) looks like: BUCKET CLASSES: C7 D7 Z7 Y7 B7 M7 W7 H7 Q6 L0 S0 V0 T0.
As a comparison, the bucket for the Charlotte-LGW flight (US #94) looks like: BUCKET CLASSES: C7 D7 Z7 Y7 B7 M7 W7 H7 Q7 L7 S7 V7 T0.

Since I've got miles to burn (and now seems like a good time to do it) now a little concerned about US Airways' viability, I was going to knuckle down and try and use miles to upgrade us on the way over. Since it is ticketed in Q fare I'd need 30K miles each for the outbound leg. I called the International desk to see if I could use miles to upgrade and they said that nothing is available on #98, but that there was availability on the #94 flight.

So my questions are:

I believe that Envoy upgrade availability is not shown correct?
Does the bucket change if you are upgrading out of discount coach as opposed to "full fare" coach (i.e. Y or B).
The fare difference (now) between my Q flight and one in B class is only $230RT. The advantage of the B class is that I could upgrade out of it for 10K miles instead of 30K miles, and the 7 day window is removed. However, if Envoy upgrades from discount coach and "full fare" coach come out of the same bucket, then there would be little reason to try and ticket in B class. Do they come out the same bucket?
Assuming that they don't come out of the same bucket, will I have to go through the re-issue desk to pay the difference and ticket them in B instead of Q? If so, I'd need to pay the fare difference ($230) plus the re-issue fee ($200) -- it would make little sense for me to do so.
If I don't have to pay to have the ticket re-issued, can I simply ticket in B class on the outbound and remain in Q (and take my chances) on the return? This would be $115 ticket instead of $230, and I really only care about the overnight. That way I have a shot of doing the upgrade on the certificate or using miles (and at 10K instead of 30K)

Thanks in advance for all the responses here --

TMK

On the longish Codes Summary (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum51/HTML/004215.html) page, no one has offered two different upgrade buckets for Envoy like they are on domestic. Therefore, as best I know, the bucket you care about is "R" in either case. ITN may show this bucket, but I think no one does.

I have had good luck upgrading to Envoy with miles well in advance of travel. I usually call the service center and explain my goals. They should be able to help you with the question of if it is worth it and if they will charge you the reticket fee. I have had an issue where the travel agent mistakenly booked in a discount class and I wanted to change to a fully refundable ticket and they waived the reissue fee, but they made a big deal out of it, so they may not do it routinely.

I don't travel the route you are on, but my experience in and out of Frankfurt is that upgrades usually clear down to silvers in your timeframe. I used the same upgrade you are using in March to FRA and envoy had empty seats. I assume LGW is similar, but someone else may have better info.

Thanks MikeLaw for your thoughts. I think I probably do have a pretty good shot upgrading at the gate (if not at the 7 day window), but since I'm traveling with a few folks who have never been international before, it would be worth the cost (in $ or miles) for the certainty. I also wonder whether I wouldn't have a shot in Row 1 on the A330.

I'll give the service center a call today. TMK

I just got off the phone with the International Desk and they confirmed what I expected -- that while I certainly could take my tickets from Q to B, they would charge me the fare difference (roughly $240) PLUS another $200 change fee, per ticket. While I wouldn't mind paying the $240 (it could be considered found money for them) I'm really not inclined to hand them another $200/ticket just for editing the reservation to read B instead of Q.

Has anyone be successful in the past in drafting a nice letter to the Dividend Miles Service center and begging?

Thanks - TMK

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