US Airways Dividend Miles - Question about Upgrades on Award Travel & Using Award points.

I did the Trial Preferred in June, I've already reached Chairman status :D Not that this fact matters, I just wanted to throw that out there lol.

Anyway, a few questions:

1) I have a # of award points. If I use these points for award travel will my status go away? Or does USAir still count the "Qualifying miles" So theoretically, if I use all of my award pts, I can have 0 pts, but sitll have XX,XXX pre-qualifying miles... is this right?

2) If I book award travel for coach (using less points) , and I book US based / Caribbean flight, can I and a companion still potentially be upgraded on the flight? Or are Upgrades not permitted on award travel forcing you to have to use extra award points?

Thanks!!

#1 - usage of your miles will not reduce your status.

#2 - I think you can get upgraded on these ... someone else can confirm and tell you the details.

Thanks for the quick response! While we're at it, I have one more question that I'm not totally clear about.

Program year is March 1 - Feb 28.

So all of the PQM's that I'm accumulating now will determine what my status is at the start of the new program year which would be March 1 2013, right?

If there are empty seats you can always ask the gate agent. I don't think, however, your automatic upgrade will be processed in advance of the flight as other preferred members on paid tickets would be.

http://www.usairways.com/en-US/dividendmiles/preferred/upgrades.html

Certain discounted fares and award travel tickets may not be eligible for upgrades.

Ahh, I see thank you for pointing that out. The word Certain is so vague, I'm going to give them a call as time permits. I wonder if it just excludes international travel?

No, the link I sent is specific to domestic travel (which includes Caribbean). There are no "preferred upgrades" on international travel to Europe and South America.

So, the question is still there.. what is "certain". It just leads me to believe that there are specific locations / times. etc which can be automatically upgraded.. if this is the case those are the flights I want to book.

Unless it's a case in which there are never any auto upgrades, all upgrades are processed at the GA if available (like mentioned above)

Maybe I'm just being dense here...and a little wishful thinking

So, the question is still there.. what is "certain". It just leads me to believe that there are specific locations / times. etc which can be automatically upgraded.. if this is the case those are the flights I want to book.

My understanding after researching this myself (trial silver and made CP in July), domestic upgrades on award travel are only really available if you hit the special dividends 85k threshold. (i.e. the kind where you're eligible starting 7 days out). This is a natural occurrence for bona fide CPs but not for CPs who made it via trial.

Otherwise, you are essentially wasting your status when you fly with miles, unless you'd like to try your hand at something at the gate. There are exceptions (per other threads I've read), but if you're cautious it's not really the way to go.

Additionally, if you're recently CP like me, you probably only get your CP status through early 2013. It's a waste to lose all the BIS PQM miles AND throw away the 100% bonus for standard miles on revenue tickets by flying award travel (esp. if corresponding revenue tickets are cheap) since those miles could contribute to your status for 2/28/13-2/28/14 still (i.e. if your actual PQMs for 2012 so far are only in the 30k-45k region then you'd be silver in the next year if you book no further revenue tickets this year).

Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong about any of the above, but that's how I calculated it. I ended up re-depositing two domestic award tickets (nice CP perk) I had booked and paying for the tickets...not a terrible idea since the trips ended up sub-5CPM because of the time of year.

My understanding after researching this myself (trial silver and made CP in July), domestic upgrades on award travel are only really available if you hit the special dividends 85k threshold. (i.e. the kind where you're eligible starting 7 days out). This is a natural occurrence for bona fide CPs but not for CPs who made it via trial.

Otherwise, you are essentially wasting your status when you fly with miles, unless you'd like to try your hand at something at the gate. There are exceptions (per other threads I've read), but if you're cautious it's not really the way to go.

Additionally, if you're recently CP like me, you probably only get your CP status through early 2013. It's a waste to lose all the BIS PQM miles AND throw away the 100% bonus for standard miles on revenue tickets by flying award travel (esp. if corresponding revenue tickets are cheap) since those miles could contribute to your status for 2/28/13-2/28/14 still (i.e. if your actual PQMs for 2012 so far are only in the 30k-45k region then you'd be silver in the next year if you book no further revenue tickets this year).

Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong about any of the above, but that's how I calculated it. I ended up re-depositing two domestic award tickets (nice CP perk) I had booked and paying for the tickets...not a terrible idea since the trips ended up sub-5CPM because of the time of year.

+1

I'd buy revenue tickets wherever possible. Use awards for bigger trips in C or if you have to go somewhere immediately and you don't want to buy a Y fare.

As stated, upgrades are pretty unlikely on an award unless you're a natural CP. You're either relying on a GoUpgrade or the good graces of a GA. If I wanted to be in F, I wouldn't count on either of those. Buy a rev ticket if you can.

To the OP: PQMs and RDMs (redeemable) miles are separate pools. They're often earned the same way on flights. The difference is PQMs reset January 1 and you have to re-earn those to qualify for a status for the following year. You can burn all your RDMs on awards and it won't affect your status in the least.

Thanks, it all makes sense now :)

I'll save the reward travel for something good.. like international business class:)