Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Etihad J-F buy-up?

Does Etihad ever offer a buy-up from business to first at check-in, gate or lounge from any of its stations? I mean a discounted buy-up, not the full fare class difference.

Not aware of this. However depending on destination one can sometimes buy in advance a first class fare at business class level..

eg LHR/SYD business class is around 3450 pounds

special F class Par/SYD is 3628 Euros which is cheaper than the business class fare from UK..

Without knowing your destination or where you are located this info may be useless to you but it's worth checking departure points close to your own as these pleasant surprises can be there

Santa

I don't recall reading of any kind of J-F upgrade at checkin on Etihad, here on FlyerTalk.
Have you searched this forum and Trip Reports for "Etihad J" or similar terms?

I'd be looking for discounted J or F fares (sometime companion fare or other offers) offered by Etihad on its website as a start, then compare with the major internet travel booking sites, in case you can do better.

I believe such upgrades are not done because the checkin staff are not equipped to do so.

If you could spell out more detail (like which airport you are wishing to do this) you might get an answer.

Cheers,
BB

We purchased discounted J rt tix from MNL-AUH-CDG. Since EY doesn't have a first class on their 777 from MNL-AUH, they do not offer an F fare from Manila. At least nothing that I can find. However, I was interested in possibly going F from AUH-CDG or vice-versa to try the product out. So the departure point for the F segment would be AUH and/or CDG. I would think that my chances are best departing from AUH but who knows-the ground staff seem to be rated pretty poorly from the reviews I've read.