TLV guy

Hi Everyone,

I'm an FTL and I'm now in the process of booking a TLV-BCN flight for April.
Either with LH through FRA or LX through ZRH.

I know my chances of an op-up are slim, but in order to make them larger than zero do I have to be in a booking class higher than Q (and spend ~120$ more) or will V/S/W be enough?

This thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...e-buckets.html says V/S/W are not eligible for op-ups any more, but I saw other recent threads which said otherwise.
Does anyone have an updated info?

Any thoughts regarding LH vs LX on this route (and op-up chances) are also welcome.
Thanks for your help!

Koby

I don't know about the TLV leg, but on ZRH-BCN or FRA-BCN I can't remember the last time I had an op-up. And I fly these routes a lot.

Personally, on LX or LH, I would never pay even 1 cent more just to have a possibility to get an upgrade. The probability to get on is so low that it's a waste of money.

more4less

+1

also are we sure they enforced the rule for min. booking class for op-ups?

A few days ago I flew BOG-FRA and I saw that they confirmed several ID90(LH staff) in C.
I wonder if it was because there were no other elites in Y, there were elites but those had tickets with very cheap booking classes, not suitable for op-ups, or because their prefer to put in C their colleagues.

A380*G

What do you think???

more4less

I was there while it happened and it did not look as the classic "Friends and Family affair", so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

MichalFKowalik

for me ZRH-BCN / BCN-ZRH is one of the most "op-up-able" route, probably just after WAW-ZRH-WAW. Also TLV-MUC-TLV have a 100% opup history

But I'd agree - wouldn't pay a cent to increase that chance (multiply that tiny cost by even tinier probability FTL for getting that upgrade - going full C is going to be way cheaper) - too short leg. US / Asia - different discussion.

good luck!
mfk

sperrgepaeck

In regards to the OP topic, would not pay more for a(n) (im)possible opup. But if the higher booking class gives you 100% Miles and you can cancel the ticket if needed, that's when I would pay more.

By confirmed you mean they got a seat allocated to their BP at the gate. Their is a difference whether those LH guys where on duty flight (non crew on a business trip) where they are entitled to fly C if available or if they were holidayers on standby tickets. Even then you can get a confirmed ticket in C but sth you end up on the WL.

But if you pay Y as a standby you end up in Y, unless it's a very last minute decision at the gate. If there were elites in Y with a lower booking class, and assuming all elites with higher booking classes have been pushed to C already it's a tricky thing and probably up to the flight manager to decide.

oliver2002

Get a higher fare if you plan to use miles/SWU etc at the airport. As far as op-ups are concerned, pick a nice date, like start/end of school vacations, trade shows, festivals etc. Those ensure you get bumped quite easily. Friday afternoon is my favorite on short haul.

more4less

Hi sperrgepaeck,

Unless it has changed, staff traveling on duty hold a S ticket, S1 is with a confirmed seat and S2 is a standby seat.
When traveling on vacation, it is and R ticket. R1 is with a confirmed seat(ID50) and R2 standby seat(ID90).
The LH guys that got C seats in front of me, had R2 on their BP, so I understand they were on vacation.
It is true that, in certain airlines, staff can buy ID50 and ID90 seats in C(and probably also in F), but 99.5% of the time they buy ID90 in Y.

sperrgepaeck

Hi more4less,

So someone did his/her homework

The "S" thing depends on if you are a simple employee on business trip (S7) or a manager (S1). For the "R" thing, my LH friends always tell me that if its interkont, they buy ID90 in C, and then a whole bunch of contingency tickets, just in case sth goes wrong.

Correct R2 is standby and can be bought anytime. R6 is the lowest confirmed ticket, can also be bought anytime but might not clear the WL. They can be bought in Y/C/F for LH, and there are many interline contracts, so they can basically fly everywhere in the non LH world even in C.

R1 can be bought once a year if you are +10years with LH and I believe is the best that a LH staff can get (could even get VDB with this one)

If the guys you saw had R2 and were in C, then they mostlikely had a C ticket as well, unless they had one of the white little BP's, then they got upgraded from Y.

oliver2002

The R1-9 logic is detailed here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/9021456-post23.html

TLV guy

Thank you all for your replies but the topic kind of drifted and my question was not really answered.

Does an FTL with a Q ticket have a better chance of an op-up than a SEN/HON with a V/S/W ticket?
(based on http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...e-buckets.html)

oliver2002

Yes, the grading list sort order is

HON Y-Q
SEN/*G Y-Q
FTL/*S Y-Q
Blue/nothing Y-Q
HON V-K
SEN V-K
FTL V-K
rest V-K

Still, reports are that the upgrade list is pretty thin and SENs in V-K do get op-upgrades. Often FMs wait till the last moment before starting the upgrades, waiting for misconnects etc. So if the pleb has boarded and the flight is about to close, a SEN arriving 15-20 min before departure at the gate after enjoying the leberkäse and potato salad it may very well be that he/she gets the new seat because the FM needs his seat for a Y pax who didn't misconnect

more4less

totti

I fully agree. If you reside in Israel it might be worth to spend the (reduced) number of miles for an upgrade. It is one of the few routes I would upgrade with miles as 10/15k miles is quite resonable, especially for the early morning departure in TLV and the evening return from FRA/ZRH.