Q. about upgrading to business class?
Nov 14, 2008, 1:32 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: M&M
Posts: 56
Q. about upgrading to business class?
hi there.
sorry if this is very basic question, but.. i have a bunch of miles that i have accumulated via M&M credit card and i want to use them to upgrade my economy ticket to business class. (i dont have the economy ticket yet).
i called LH M&M USA office today and asked them how the upgrade process would work. they told me i have to buy an economy ticket first and after that they would try and upgrade me and if it wouldn't go through, i'd be on the wait list. i asked them if its possible to know in advance if the flight has upgrade availability in business and they said "NO". thats not what i wanted to hear. what i wanted to hear was "let us tell you which flights have upgrade availability so that your upgrade would go through right away". am i nuts for thinking that is how it should work? i have a feeling the person on the phone either mis-understood me or just wanted to blow me off.
anyways, i been using expertflyer for a while (for my AA travel), but seems that to get LH upgrade space info, i need KVS, right. the question is what is the award business class that i need to look for on KVS? is it I? so if i find a flight with I class availability and try to get upgraded, my miles upgrade should go through right away or would i still be on the wait list and they would be saving that upgrade space for somebody with a higher priority?
thanks..
sorry if this is very basic question, but.. i have a bunch of miles that i have accumulated via M&M credit card and i want to use them to upgrade my economy ticket to business class. (i dont have the economy ticket yet).
i called LH M&M USA office today and asked them how the upgrade process would work. they told me i have to buy an economy ticket first and after that they would try and upgrade me and if it wouldn't go through, i'd be on the wait list. i asked them if its possible to know in advance if the flight has upgrade availability in business and they said "NO". thats not what i wanted to hear. what i wanted to hear was "let us tell you which flights have upgrade availability so that your upgrade would go through right away". am i nuts for thinking that is how it should work? i have a feeling the person on the phone either mis-understood me or just wanted to blow me off.
anyways, i been using expertflyer for a while (for my AA travel), but seems that to get LH upgrade space info, i need KVS, right. the question is what is the award business class that i need to look for on KVS? is it I? so if i find a flight with I class availability and try to get upgraded, my miles upgrade should go through right away or would i still be on the wait list and they would be saving that upgrade space for somebody with a higher priority?
thanks..
Nov 14, 2008, 1:49 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: M&M
Posts: 56
Nov 14, 2008, 2:03 am
#4
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
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If you have a lot of miles to burn it would be better to go for a business award ticket than buying an economy ticket and upgrade. The only exception would be if someone else is paying for your economy ticket. Have you looked at the M&M award and upgrade charts to check how many miles you'll need?
Nov 14, 2008, 2:10 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BRU
Programs: LH SEN, SN Gold, Eurostar Carte Blanche, BA, QF, AF
Posts: 6,856
If you have a lot of miles to burn it would be better to go for a business award ticket than buying an economy ticket and upgrade. The only exception would be if someone else is paying for your economy ticket. Have you looked at the M&M award and upgrade charts to check how many miles you'll need?
Secondly, it is very easy to check whether there is availability: Just try to book an award on M&M. Whenever there is availability in I, the flights will show up.
Nov 14, 2008, 3:59 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold
Posts: 6,913
Another alternative is the ANA award availability tool. It's even better than the M&M one IMHO.
Nov 14, 2008, 4:48 am
#7
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
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Nov 14, 2008, 2:52 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Nov 14, 2008, 5:19 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: M&M
Posts: 56
If you have a lot of miles to burn it would be better to go for a business award ticket than buying an economy ticket and upgrade. The only exception would be if someone else is paying for your economy ticket. Have you looked at the M&M award and upgrade charts to check how many miles you'll need?
a round trip in business would cost me 90,000 -- so i have enough for two round trip business tickets from SFO to MUC. which is great the not-so-great part is that i need to go past MUC to KBP. i dont mind paying for MUC-KBP leg separately (either with miles or cash), but my question is: can these two legs be later combined into one PNR?
Nov 14, 2008, 6:44 pm
#12
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SZG
Posts: 3,936
Nov 14, 2008, 6:56 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: M&M
Posts: 56
are you sure? it sounds like the award is "per leg" and since SFO to KBP is two legs (SFO-MUC & MUC-KBP), that C award round trip would be 180K miles.
well, at least thats how it was explained to me by M&M operator when i called them up today.
well, at least thats how it was explained to me by M&M operator when i called them up today.
Nov 14, 2008, 8:04 pm
#14
Moderator: Asiana & Qantas Frequent Flyer
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: STR/SYD/SMF
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Posts: 14,375
It is not per leg. You can do KBP-MUC-SFO-LAS and back for example as one award, one PNR, one ticket, 90k miles. @:-)
Nov 14, 2008, 8:09 pm
#15
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
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Posts: 29,512
a round trip in business would cost me 90,000 -- so i have enough for two round trip business tickets from SFO to MUC. which is great the not-so-great part is that i need to go past MUC to KBP. i dont mind paying for MUC-KBP leg separately (either with miles or cash), but my question is: can these two legs be later combined into one PNR?
So in summary an award round Business trip SFO-KBP via MUC will cost 90k miles + taxes and charges. In order to use upgrade awards you will have to buy an Economy return ticket and spend 35k+10k+10k+35k miles or more likely 50k+15k+15k+50k miles to upgrade to Business. Economy to Business upgrade awards are not a good use of miles!
Take a look at the M&M award and upgrade mileage charts.