FlyerGoldII

Besides paying up front for the privilege (the 3 of us are booked to fly in August from Canada to ZRH on AC J and then on LX from ZRH to JNB on discounted business class- these are revenue tickets).

Besides paying up front for a F (or A?) class ticket (my flight right now is showing F8A8 availability)- what are the other options to upgrade.
(Note- AC does not allow for Star Alliance upgrades).

I am wondering about these - if not other- options- suggested by my travel agent as possible options:1) is the upfront paid on discount F class (ie A class) option- but I am trying to find a "cheaper option"- upfront paid option is CAD$2400 or approx US$1700 per passenger



2) "bid upgrades" - similar to AC, LX sometimes lets you bid for an upgrade on certain flights

3) confirmed, paid upgrades within 24h of departure / at check-in

I was wondering about exchanging Aeroplan points for upgrade vouchers through coupon connection- but one of terms and conditions of that forum is that I can only ask for trades involving me and 1 other passenger; I am not allowed to ask for trades involving the 3 of us.

chris63

Usually A class is the lowest cost option, bids & upfare at airport more costly & evouchers, no guarantee they will clear, LHG prefer cash 💰

cfischer

Do you want to upgrade all 4 segments? Or just some of them? The voucher, pay, bid upgrades are always per segment and for 3 pax this will get pricey pretty quickly. An upfare to 'A' is probably expensive, but it'll depend how 'discount' your business class is. P-class will not be cheap to upfare to A; LX does not tend to have discount A from NA.
If you 'upgrade' just 1 set of segments, say ZRH-JNB-ZRH you'll still have access to F-class treatment such as F lounges in ZRH etc. This could be an intermediate solution.
If CAD 2400 is the r/t upgrade for all 4 segments - it won't get any cheaper than that!

digitalfan

AC does not have a first cabin So the question will only refer to the ZRH-JNB-ZRH legs.

FlyerGoldII

My itinerary is from YOW-YUL-ZRH on AC.
Then ZRH to JNB on LX.
Domestically I make my way from Johannesburg to Cape Town via a South Africa travel company.
I return from Capetown to Frankfurt on LH J class and then AC from Frankfurt to YOW via YYZ on J class.
(I understand that the LH flight does not offer first class)

So I am interested in upgrading 1 segment only , and in 1 direction only.
ZRH to JNB on LX
from discounted business class (I believe it may be P class- I have to confirm).

How do I most economically upgrade on that segment (for 3 people) on LX from ZRH to JNB?

f4freeJunior

How much did that ticket cost?

FlyerGoldII

Upgrade for CAD$2400/person for ZRH-JNB segment only- whether I keep AC J (P class) from YUL to ZRH or change AC flight to LX flight from YUL to ZRH also in A class. To put it another way- $2400 for 1 segment if I keep transatlantic AC flight, or $2400 for 2 segments if I change transatlantic flight to F class.

Are last minute upgrades or upgrade bids an option for ZRH-JNB- if so, if availability there, what would be the price for the 2 options. To put it another way, would it be significantly lower than CAD$2400 per person- if those options are feasible for the ZRH-JNB LX flight?.

We are coming back on LH from Cape Town to Frankfurt and then AC from Frankfurt to Canada. I understand there is no F class on the LH flight; I have no desire to change the routing from Cape Town to Canada to JNB to FRA - just to get F class!

cfischer

ah, I missed the AC bit. YUL-ZRH-JNB could have been all LX.

CAD2400 just for ZRH-JNB is too much IMO. For YUL-ZRH-JNB I would consider it. 2 long-haul flights and a long layover in the excellent F lounge in ZRH. Something I would most likely do, plus the extra miles earned on A-class

if the ZRH-JNB segment is LX coded a paid upgrade for that segment should work, but probably expensive from P

FlyerGoldII

It is LX coded (I am stopping over in Zurich; it is not a connecting flight from ZRH to JNB; so the LX flight is LX coded on my ticket).
How much might be the upgrade from P.

I might just want to upgrade myself and my wife and keep my (adult) daughter in business class. If the upgrade happens for the 2 out of 3 of us, I presume I can guest in my daughter to the F class lounge.

When you say "paid upgrade"- do you mean by bidding or do you mean by asking for an upgrade within 24 h of departure or both? if both are options, presumably the 24 h upgrade may cost less, if there is availability (right now F8A8 on my flight). I wonder how often the F seats are booked on that route; how many F class seats remain empty- it is likely there will be seats to upgrade within 24 hours of departure?

airoli

AC does not fly YUL-ZRH so if you're on YUL-ZRH you're on LX. With an F cabin.

chris63

Bidding or upfare close in is likely to be expensive, how much & how bookings go is crystal ball territory, why not ask your TA what the cost is to pay for A now ?

Schultzois

If it were at least both ways for the LX/LH segments, I�d consider that price, but for one way only I think it�s a bit steep. Especially when I consider that I�ve flown roundtrip to GRU or GIG from Europe in outright paid First on LX/LH for not much more than your fare difference one way from Business to First. I know it�s an Apples to Kumquat comparison� but just saying.

There�s a small chance that you would have been better off booking into A from the start� LX in particular has this rather sneaky thing where they reprice changes to your itinerary after purchase differently than for a new purchase outright. That usually only happens I think during a journey (as opposed to before starting) but it�s opaque enough that I still haven�t quite worked it out.

I�m not sure if there are other Star Alliance partners that allow an upgrade to F using miles� I think so but am not well versed (I know there are that have outright redemptions into F). If you have credit card points with Amex for example that could be an idea� though the mixed carrier and TA-issued itinerary can sometimes complicate that as well. For points transfers SQ comes to mind in addition to AC which I think you�ve already checked.

Just thinking out loud here� (yes my keyboard is loud )

cfischer

Agreed and 2400 CAD is a good price for both segments. If not wait unless you want to gamble a bit and hope that ZRH-JNB will come with a good price. Have not seen less than 1200 CHF in a while.

FlyerGoldII

You are correct. I looked at my itinerary - it is YYZ-ZRH. At least with AC J (actually P class) I get access to the first class type AC Signature lounge at YYZ.
If I change my itinerary to LX from YYZ or YUL to ZRH- no first class level lounge. I am satisfied enough with my YYZ - ZRH booking on AC in business class that I do not wan to change that flight. So if I want up front paid F class from ZRH- JNB; I guess the AC segment will be listed as an "A" segment in order to be married to the "A" LX ZRH to JNB I would get by paying and extra CAD$2400 per person.

By the way, my entire trip is just over CAD$7000 per person, as currently booked.

FlyerGoldII

I paid CAD$7000+ per person for business class round trip. My TA told me- I have to pay $2400 more to get the first class on LX from ZRH to JNB- whether or not I change the AC J class flight from YYZ to LX from either YYZ or YUL to ZRH. I do not want to change the AC flight- see previous post of my for reasons.