I'm new here, so I hope that this is posted in the correct forum area.
I'm flying in 2 weeks Yerevan, Armenia - LHR (on B-Med, ~5 hours) and then LHR - LAX (on United). I have a 20 hour layover in London (leaving LHR for that time). And I will be 29 weeks pregnant (trust me, not my choice to fly at this time). My significant other will join me for the LHR - LAX portion of the flight.
I'd like to try to get a free upgrade for myself and my significant other from Economy to something better, at least for the LHR - LAX flight. I figure that for the Yerevan - LHR, I am going to have to rely on my Armenian skills and being sweet to the right people to try to get pushed up, but I'd like some advice for the LHR - LAX portion.
1. Should I ask the Yerevan desk person to give me a boarding pass or not? I am concerned that with a boarding pass, I'll be locked into a seat without my significant other next to me.
2. I am going to check my luggage all the way through to LAX. That shouldn't present any problems, should it?
3. I'll leave Heathrow for the overnight layover, but when we come in the morning to check in for the next flight, what can we do to maximize our upgrade chances?
And some answers: I have a letter from my doctor stating how pregnant I am (and I look pretty pregnant, but not huge). Calling United customer service from Armenia is doable, but not optimal. It is expensive and Internet isn't good enough for Skype here. I will do it if I have to though. I have 28,792 United miles and ~10,000 on US Air. I don't know if these are going to help us though. Significant other has none.
Agreed, probably no chance of a free upgrade. If you fly in a Y, B, M, H fare you can use miles to upgrade (15K or 30K each way, so depending on your fare class, you may need to buy some extra miles). Or you can ask the checkin desk at LHR for a "upgrade for cash" which will be around $600, assuming seats are available.
I don't think that BMed in Armenia can issue a UA boarding pass in any case.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gomike
I would say you have a 0% chance of being upgraded.
Just for kicks, what fare class is your ticket?
I wouldn't say it is quite 0%, but close to that. Operational upgrades do sometimes occur. However, those are usually given because the flight is overbooked in economy class but there is space available in business class -- i.e., to meet the airline's needs. Also, on United, the op ups are usually doled out based on factors such as elite status. If you're a no-status Mileage Plus member, your chances are probably very small.
Most people who get upgraded use miles or certificates to do so, but they are still on a "space available" basis -- no guarantees. Here again, your status is a factor on the upgrade waitlist.
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Posts: 11,098
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpearce
My class is W.
On an international flight, W is NOT upgradeable using miles. It IS upgradeable using a Systemwide Upgrade cert. Still, it's space available only, and priority on the waitlist is based on factors such as Mileage Plus status.
As someone already mentioned, you MIGHT be able to purchase an upgrade at the gate for a few hundred bucks.
I would agree. Wherever you end up, you'll probably get doted on by the FAs, but I wouldn't expect to get anything "free" for the sake of being pregnant. You could ask about paid upgrades, but we're generally past the day and age where GAs will give folks unsupported upgrades just because you have a special circumstance.
From my personal experience, I flew 3 Y segments between 32 and 33 weeks just this past June (due date is this Sunday!), and in each case, I inquired about paid upgrades. I went 0 for 3, paid or free.
And some answers: I have a letter from my doctor stating how pregnant I am (and I look pretty pregnant, but not huge). Calling United customer service from Armenia is doable, but not optimal. It is expensive and Internet isn't good enough for Skype here. I will do it if I have to though. I have 28,792 United miles and ~10,000 on US Air. I don't know if these are going to help us though. Significant other has none.
Any ideas? Thanks so much!
I would not flaunt the letter about how pregnant you are. It might come across as sounding as if you deserve to be upgraded because you're pregnant, and that's not going to get you anywhere. If flying in coach while pregnant was that much of an issue for you, the reasonable unasked question the GA is going to be thinking is, why didn't you buy a biz ticket in the first place?
I think your best strategy is to first ask if there are any exit row options available (be prepared to pay for E+ seating if that's the case) and, if not, if there's a reasonable opportunity to buy an upgrade into biz class. If you're in the company of a GA that for some reason thinks this ought to be your lucky day and you deserve to fly in biz on an op-up, this will bring that person out in the open... without the risk of sounding like someone who wants something for nothing and having all your options cut off.
And again, don't use that letter. I cannot see anything good coming from it, as far as flying is concerned. In fact, it could be bad for you, because it might convince them (and perhaps reasonably so) that you're not a good candidate for an exit row.
If flying in coach while pregnant was that much of an issue for you, the reasonable unasked question the GA is going to be thinking is, why didn't you buy a biz ticket in the first place?
And again, don't use that letter. I cannot see anything good coming from it, as far as flying is concerned. In fact, it could be bad for you, because it might convince them (and perhaps reasonably so) that you're not a good candidate for an exit row.
Well, I bought the ticket months before I became pregnant and this ticket was changed from December to August so that I can have the baby in the United States, and all these changes are all over my ticket, so I don't think that anyone would think that I should have bought biz in the first place.
And as far as the letter, I should carry it. Since you're not supposed to fly after 32 weeks on some airlines and 34, 36 or 38 on others, you need to have documentation as to what week you're in if you're at all close. BMI in Yerevan called me 3 times making sure that I have the documentation. CDC says that I should have documentation as well.
But no, I won't pull out the letter unless I am asked.
from a medical perspective, you are either fit to fly or not. Although it is more comfortable to fly in C or F, if you are fit to fly, Y poses no danger. Your best option is to buy C.
Just FYI I had a lady trying to upgrade due to her pregnancy in FRA back in March to LAX. She was obviously pregnant so easily around 30 weeks.
The questions was asked and the GA responded by indicating she was on a Q fare which would require a SWU, the buy up was not available due to loading and they had enough elites to trade up from Y already on the Upgrade list. She was not happy about this and got rather loud about her condition, at this point the GA told her that she could decide based upon her condition whether she was allowed to fly or not and to take the Y bulkhead that apparently she had already been offered.
Needless to say she ended up in the bulkhead seat back to LAX.
Whatever you do be nice, but as noted by previous posters your chances are low to zero but, never say never! I have seen stranger things happen!
Best of luck with the flight and enjoy the hell out of the kid!
Oh yeah, that's right -- I forgot that BMed is now part of BMI.
For the OP, the other strategy is to ask for a exit row. They may or may not give you one.
Dunno if I'm asking for it, but is it a good idea to give an exit row seat to someone 7+ months pregnant? One of the requirements is to be able to assist in the event of an emergency...
