Originally Posted by
PanAmFT
Thank you, and good suggestion - if it's possible to find an upgradeable fare bucket on a connection that puts it to good use. Never took this award before - figured why pay more if it'll never clear anyway - and hope it works with the new 30-day window.
You have to get the certificate in advance, AFAIK. When doing the upgrade, they will ask you to read them the certificate number. The best way to do this is to wait until the 30 day mark, then find a flight with A inventory. Put the flight on hold, call the BusEx desk, give them the PNR, have them confirm that the upgrade is available, then pull the trigger on the reservation. Sometimes they ticket right away and you can get your upgrade on the same call, sometimes you have to call back.
I was in the same position on the award - why pay more when it won't clear anyway. This has gone from a totally useless award to one of their better awards.