Originally Posted by
ung1
Well yea if you're searching for LGW - AKL that's going to be difficult because it includes 3 separate legs, and as most people will tell you it's hard enough getting availability on one leg. My experience with EVERY single flight I've taken so far has been that upgrades open up from a day to a week before departure. As Silver you can get on the waitlist or request an upgrade at check in. Otherwise, just look for individual legs. If you've found one now, take it, because cancelling the upgrade costs you nothing and you get your miles back.
I second that, from my last 4 or 5 flights upgrades open up anything from 24 hrs to 8 days in advance depending on the segment and how busy it is.
They try and sell those seats for cash as much as possible before they will hand them over to reward redemption.