Hello FT,

I've been reading through many pages of the forum but I could not find an easy answer to my questions.
I live in Europe (BRU) and next year I would like to take my GF to New Zealand (she's a kiwi). I am currently *S (earned through segments and not miles...) but as of this year I'll have the opportunity to do a few intercontinental trips in C, so I should be able to have enough miles to upgrade us both from Y to C on our trip.

Here are the questions:

1) I'm guessing that if I buy the cheapest Y ticket I won't be able to upgrade. How do I know what is the cheapest booking class that allows upgrading?
2) Is upgrading always allowed, or is it only available for the flights where an award ticket is available?
3) Searching for award tickets on the M&M website does not allow me to select AKL as final destination, however searching with other tools shows some availability. Should I simply call the airline or show up at the ticketing office of a *A partner and book in person?
4) Does anyone have experience with this particular route? Nowadays the most attractive option would be BRU-BKK-AKL on TG, but also BRU-FRA-SIN-AKL on SQ seems OK. How is the award availability on these airlines?

Thank you!