Originally Posted by
janewu77
I'm new to this booking service and have read the last 10 pages - seems like b8b is the only one who has posted over 10 positive reviews for UPRGD -
B8B must be smitten by UPRGDs service?
I'm been reading that for the most part people are unhappy about how long it takes for service providers to get back. How quick is UPRGD?
Hi
janewu77,
I run the
UPGRD Award Expert Service and appreciate your inquiry.
Our turnaround time is 24-48 hours and I personally respond to every client who contacts us. I will also be honest with you--if the space is not feasible or you do not have enough points, I will not waste your time.
A couple things--first, my agency differs from many others in that chances are (as is the case with almost every client), I or one of my team has been to the place where you are going. I have personally been to 110 countries and cannot only offer you advice on how best to use your points, but can help you out with any questions about your destinations--hotels, transportation, points of interest, visas, etc.
Second, I will be happy to pick up the phone and call you if you would rather talk on the phone. Miscommunication via e-mail can result in missing key award space and I make it an effort to immediately understand exactly what your expectations are for your trip.
10 reviews - really? Wow. Maybe he should comp me some bookings then for the advertising!
I've just booked a lot with him, found him responsive, really knowledgable, innovative, and able to book 4 of us on the same flights in J, which can be tough. Using the
IMDB scale, I'd give him an 8.7 - not perfect, but we're all human and I'm not the easiest customer. I think he's booked around 16 tickets for me so far.
I've also tried a lot of others, I tend to stick to a service that works well. His responsiveness depends on if he's traveling, but I think he also has a team, but when I've needed him, he was there and reasonably responsive. I could only suggest you give him a try and see.
Thank you
b8b. I have appreciated your business and enjoyed building some rather exotic trips for you and your family.
For others--I specialize in family bookings, finding you several seats on the same flights. That ties back to my point above. If you are going on a family vacation and are choosing among multiple destinations, why don't you contact me and not only can I evaluate your options using credit card or airline points, but i can also guide your destination choice.
Originally Posted by
Retale_88
Obviously, there are a lot of factors to come into play....notably how "busy" one is when you contact them. But I used UPGRD for a booking a while back and ultimately just feel "OK" about the service. First of all, we got off to a very slow start (barely one email reply per 24hr period) for the first week or so. It was just over 2 weeks from the time I requested service to the time it was booked, fwiw. Only during the last couple days did I feel that he was really working on the itinerary. Also, he wasn't proactive to inform me about taxes/fees/surcharges despite my specific inquiry along the way. Thus I ended up being a bit surprised with the $600 per ticket surcharge.
In the end, he found an acceptable routing - but not truly optimal. I ran out of segments and needed to come up with a domestic (positioning) segment. It was pointed out by another member here that I probably should have eliminated one of the very short (international) segments of the itinerary and just paid out of pocket for it. That would free up one segment for the domestic portion (which was much more costly). I pointed out this to him, obviously after the booking was made, but he never addressed it. At any rate, he did make the booking for me, which is one of the main reasons why I used a service to begin with.
Oh, some of these services advertise "service after the sale." If that's important to you, be sure and discuss that before hand. UPGRD.com doesn't provide it (and to be fair, they don't advertise that they do). But there was a slight change in flights on the itinerary he booked for me and I wrote with a few questions about my alternatives/options - I got no response. Just keep that in mind if important to you.
I don't doubt that there are folks who have had great experiences with UPGRD. But for whatever reason - maybe it was the itinerary I wanted, maybe the fact that I was using SM - it just wasn't an experience to write home about. I'll either use someone else or do it myself next time.
Retale_88, I do regret that you were not fully satisfied with our service and that you received no response regarding a schedule change. I am not sure when you booked with us, but we've gotten much better over the last year, so I do invite you to check back with us. To be fair, if the goal is saver/low award space, we must work with the space available and that often leads to routings that are less than "optimal" but will still get you where you need to go for half the miles of the more direct route.
Regarding post-booking support: we are indeed available to help with schedule changes or if one of your segments on a premium cabin redemption had to be booked in coach, we will monitor that space for you and call to move you up to business or first if the space later opens. Again, my personal apologies that I missed your note.
Looking back, I would have to agree with most of the statements made by Retale_88 had as I too experienced these in one form or another. His request-capturing/tracking system has some shortcomings and I apparently missed emails from him and him from me, so he put me on a later flight when I had specifically requested an earlier one.
That said, compared to the others I've used, I've still had the best, most consistent experience with UPGRD, though I would give only three stars out of 5 for timely response (which can vary wildly).
Again, I appreciate your return business and especially after what we are able to accomplish with your last US Airways booking, I hope you will return to UPGRD for your future award trips.