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Old Aug 2, 2015, 3:28 am
  #12  
gpicur
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SRQ
Programs: UA Plat-Million Miler (1.6MM), IHG-Plat Amb; Amex Plat-P, Marriott-Gold;Hertz Gold; Hilton-Gold
Posts: 762
Smile Int'l Complimentary Upgrades ???

Oh Wise FT Sages,

I am a 1k and have been for 8 of the last 9 years.

In this thread I have seen the reference to "complimentary" international upgrades or "instant" upgrades for international flights. For the life of me, I never heard about this on international flights. Am I to understand, as a 1K, I can buy an "M" class ticket and get instantly upgraded to "P" class ? I usually buy "P" Class, but should I be looking at "M" class and check for Rn or Pn availability ??

Your insight and explanation are most greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by PV_Premier
if your international trips are in paid business class there is really not a reason to mileage run to 1K, since the biggest distinction between the two levels of status is the GPUs. i guess you also earn a couple of more miles per dollar spent on tickets too as a 1k vs. plat.

at any status level, all revenue fare classes are upgrade eligible. you're correct that for an instant upgrade at time of purchase you must buy YB as a plat/below or YBM as a 1K, and you also have to have availability in the instant upgrade fare bucket (PN as i recall).

another distinguishing factor between gold and plat/1K is that for plat you get 2 RPUs and for 1k you get 4, plus another 2 for every 25K additional miles you fly (i.e., 125K = 6 total RPU).
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