LHR - SFO
789
B fare
OLCI offer $649
This was a happy ending to a painful rebooking process. Emergency cancellation of a K fare four days out where a 20K miles + $500 upgrade was a high probability. Rebooking the K fare to one day out was > $3200; canceling and rebooking in B was $1000 less. Under 24h so upgrade with miles was impossible.
With 29 of 48 open seats in J, website showed a fare-difference upgrade of $8769. OLCI offered $649. Done!
Does the expensive B class ticket play into the low upgrade price?
As an aside, the asymmetry of upgrade availability and overall load from SFO-LHR vs. LHR-SFO is striking. Among a few coworkers regularly on this route, we have a near 100% success rate in upgrades (miles + dollars) on LHR-SFO and, all being low status, an exactly 0% success rate in reverse. When and how do all the GS and 1Ks fly back?