Originally Posted by
Jann58
I am having trouble understanding this issue. We are new members so don't have any points as such but will get 5.000 miles when booking economy tickets to either Madrid or Barcelona from Sydney. So on the day of our flight can I enquiry about upgrading to business class and pay for the miles or does the upgrade availability only apply to people who have lots of points.
Does this work out cheaper than booking a business class ticket originally.
I could have misunderstood the whole topic and would be grateful for clarification.
There is a Skywards desk at the lounge in Dubai where I believe on can purchase miles on the spot. One can also purchase miles over the phone while trying to upgrade. I don't think you can purchase miles at outstation airports.
Given you would earn just 5000 miles for that routing I'd guess you're in a Saver ticket? Those tickets require a lot of miles to upgrade and the maximum you can purchase per year is 25,000 at a cost of 25x40 = 1000 usd. Which will get you to 30k miles, probably still not enough for a single upgrade from Madrid to Dubai (let alone to Sydney). Unfortunately what they don't tell you is how many times we have to suffer through Economy for that one time we can upgrade with miles
Unless you have access TO a Skywards credit card (or Amex in a qualifying country) which can help you earn miles faster.